To most of us, women in the Arab world are very remote and strange. It seems like they wear black long gown without any layout or fabric labels all day long."The political representation of women in the Arab world is very low," she said. "Even if we compare the percentage of their representation in politics, they will be less than the percentage we find in Africa and Latin America. The universal suffrage is unavailable for those women."

Although there are some exceptions, like Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria, women in much of the Arab world have a very hard time getting elected. In Bahrain, for example, 39 women ran for local and national office in 2002. Not a single woman won. In Egypt's parliamentary election this year, only a handful of candidates were women, and four of them were elected. The president upped the overall number of women in parliament by giving them five of the 10 appointed seats after the election. The outfits of Arabian woman are very drab; you can’t even find something such as fabric labels on their garments.

In Cairo, a man who refused to give his name was complaining about one of the female candidates in his district, and in the process demonstrated one reason why so few women are elected in the Arab world. He then seemed to realize that he was talking to two female journalists, and he added, "With all due respect to the two of you."The man is not a woman-hater. He is a good-natured tailor who customized costumes with fabric labels; he says his wife is a successful businesswoman and has no problem with women in general. His discomfort with the idea of a woman in elected office is not at all unusual in the Arab world. Many people say they are just not comfortable voting for a woman.