Jezebel: kuwait

Golden Girls

Dodai — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:15:00 EST

[Al-Ahmadi, December 23. Image via Getty.]

Kuwaiti young girls perform during a celebration marking Kuwait Oil Company's (KOC) 75th anniversary in the city of Al-Ahmadi, about 40 kms south of Kuwait City, late December 23, 2009. AFP PHOTO/YASSER AL-ZAYYAT (Photo credit should read YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

Parliament Spunkadelic

Anna — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:10:00 EDT

[Kuwait City, May 31. Image via Getty]

Kuwaiti MP Salwa al-Jassar laughs as she attends the inaugural session of the new parliament in Kuwait City on May 31, 2009. Kuwait held a general election on May 16 in which four women were elected for the first time and the number of Islamist deputies was cut by half. AFP PHOTO/YASSER AL-ZAYYAT (Photo credit should read YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

A Dune With A View

Anna — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:10:00 EDT

[Kuwait City, May 14. Image via Getty]

A woman and a child sit on a beach as a heavy sandstorm engulfs Kuwait City on May 14, 2009. AFP PHOTO/YASSER AL-ZAYYAT (Photo credit should read YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

Middle East Recruitment Gives New Meaning To "College Girls"

Dodai — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EDT

A story in today's International Herald Tribune discusses the fate of women's colleges in this country. Specifically: Bryn Mawr, Barnard, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley and Smith. "In the 1960s," writes Tamar Lewin, "there were some 300 women's colleges in the United States; now there are fewer than 60." Sure, these schools boast accomplished alumnae like Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Emily Dickinson, Diane Sawyer, Katharine Hepburn and Madeleine Albright. But most American high school girls never consider applying to a women's college. However: There are a record number of high-achieving applicants, thanks to a recruitment effort by the admissions deans of these schools. The deans went where single-sex education isn't so weird: The Middle East. But! It's not always an easy fit:

Lewin writes, "Pasangi Perera Weerasingag, who attended a coeducational British-model high school in Dubai, said that when she arrived at Mount Holyoke last year, she was shocked by the presence of so many lesbians among the students."

Ms. Weerasingag adjusted and now loves the environment at Mount Holyoke. "At the beginning, there were times when I'd have to close my eyes and say, 'O.K., I'm at Mount Holyoke, and it's different.' But that lasted only a week or so, and now I have so many friends who are openly gay, and it makes no difference," she says. Other prospective students see freedom in single-sex schooling, "My options of traveling to the United States are limited by my conservative upbringing," says Ascia al-Faraj, a student at the American International School in Kuwait. "But the chances of attending one of the Sisters schools is more likely."

This seems like a win-win situation. But on one hand, isn't it sad that the Sister Schools — historically and culturally important — have to struggle for applicants? And on the other hand, is there something super effed up about the concept of women's colleges if religious conservatives are attracted to them?

Recruiters For Top Women's Colleges In U.S. See A Bounty In The Middle East [International Herald Tribune]