Awa/ Ndey, your prognosis about women in our society is precise and thoroughly reflects the burden that hobbles women . I agree that there is a gradual shift toward a greater aprreciation of the woman and most importantly they are increasingly breaking free from the societal fix that binds them to the very untenable position of being unhealthily dependents on others for their basic of needs. The overwhelming number of women endure tremnedous hardship as they try to meet the rigors of life . I hope we one day have a wholesale attitudinal change and begin to restructure our society and do the right thing by our women. A good start would be a clear recognition that our traditions as has been configured gives women the short end of the stick . Consequently i believe our society is much worse for it. It has inadvertently conditioned some of us men to demand any and all we believe our women owe us giving little or no regard what their reciprocal needs are. We have become very crafty at maintaining the imbalance of privilege. We hide behind tradition and religion and whatever lever works for a moment to advance the need of the time. I think the never-ending rationalization for the way we treat our women is nothing but a sorry excuse for bad behavior Karamba ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------