The second debate touched on women's right's - but briefly. The fate of Malala Yousufzai may extend the issue - but to who's advantage?

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In the second Presidential Debate, a pointed question about women in the workplace and corporate America's "glass ceiling" was asked of Mitt Romney, but while President Obama addressed the issue by acknowledging the presence of a glass ceiling, Romney sidestepped the issue by saying he had hired more women to staff his cabinet than any other state government. 

Oh, and he mentioned flex time.

The issue was about women's equality in the work place, not the amount of jobs offered to qualified women, nor about allowing women to juggle work and home. There's a big difference. 

Romney's answer typified his party's treatment of the question of equal rights for women: let's not talk about it. Instead, "let's give them "flex time" to enable them to deal with the kids at home (who, by the way, they should be dealing with first anyway, say the likes of Phyllis Schlafly). 

Malala

Four thousand miles away,  Malala Yousufzai is lying in a hospital in London fighting for her life after having fought for Muslim women's rights: 

"The Taliban's   attempted assassination   last week of Malala Yousufzai, 14, has sparked outrage inside Pakistan and around the world, transforming the young blogger into an international symbol of defiance against the radical Islamist group that continues to wield influence in parts of Pakistan."

This tragedy was probably followed by Pam Geller whooping and hollering with glee, painting all Muslims as "savages."*

Islam's treatment of women is a favorite theme of everyone who shrieks when they see a burka: Islamophobia and fears of "creeping Sharia Law" are fed to Americans on a regular basis by featuring women's oppression, but to what extent is Islamophobia used to cover up America's failings in terms of equal rights for women? Who will Malala become a martyr for? Women's rights advocates or Islamophobes? 

Romney's Secret War

In a devastating expose,    Horror Stories: Mitt Romney's Shameful Record with Mormon Women , journalist Geoffrey Dunn (The Lies of Sarah Palin) has focused on Mitt Romney's treatment of Mormon women and what he thinks of women's roles:

      "In another incident Romney threatened Peggy Hayes, a divorced single woman, with excommunication when she resisted his orders to give her infant son up for adoption to an LDS adoption agency.
'He told me he was a representative of the church and by refusing, I was failing to comply with the church's wishes and I could be excommunicated.'

     Hayes took Romney's admonition as a threat. She felt attacked, even intimidated. Moreover, it was insulting: "He was saying that because Dane [her son] didn't have a Mormon father in the home and because of the circumstances of his birth--being born to a single mother--then the expectation of the church was that I give him up for adoption to the church agency so he could be raised by a Mormon couple in good standing."

The Contraception Debate

Perhaps the only social issue in the debate was one which Romney glossed over: contraception. Obama handily made it into an economic issue, but also said that Romney's stance was "not the kind of advocacy women need." The mention of Planned Parenthood and contraception in the debate will surely create an uproar in misogynist circles: the issue touches on who owns a woman's womb, and anti-abortion foes like Randall Terry will lead the call for President Obama's head on a platter come Nov. 6. 

Will Malala Win?

The use of Malala Yousufzai in the quest for women's rights will undoubtedly help in Pakistan, a nation struggling against the confines of radical Islam and the Taliban. The use of Malala Yousufzai in the quest for women's rights across the world, however, may be skewed in its use as a hammer against Islam and Muslims and even in the Presidential race where Obama has been perceived as an "appeaser" to radical Islam. 

Malala's writing/blogging focus in the last four years has been on the trials of a girl getting an education (a subject which Obama constantly brought up during the debate), but her true cause may not see the light of day in the America of Mitt Romney's misogynistic making.

*The debate about Pam Geller's NYC subway ad continues:

Authors Website: http://sacredcowsmakethebesthamburgers.blogspot.com

Authors Bio:
Rev. Dan Vojir is has been writing/blogging on religion and politics for the better part of ten years. A former radio talk show host (Strictly Books €" Talk America Radio Network) and book publisher, Dan has connected with some of the most interesting people of our time: Steve Allen, William F. Buckley, Alan Ginsburg, Armisted Maupin, Anne Rice, Grace Slick, Bishop John Shelby Spong, Patricia Nell Warren, and Betty White.

He is also an ordained minister in the ULC and has studied extensively on the subject of the Bible and homosexuality. Additional articles can be read on his blog, The Devil and Dan Vojir.

Future goals and activities: a new ministry focusing on reaching personal spiritual levels without the outside influence of proselytism or evangelism called The Church of the Inner Preacher. This ministry will be included in a new website The Devil and Dan Vojir.

Vojir's main goal: to root out hypocrisy in religion and politics. "If only one person is saved from being killed or bashed by inane bigotry, then I'll have accomplished what I was put on earth to do: To Live and Help Live."
http://sacredcowsmakethebesthamburgers.blogspot.com