Ha ha ha… oh, wait….

Have a look at this “Egyptian offers daughter to Iraqi shoe-thrower”. If you can’t be bothered I’ll give you a brief summary. Some chap in Egypt, so pleased with the poor aim of journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, has offered the bruised Hush Puppy lobber his daughter in marriage. I mean what better way to express your disdain for Western Imperialism and the administration of George W. Bush than giving away your daughter? Of course, to us here in the civilised West it’s all an amusing little tale that will leave us wondering what those crazy Middle-Easters will get up to next, throwing shoes , giving away daughters to insulters of Dubya, it’s all such a laugh. The guy has OFFERED HIS DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGE. It’s ok though because his daughter is all up for the idea and says it would be a great honour so she’s totally down with the whole BEING GIVEN AWAY LIKE A FUCKING LAWNMOWER thing.

I know it’s not news that people around the world, and especially women, are still seen as property. Slavery is still rife, women are still paid less and not proportionally represented in highly paid jobs, and forced arranged marriages still make the news quite frequently. I watched a documentary on the history of BBC Television News recently and was shocked to learn that when the contraceptive pill first came out, it was only available to married women, and only with the written consent of her husband. That was in the 60s. Today, some bloke in Egypt still thinks his daughter is his to give away, and let’s not forget that every blushing bride who walks down the aisle on her daddy’s arm is buying into a tradition, albeit dated and not necessarily the reality today, that she is her daddy’s property to give away. Then over in the good old U.S of A you’ve got teenage girls pledging their virginity to their fathers until their wedding night, the thought of which actually makes me want to puke. Call it tradition, culture, ritual, religion, ceremony, any euphemism you like; seeing a person as property strips them of their humanity, and the rest of us of our dignity. It isn’t harmless, we can’t just laugh it off.