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Description
Women and politics in the history of Yemen, past and present is the focus of this essay, and it sheds light on the evolution and devolution of women's rights for over 3,000 years in the Arabian Peninsula. Starting with Bilqis in the 10th century B. C. to the queens of the 15 century and ending with the "Arab Spring" of 2010, the ways in which the nature of these rights is consistently interrupted by violence will be explored. The main contention of this paper is that women's rights were ultimately dismissed in Yemen since the 18th century British colony dismissed the role of law and implanted force and a "learned culture," which expelled women from their natural role in sociopolitical leadership. Chapter one introduces the historic region of Yemen and women's political heritage in the larger Arabian Peninsula. Chapter two discusses Yemen's history in terms of ancient politics and women's rule. The Queen of Sheba's democratic or "shura" rule is examined closely because of its influence on Arab politics throughout the ages. The legacies and contributions of subsequent queens of Yemen are also discussed through the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the consolidation of Arab political rule. Chapter three discusses Yemeni women's political alienation because of British colonialism, which started in the early 1800s. It focuses on how traditional Yemeni culture was supplanted by British culture, and this fundamentally changed the roles and rights of women. Chapter four is on the Yemeni revolutions of 1962 and 1967 as well as the covert war the British fought against Yemeni revolutionary nationalists. In addition, U.S. neocolonialism and the Cold War made a heavy impact on Yemeni women and their political rights during this period. The impacts of the U.S. "War on Terrorism" and the "Arab Spring" on women's activism in Yemen are also analyzed. The great number of wars fought in Yemen in such a short period of time led to further alienation of women and the creation of governments that did not rule with the people's best interests in mind. Chapter five summarizes the role of women in Yemen's political history and offers a look toward the political future for Yemeni women
