Traveling to the Middle East As A Solo Woman

I recently traveled to MENA for the first time (Middle East/North Africa) and holy sh*t the things we take for granted in the West! I've traveled to many developing countries, especially betore covid. And we have come so far as for womens rights compared to the Middle East since theyre like 100 years behind in women's rights, and they don't allow feminism there in a male dominated culture. Its a 'family culture' meaning if you aren't part of a family or have children as a woman, youre seen as a derilect, so being a single CF woman is way easier in the West. I want to list the pros and cons of Middle Eastern culture below for reference:

Cons:

-Gangs of young unemployed men who travel in gangs and have nothing better to do than Leer and catcall women in the streets. A lot of them also made hissing noises at me that sounded like a snake 'Pssss psss pssss' just to get my attention. I had to put on my NY look and just act unfazed and keep walking with purpose

-Men yelling at women if they show any skin and even throwing stones at women because 'muh culture'

-Only males run all the shops and stretch markers ther, barely any women working in businesses so it was uncomfortable shopping and constantly having to bargain with men instead of women to buy sh*t

-Being targeted and seen as 'easy' just for being a white Western woman cause that's the only race I guess they see in p*rn, even though it's hard to access it uncensored in those countries

-Other Muslim women being cold to you thinking you're there to steal their men lmao. You can have those scrotes!

-Being seen as a prostitute for traveling solo and not traveling with a male relative or spouse

-If you don't have children or a husband you're also seen as a wh*re

Pros:

-They don't believe in bf/gf, you're either married or your relationship isn't valid. This means men will commit unlike In the West where men can easily access s*x outside of marriage. Dating doesn't exist in MENA and women arent allowed to date which I think actually helps protect them from men

-Men and women are separated in schools, mosques, and other areas which I think is great and they don't believe in the whole gender inclusive BS like in the West. They believe in equity, not equality between men and women, and believe men and women have different roles. There's no 50/50 BS and men are 100% the provider in the relationship

-They focus on romance a lot more in their music and culture and the society isn't hypersexualized or pornified like the West. The women have some dignity at least and aren't seen as sexual objects as much as here.

-The men will stare and Leer but dare not touch yiu as it's considered against Islam to touch a woman. So in that sense I felt more respected as a woman in the US, where white men will just hug or touch women and not respect them as women

-Overall relationships are taken more seriously and women arent seen as s*x objects to use and discard like how Western men view women due to easier access to s*x

-Women are more protected it felt in general as they're instructed not to talk to male strangers outside of family or their spouse so the men were shocked I even talked to them, but they see you as easy if you talk to them even since Muslim women typically ignore them

-Anti LGBTQ, homosexuality is considered illegal in many ME countries I know I'll get bashed for this one but I don't think it's culturally moral to promote or try to force homosexuality on people like we do in the West. Sodomy is illegal, but they dont prosecute lesbians I heard so gay men are arrested but lesbians aren't. I think this is smart since so many downlow bisexual or secretly gay men murder their wives by sleeping with men behind her back and putting her at risk for contracting HIV.

-It's illegal to have s*x outside marriage (a win for women and forces men to have to commit)

-Takes their belief in God and religion more seriously than in the West where we don't adhere to our religions or faiths we follow or take it as seriously

-Most people even men were hospitable and had me try the street food and free coffee and showed around to some great restaurants and other places and even offered some home cooked food at their house (obviously not going to any strangers house but ok)

-I was told the extreme staring was just because they hardly ever see white women in their country and they think I'm beautiful

Anyway that's that! Overall, I felt more respected as a woman in an Islamic country than I do in the US. These places aren't as 'backward' or regressive as we are brainwashed to believe in the US media that demonizes Islamic cultures. They actually have some intelligent politics like banning sexual degeneracy and alcohol, i wish we did that here. I felt safer and less afraid of being touched or raped, despite the staring by men. The men there definitely have a fear of touching a woman which is great! I'd recommend at least traveling there once since the food, history and overall hospitality is mind blowing and has way more soul than most Western countries. Also the Arabic language is beautiful in both song and writing.