To the Editor:
Re “Fighting for the Right to Have Limited Rights” (The Saturday Profile, June 12):
The female-led campaign against increasing rights for Saudi women reminded me of the time 60 years ago when I was a sophomore at Cornell University trying to have the women’s curfew raised from 10:30 to 11 on weeknights.
Sadly, there were many women (we called them “girls” back then) who objected. Too much freedom, they said! They feared that they’d feel social pressure to stay out later than they wanted: it wouldn’t be acceptable to come back to their dorms even if they wanted to sleep or study. And because of this, they asked the university to restrict them—and all women along with them.
How much longer until women (and men) can take full responsibility for their own lives?
Marcia Feingold
Ann Arbor, Mich., June 12, 2010
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 