2006年VOA标准英语-Poll Finds Muslim Women Admire Western Val

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
06 June 2006

The Gallup Organization has found many Muslim women admire western values, but do not necessarily want them applied¹ in their culture. These findings come from analysis of data Gallup collected in its 2005 poll of the Muslim World, with a focus on the attitudes of women in eight predominantly Muslim countries.

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The data came from face-to-face interviews with women in eight countries, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

 

A Muslim woman   
  

Gallup Muslim Studies executive director Dalia Mogahed calls this the first wave of polling the organization is doing in Muslim countries. "By the end of 2006, we will have interviewed Muslims in up to 40 Muslim countries, covering 90 percent of the global Muslim population," she said.

Of the poll's findings, Mogahed said strong majorities of Muslim women in nearly all of the countries surveyed believe they deserve the right to vote, the right to drive, the right to work outside the home and the right to serve in government. She said many respondents also expressed admiration² for political freedoms and legal gender³ equality they see in the west.

But Mogahed added that, while the respondents expressed admiration for some western values, they did not consider these values necessary for the development of their society. "Muslim women did not choose 'adopting western values will help Muslim progress.' In fact, this statement was least often associated with the Muslim world. The statement most often associated with the Muslim world was "attachment⁴ to spiritual and moral values is crucial to their progress," she said.

She said Muslim women have a perception of women in the western societies as free, but surrounded by and degraded by things like promiscuity⁵ and pornography. "While American and western women enjoy legal gender equality, there is a certain cultural degradation⁶ of women that they don't favor. So, there are certain things that are admired in the west, but other aspects that are not, that they don't want. This perception is likely taken from Hollywood films, which are, of course, consumed readily in the Muslim world," she said.

Mogahed also cautioned that Muslim women need to be careful because those who are considered too pro-western could also face a backlash. "Associating gender equality with the west or with western values will actually alienate⁷ the very women, we're trying, or one might be trying, to reach, and, at the same time, actually energize⁸ those who oppose women's rights in the Muslim world, in the name of cultural guardianship," she said.

A 2005 Gallup Poll found that many American women named gender inequality as the thing they admire least about the Muslim world. Mogahed said for Muslim women, gender issues are not a top priority, compared with what she described as other issues of economic and political freedom.

1 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

2 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

5 promiscuity   

n.混杂，混乱；（男女的）乱交

参考例句：

• Promiscuity went unpunished, divorce was permitted. 乱交挨不着惩罚，离婚办得成手续。 来自英汉文学
• There is also no doubt that she falls into promiscuity at last. 同时无疑她最后也堕入性乱。 来自互联网

6 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

7 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

8 energize   

vt.给予(某人或某物)精力、能量

参考例句：

• It is used to energize the city.它的作用是为城市供给能量。
• This is a great way to energize yourself and give yourself more power!这种方法非常棒，可以激活你的能量，让你有更多的活力！