assalamu alaikum and welcome to american
muslim hour I am Asuma cartoon today we
are speaking with Sheikh Hamza Yusuf
about two women in Islam well c'mon say
Yusuf let's start up a little bit about
the history of the Sharia and the role
of women in that in the seventh century
Arabia the Sharia or Islamic law was
established to protect women's rights in
the fields of freedom of belief property
lineage and honor for example if that
was its purpose why today is Islam seen
as oppressive to women I would I would
say first and foremost that the Sharia
is not something that came in the
seventh century the principles upon
which the Shetty is based came in the
seventh century but the the actual
sacred law of Islam is a human endeavor
it took about three hundred years to to
formulate and much of it is based on
humans attempt at understanding
revelation and so you have a always when
you're dealing with religious tradition
you are dealing with human attempts at
understanding God's intent through a
book or a revelation like the Christians
attempting to understand what God
intended for them through the Bible the
Muslims have the same historical
situation in attempting to understand
what God intended for them through the
Quran so the the actual laws that were
given to the prophets a lot if so then
in the seventh century are the there are
not that many and a lot of Muslims are
unaware of that the majority of the the
legal verses in the Quran of which there
are only about 500 out of six six
thousand over six thousand six hundred
verses in the Quran only about
500 deal with legal situations and most
of them deal with it in a way that
enables situational law in other words
that in different situations different
laws are applied so those aims and
purposes behind law so you have an
example of in in Islamic law if somebody
steals then their hand is is cut off now
people think that that sounds barbaric
but the reality of it is is that law
only applies with certain types of theft
it doesn't apply for theft that occurred
because things were left out it's
somebody breaking what we would call in
this culture of breaking and entering
and stealing from a protected area and
then it's only under certain situations
so all mah live in a hut Bob who's the
second caliph of Islam he suspended that
law during a drought and a famine period
because he said people were forced to
steal in order to feed their families
and therefore the aim and purpose of the
law was no longer being served in
applying the law so Islamic law is not
some kind of simpletons law of how to
run a society in the seventh century and
try to apply that in the 21st century
it's it's it's a very complex and
sophisticated legal system and it's
based on rigorous principles that were
laid down in the Quran and there are
certain legal issues that deal with
women with women's rights and for at the
time they were considered extremely
radical now in this quote/unquote
enlightened period of time the
Christians didn't give property rights
to their women until the 19th century
and and that's a historical fact in
England
women were constantly deprived of
property and wealth because even second
or third born sons because in the
English legal system in the 19th century
it was the firstborn who inherited all
the property of the and from this long
point of view that's unjust so in Islam
1,400 years ago women were given
inheritance laws and people say well
what about a woman who only inherits
half because the Quran says that a male
gets twice as much as a female that was
specifically in one instant there are
other inheritance instants where women
inherit and men male relatives don't or
women actually get more than the men but
in one specific instance which is when
there's a son and a daughter that that
would be a case where the son took twice
as much as as the the daughter and the
reason for that the wisdom behind it is
that a woman's wealth in Islam is
discretionary she her well she can use
it in whatever way she wants whereas a
man's wealth is there its those
responsibilities related to he has to
support his parents if they're old and
unable to support themselves he has to
support any female relatives that don't
have male support he has
responsibilities and that was always
understood by the scholars of Islam they
never saw it as the men are twice as
good as women or deserve twice as many
saw it as a burden that it was actually
a burden so I think part of the problem
is that because there's so much
ignorance not just amongst the Muslims
or certainly amongst Anonymous's but the
Muslims themselves are ignorant about
Islamic law where in history do you
suppose that the laws of the Sharia were
abrogated in order to convince Muslim
women that Islam was oppressive to them
and this abuse of Islam then encouraged
in favor of men I first I would say that
I don't think anywhere has to have the
laws of Islam been abrogated I would
rephrase that by saying that there there
are certainly very early
the laws of Islam are no longer being
applied in terms of women I don't think
women have ever been convinced that
Islam is repressive for them but I think
that they have in in many Muslim
countries the way that Islam has
expressed culturally itself is not
dissimilar to the way that Christianity
was expressed in the West for many
centuries
basically patriarchal with an idea of a
certain hierarchy and a position of
women in society and I think what's
difficult for people in the West to
realize is that this quote/unquote
women's liberation is a very recent
phenomenon and so when when they look at
the Muslim world they're looking at a
world that is not dissimilar to their
own world not that long ago that these
traditions are still maintained and
their human traditions whether Islam
agrees with that or not is is a matter
of of looking into what Islam says about
the specific situation
why are you suppose that that happens
well I think that by the nature of
relationships power is an element in any
human relationship if you work in a
corporation you are in a power
relationship with the people you work
with your boss has certain power over
you one of the things that drives people
crazy in corporations is watching people
kiss up to the boss why do they do that
why do they treat the boss with respect
and they don't treat their fellow
coworkers with that same respect because
there's a power relationship involved
here and I think that marriage it's very
easy to slip into power relationships
that are dysfunctional that are
pathological then they're not healthy
that you're human beings and and we do
have certain elements in our
personalities in our nature you're
dealing with biology males are a more
aggressive branch of the human family
and this is biological testosterone is a
hormone that if given to women women
become more aggressive and this is
something that has been confirmed
Western medicine so I think that that
males by their nature have aggressive
tendency if they're not tempered by good
upbringing by their mothers by
humanization and by an understanding of
the awesome tasks and responsibilities
of being in a human relationship whether
it be family in terms of a son towards
the parents the parents towards the
children or our husband towards the wife
how do you think women internalize that
how do you think that Muslim women will
manifest that in their roles today well
I think women all over not just I listen
women are women yes that happened to
have that adjective that they're that
they belong to a faith but first and
foremost they're human beings and so I
think that you'll find throughout the
planet you will find very similar
pathologies manifested by human beings
and certainly America is filled with
very dysfunctional relationships women
here are grossly abused the the number
one cause of murder amongst women in the
United States is from their husbands or
their boyfriends that I mean you see
this so I don't think you can say
Muslims have any monopoly on the
mistreatment of women I think globally
we have a problem the the problem in
Islam occurs when Muslims do not adhere
to the traditions of Islam to the
teachings of Islam and and and and vice
versa when they do it here you will see
in fact extraordinary harmony occur in
the human relationships because very
clear guidelines have been given in
terms of gender relationships so you're
saying that Muslims have themselves to
blame no way that first and foremost yes
absolutely I mean I think that what
happens because human beings it by
nature we have certain flaws in our in
our thinking and that's why logic was
traditionally taught as a
actual science in order to to redress
flaws one of the flaws of people is
cause and effect people will often
mistake because they see certain effects
they'll mistake the cause it's it's
difficult to determine real cause now
what will happen if you if you look at
the muslim world as a non-muslim when
they look at the muslim world and they
see the the dysfunctional nature of
muslim societies they assumed the cause
is islam there's for a muslim looking at
the muslim world and understanding his
religion he knows in fact the cause is
the abandonment of islam it's the fact
that these people are no longer
practicing islam and and so that's
that's the important thing is to
understand that you know the arabs have
a beautiful principle in the science of
ban which is one of the sciences of of
language they say a local auto shaitan
fell onto solidity but before we can
judge a thing we have to understand it
in all of its variables and we're filled
with a world of prejudice people are
constantly prejudging the average
american will make remarks about islam
they'll think that they're liberal
humanistic unbiased unprejudiced and yet
you ask them what they think of islam
that's a stupid religion it's a backward
religion it's oppressive to women have
you ever read the Quran no have you ever
read a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad
no so what are they basing that on
they're basing it on just observing with
some societies well if we observe
Christian societies have we seen turn
the other cheek applied in the West in
the last two thousand years those turn
the other cheek applied in your rock
right the the biblical foundation of the
Torah according to Rabbi Hillel who's
one of the greatest Jewish rabbis is
that the entire message of the Torah
which is the Jewish book is love God and
love thy neighbor as thyself
you see the Jews practicing that towards
their Palestinian neighbors does that
mean that the Torah is invalid as a book
because of what the Jews are doing does
that mean that the gospel is invalid as
a book because of what the Christians
are doing but unfortunately people apply
logic outside of themselves that they
like and then they refuse to apply it on
their own cells it's a little bit about
your analogy of mercy and justice you
discussed that you see mercy
characteristic to women and justice more
characteristic or symbolic of men can
you expand on that what I think if you
look in the world you will find that
this is one of the paradoxes of the
world of the dilemmas of the world is on
the one hand we honor virtue as a
religious virtue and on the other hand
we honor justice as a moral virtue if we
look at mercy as a religious virtue it's
very difficult for us to have justice
when we bring mercy into as some say
like Shakespeare that that that that
mercy must temper justice in other words
be just that have that mercy temper the
justice to prevent it from becoming harm
or becoming a harshness in the Christian
world mercy is at the root of the of the
Christian message
this idea of mercy I think in Islam the
the the woman is the embodiment of mercy
the word in Arabic for mercy LACMA is is
derived from the word for womb and so
the understanding of the Muslims have
always been that the source of Mercy in
the world is the womb it is the womb
it's the blood bonds that that that bond
us as a dynamic people that we're from
many Adam we're children of Adam and
therefore we should have compassion for
all human beings irrespective of race
their Creed their color and at the same
time
we need to have justice in the world in
order for their four things to work in
the marketplace so my cosmological
understanding in Islam is that a woman
represents symbolically the the the
virtue of justice in the world and the
man represents of mercy and the man
represents justice and these are the two
hands that God has given human beings
the left on the right hand and and and
they're to work together this is this is
how things are done in the world so the
relationship between men and women is a
relationship that's complementary it's
not an equal relationship and I think
this is where people have a real problem
because equality is a mathematical
concept you don't find equality in the
world you'll find equality in
mathematics as far as worshiping Allah
equality is the same in his eyes as far
as I know there's no equality in worship
and I'll give you an example two people
pray one of them is sincere in his prose
and the other is not but outwardly they
looked exactly the same they're not
equal Iran for instance says are they
equal those who know and those who don't
know they're not equal we're not living
in a world of equality and I think this
is one of the modern misconceptions of
the world this lie to try to create this
so-called egalitarian society there has
never on this planet been an egalitarian
society human beings are not equal
they're not equal in talent and gifts
the only place where they are equal is
before the law that is the only place if
if a rich man and a poor man come before
a judge that judge has to treat them the
same before the law if a male or a
female comes before a judge that man
must treat them equal before the law in
terms of actual real experience in the
world you cannot find equality it's a
myth that in terms of seeking Allah's
reward between a man and
that they have the same potential
potential yes
absolutely that in fact really it's
unfair because women have an easier now
to gain God's grace according to the
Islamic tradition how so well for
instance according to the Prophet
Muhammad a woman came to him and
complained she said we see men go out
and struggle in the way of God defending
the lands of Islam we see them they have
more money than we do and they give
charity and we see them that they go to
the congregational mosque five times a
day and we have children that keep us in
our houses they're getting all the
reward and the Prophet Muhammad peace be
upon him said any woman who fulfills her
trust to God and her responsibility in
her household has the same reward as
that man out there who's doing jihad
who's paying his charity who's going to
the mosque in other words and I think
with the way my wife said that when she
told me she said that's not equal she
said it's that the Prophet understood
how difficult it is to be a woman in
this world because even though we feel
that the women may feel that they are
furthering their purposes at home and
they feel they have another purpose of
doing good for the Ummah in in in terms
of being out in the public eye for those
reasons the greatest good that a mother
can do for not just the Ummah of Islam
but for Humanity is to raise a human
being that is the greatest thing that
she can do and if she thinks she can do
anything greater she's deluded she is
deluded now not every woman is a mother
and there's certainly many many things
that women can do but if a woman has a
child once she's committed to that and
has a child if she abandons that
responsibility in in pursuit of some
empty career or some idea of making her
mark on the world she has completely
misunderstood
the the the the the the the great
importance and the great responsibility
that she has been given by God in that
the fruit of her womb is before her and
she will be asked all of you are
shepherds and every Shepherd is
responsible for his flock and then he
said a ruler is a shepherd and he's
responsible for the country our husband
is a shepherd and he's responsible for
his family and a woman is a shepherd and
she's responsible for her children so if
a woman brings children into this world
and then dumps them in a daycare center
where people have 20 or 30 children and
a woman's being paid $8 an hour to look
after those 20 or 30 children and then
she thinks that somehow she's doing
something more important by going out
and working I think there's something
very seriously wrong with her maternal
instincts yes because abandonment in in
in the animal kingdom abandonment is is
is is alien to animals they will only do
abandonment out of mercy that they will
abandon an animal out of mercy they will
they they won't abandon if the animal is
well with respect to your response to
that
weboth fair that is the woman's only
means of livelihood and that's another
situation you see you can't yeah I mean
Islam is not again it's not a simpletons
religion if a woman has no other source
of income and she's forced to do certain
things and she's forced to do them and
that the shame is on the man
the shame is on the men for not for not
facilitating for women to to raise their
children I mean we're living look if you
look at America right now look at the
children in this country look at the
rage listen to the music don't listen to
it but if you do this into it from these
loudspeakers up coming out of their cars
as they drive by that music is filled
with rage and look at their faces look
at the spiritual state of these people
or the breath
state the lack of spirituality and to
give some of them credit I'm amazed at
how well some of them do despite all of
the odds against them I am amazed that
there's children out there there's young
people out there that are really
struggling to find a purpose to their
life in a world that is telling them
constantly including their parents by
abandoning them that they are worthless
and that their lives are purposeless ok
irrespective of financial need
looking at your knowledge of mercy in
women and I've been characteristic of
women sailor woman
Muslim woman married with children her
husband provides well and family swing
fine if she feels that with this
characteristic of having mercy is able
to go out into the working world and is
able to do something good for the Ummah
whether it be in the media whether it be
in any any fun and if her capability and
her family has been taken care of
how does that configure with abandonment
well again I would really emphasize that
no one can give two children what a
mother can give to their children that
doesn't mean there aren't pathological
mothers out there there are there are
mothers that dump their babies into
garbage cans and this happens people
read about these things in the
newspapers and some people experience
them firsthand but the point is is that
children need time children thrive on
time I have three children they're
homeschooled
and the amount of time that not just my
wife but that I put into those children
it is is immense and and they thrive on
it they need time and parents now spend
five or ten minutes with their children
in a day and you cannot do that to a
child you will kill that child's soul
and they'll end up spending the rest of
their life seeking that
in pathological ways from other people
they'll end up spending it by trying to
be superficial beings that only think
that they're worth in the world is
physical like so many of the women out
there why are all these women getting
plastic surgery to rearrange their faces
why are they out there jogging in the
streets trying to keep up with some
image of the body that has been
presented to them by by a mainstream
media that has essentially at its root a
desire to sell them things that to sell
them cosmetics to sell them clothes that
quote unquote looks sexy to sell them
toothpaste that's going to make them
more presentable I mean this is what's
happening out there people are in a very
if you look out at the world right now
look out there look at the state of
human beings right now so many of these
women that I see out there do not look
well they do not look well to me and I
think part of it is because their souls
are telling them but they're not well
because they're not doing what they're
supposed to be doing and if you don't do
what you're supposed to do in this world
your soul will let you know from every
which way and it will be painful you'll
end up if you don't listen to your soul
you'll end up on antidepressants you
learned up on alcohol you'll end up on
drugs you'll end up in pathological
relationships so what is the role of the
women which is which would be deemed as
it's immunizes errect you know the role
I hate that word first and foremost
because it's an acting metaphor that's
what the role but anyway I'm it's
English language but I would say that
the not so much the role but the purpose
mm-hmm of a woman is the same as the
purpose of a man and that is to know
their Lord before they die and that is
why they were created and everything
else is incidental that is the essential
purpose of a human being is to have a
direct relationship with
creator of the heavens in the earth and
if they're told anything else it's a lie
if they're told that their main role in
life is to have children that is a lie
children are a path to God and there are
powerful paths and children are
spiritual teachers children are teachers
they teach us and he also remind us
about a pure world a pure state and a
state that our souls were once in but I
I would say that the purpose of a woman
is the purpose of a man it is to know
and worship God how much of an impact us
our cultural heritage as women have in
our identities today how much does
culture play in our identities why you
know the nature-nurture argument I think
that nature and nurture are both working
together environment has a massive
impact if you grow up in Sri Lanka
you'll enjoy listening to a certain type
music that most Americans would would
have a really difficult time listening
to and vice versa Sri Lankan would be
horrified at what people doesn't do in
Los Angeles but while that's changing
due to global pressures that there's no
doubt that that culture plays an
incredible has an incredible impact and
the stories of a culture in our culture
I was raised as a Christian and in the
Christian culture we're taught that Eve
basically is the cause of the fall of
man which is alien to the Islamic belief
but it's central to the Christian belief
and this is why many Christian women are
post Christian women have abandoned
Christianity because they don't like the
idea of praying to a father they don't
like the idea of a male God and this is
something that is alien to Islam Islam
has no understanding of a male God God
is is beyond male and female God's
attributes are exalted beyond human
attributes we don't anthropomorphize God
God is called a king in the in the
Corin Milic which tends to be a male
attribute he's also called alwa dude
which is the the word for a loving wife
he's also called a rock man
which is the merciful coming and the the
word for womb is derived out of that
word yeah man so that the Muslims have
always understood that there are what
are known as Jamali and Jalali
attributes of God beautiful and majestic
and they've always seen them in terms of
that women are a manifestation of divine
Beauty and men are a manifestation of
divine majesty and outwardly and
inwardly it's reversed inwardly women
have divine majesty as as the the
attribute that's manifesting in them and
any woodenly men have divine Beauty
that's the way it's supposed to be I
mean that's these are healthy I'm
talking about healthy cosmological
understandings when people are are
living as a dynamic people that one of
the things that can happen to human
beings according to the Quran is they
can be reduced to lower than animals and
you see it out there look at the human
beings out there look what there's a
billboard now for a movie that shows a
man with a holding onto the tail of an
elephant and it's the whole idea that
human beings are animals he's telling
them that and what how do they have
behind that know what is a whole other
program I think because all he would is
Hollywood is I think you know they say
artists are the antennae of society
Hollywood is letting us know where we're
going there they're a symptom Hollywood
is not the disease Hollywood is a
symptom the fact that we have allowed
these things to to purvey permeate our
consciousness how do you think we have
allowed that to happen yeah Hollywood
can't exist if people don't buy the
tickets to their films and and watch the
programs and by the corporate rubbish
that they're that the people that own
them sell do you think that if
became more involved in Hollywood that
things could change no I think it's a
horrible thing Hollywood will change
them they won't change Hollywood
American Muslim women are beginning to
pick up a momentum of being more
involved in the public arena and to have
their voices heard and you may see this
as our wish to become more like men
however is it wrong to be seen in the
public eye if our intention is to do
good for the Ummah well I mean you're
putting those words into my mouth I
wouldn't see it as becoming more like
men I think women have responsibility in
fact I personally believe that if women
don't have indignation about what's
happening to their children about what's
how many to their societies and if that
indignation does not motivate them to
literally do some serious measures to
take serious measures to enact a change
then things will get worse I think that
that women have immense power and
immense potential to do good and to be a
transformative element in society and
women are half the the the human
condition and and there needs to be more
female influence on the world I think
part of the problem with the world is
that there's been too much male
dominance too much male influence and
it's had a very unhealthy impact we call
the earth mother earth and that's not a
Western idea that's actually an Islamic
concept as well the Prophet Muhammad's
allies in him in a hadith in Fulani said
this earth is your mother and I think
the fact that raping and pillaging of
the earth which is going on right now
all over the planet is symptomatic of
aggressive male energy and that if if
that male energy is not tempered by the
humanizing element of the female of the
mother of getting the milk of human
kindness that we will continue to do
this until we destroy the
viability for human life on the earth
and I think that the criminals behind
that will be men they will not be women
unless we see women as complicit in the
crime by their silence so I I don't
believe that at all I think women have
to do something and and and I think
they're signs of that I think that
there's women in this culture that have
done extraordinary things we have a
history of women not just in the West
but in the Muslim world that that was a
beautiful story of an endo to seeing
woman she was a poet who was so
distressed by the tyranny of our
governor in her province that she wrote
a poem to the Keita and in the poem she
she said what do you say about a
shepherd who's eating his flock and and
she the poem was so powerful she sent it
through a messenger to the Caliph and
when he read the poem he was moved to
tears and he actually went to that City
and ascertained indeed that the governor
was oppressing the people and he removed
him and that was from the poem of a
woman that is a beautiful display of a
political dissent at the highest levels
and shows you the sophistication of the
people not just the moon but the
sophistication of the women to actually
protest in poetry and to have that
poetry move the ruler to the degree that
he would do something mm-hmm was a
testimony to what type of people they
were it's talking a bit about issues
where women seem to not have as much
power as you could say as far as in
Jordan an average I think it's 30 women
at an average of 30 women a year are
killed in honor killings
I'm where's the justice in that well I
mean there isn't any justice there I
don't you know the question is that's
all right there's no Jeffs what honor
killings what what see that how can
this song that has no concept of that
the Christian Arabs do that Mexicans
used to do that but the reports are not
I mean this is this is those reports of
it in Pakistan this used to happen all
over the world this said this happened
in Christian countries this is just a
situation that exists existed in many
parts of the world that doesn't justify
it that the fact that it still exists in
that part of the world is only
indicative of the fact that that
familial honor is still an extremely
important if not a central element to
those societies and a woman's chastity
is still considered something that is at
the essence of the honor of the family
as well as the chastity of a male but
because it tends to be a patriarchal
culture and because of the fact that
women when they lose their virginity
there are physical generally physical
signs of it and certainly pregnancy can
occur whereas with a man a man is more
veiled than a woman in that situation
that in no way does it mean that a man
who commits fornication or adultery is
any less condemnable than a woman
they're both terrible breaches of divine
comportment that I would say that the
Christians have the same concept in
their ignorant
societies Arab Christians have done this
so there was an Arab Christian that
killed his daughter in Chicago this
occurred in the United States it's a
very sick thing to do I find somebody
would have to be a really sick human
being to be able to to kill their own
progeny but in America there's been over
20 million abortions and the only
difference in America is that they say
well these are unborn you know so I
think before Americans start pointing
the finger at thirty honor killings in
Geor
let's look at 20 million babies that
have been killed in America all right
really I mean America is a very it's a
culture of amazing paradox and do you
believe the fact that women are now
allowed to vote in Kuwait regardless of
the outcome is a encouraging encouraging
indicator a woman's movement here yeah
well like the bumper sticker says don't
vote it only encourages them I don't
know I mean you know the idea of Muslim
having a vote or not I were the first
country to give women to vote who was
Egypt in the 1880s the Americans didn't
have there was one state I think it was
Wisconsin that gave women to vote in the
19th century his only state there's only
one state in America you know maybe all
the feminists should move there or
anything
that there's no other in America the
women to get the vote to the 1920s
mm-hmm when the Constitution was there
was an amendment yeah to giving in the
vote but the idea traditionally in a
traditional culture was one family one
vote that was the idea it wasn't the
idea that women didn't have the right to
vote it was there was another saying of
a family unit but generally that family
would support and if you have a husband
and a wife that are voting for different
people I mean you've got a serious
problem in your family right in other
words there's a real conflict that is a
conflict I think that's a very deep
conflict that's not a superficial
conflict and they should have maybe done
a poll before they got married to see
how they would vote or something like
that because that's going to indicate
some compatibility and many marriages
have ended in divorce because of
Republican and Democrat splits so you
know do you think the woman that
shouldn't know I don't I mean I think
voting the the whole idea of voting is
it's there's a magical element here this
mystery of I think that the last
election in the United
States indicated the the reality of the
vote in this country I mean people are
trying to wonder are we living in a
banana republic in the United States
when when a presidential candidate can
get the popular vote and you lose the
election well I have to wonder what well
why am i voting hmm I mean seriously why
am i voting all right so I don't know I
mean I don't if men are gonna vote I
think their image should suppose why not
I don't know problem with that I think
it's just logic that I think we have to
question the entire see for me I I want
to question the whole system I mean do I
really I don't federalism is a very
strange form of government I think to
have Washington DC dictating how Irvine
should run their local I think people
locally should decide their own people
say without shoving it into the local
community I mean I would I'm a
libertarian when it comes to that type
my position you know just let let people
locally decide what they need to do if
people locally want to have prayers in
school why can't they have prayers in
school if you've got a hundred percent
Christian community in in Idaho they
should be found the government tell them
they can't add 25 minutes before they
start their classes whereas if you have
Hindus and Buddhists and Jews and and
and and secular humanists or a Marxist
that say they don't want to have that
will have five minutes of silence and
everybody can do what they want where
they can do their homework or something
but this idea of dictating the people
like these are these potato wise men to
learn it elders are going to dictate for
us how we should run our families and
our societies I think that you're an
infant for seven years of your life and
then you begin to take responsibility
and by the time you reach adulthood if
you haven't worked out what you need to
do
you've either been poorly raised or
something seriously wrong with you what
challenges do you think we women face in
this society today
I think women need to decide that for
themselves I think that I would say the
for me that challenges that women face
are the challenges that men face we're
wearing this together we're on the same
planet half my my family I'm married I
have a wife and I have children her
concerns are my concerns and my concerns
are her concerns and I think if you're
in a relationship that's healthy that's
that's the way it should be so I think
that what's out there in terms of the
society is as detrimental to men as it
is to women I really believe that I
think that men are up against as much
difficulty in trying to be human in this
world as women if not more if not more
okay then we appreciate you being with
us this hour and thank you very much
thank you
you