Being a Woman in Jordan

No you don’t have to cover completely or wear a burka but this is definitely a fairly conservative culture when it comes to gender relations. Girls dress pretty modestly but are still fashionable – its all about the cute patterns on the headscarves, and jewelry, and SHOES. Jordanian woman love their heels and are also perfectly groomed (you can get a mani/pedi for 15 JD which is like $17 and eyebrows done for 3JD.) I also really need to make some Jordanian girl friends who can teach me how to do eye makeup with the heavy black kohl liner.

Beauty aside…

You could see the huge Zara on Wakalat street or the huge shopping malls that are nicer than most I’ve been to in the states and assume that this is a pretty modern culture. However when it comes to women it seems very traditional. For instance girls always ride in the backseat in Taxis  - but quiet your Rosa Parks impulses for a second ladies because this is actually a sign of respect, like a wealthy Jordanian man will ride in the backseat if he has a driver.

98% of Jordanian woman wait until marriage to have sex and it is a very taboo topic. In fact, girls don’t really go out at night socially unless it’s with their male family members or a group of girls. Dating is uncommon unless your engaged.

The harrassment issue as a Western woman isn’t unbearable, but it is pretty bad. You get cat calls walking on the street and definitely stares in the supermaket. If you dress modestly it’s not bad and I pretty much just tune it out. These guys are coming from an extremely sexually repressed culture and value base so I try to look at it from that perspective – they’re not horrible or dirty people but their concept of Western women is constructed from what they see on Friends and Grey’s Anatomy and, lets face it, American t.v shows don’t exactly give us a great rep. (thanks Meredith Grey!!)

What this basically means is you shouldn’t travel alone after dark or take a taxi home after 12. If you go into a café or restaurant and there are all men smoking Shisha LEAVE because they will assume you are a loose woman at best and at worst, ummm very nice how much?