…become the Peace Corps with muscles. Or, the Peace Corps with guns. Either way, Michael Totten has a great account of going out on a humanitarian mission in Anbar province.

It’s just after dawn and he notices:

A few Iraqi women were already out in the fields.

“Women do all the agricultural work,” Lieutenant Davies said, “as well as run the household. Iraqi men are lazy. They don’t do shit.”

I heard something along the same lines from quite a few soldiers. I doubt I’ve ever been in such a masculine environment as I was during my time with the American military, but these guys sounded downright feminist when they talked about gender roles in Iraq, especially in Anbar Province which is noticeably more conservative and retro than Baghdad.

I had a similar experience in Beirut in 1973. Although the city was/is quite cosmopolitan, with many similarities to Rome, there were still old fashioned Arabs in evidence.

During the heat of the day I’d watch women hauling large bundles on their backs through the streets. Just a few feet away were massive tea houses with men sitting around smoking hookahs, sipping tea, massaging their prayer beads (not religiously, just as a habit) and talking. I rarely saw a man carrying a big load.