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by Capt. Jamie Humphries
438th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
1/19/2012 - KABUL, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Over the last few years, physical fitness has become a focal point for Airmen readiness across the U.S. Air Force. Here, at the Afghan air force compound, nine female AAF members and one American advisor are also making it a point of emphasis in their military training and daily lives.
What began as an idea, quickly turned into reality after the group of female AAF members noticed a lack of programs geared towards women at the base fitness center. After making several inquiries, the group and U.S. Air Force Capt. Vanessa Vanden Bout, a Force Support Squadron advisor belonging to the 439th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, began collaborating on how to start a regimented fitness program with an emphasis on changing their lives both physically and mentally.
Kicking off in early January, the fitness class was initiated with a focus on learning how to work out properly and safely with an ultimate goal of educating the women about the benefits of a daily workout regimen.
Now the group, from units around the base, are training three days weekly with an option of attending the specific fitness program geared toward their individual needs.
"Thus far, we have been teaching proper warm up techniques, calisthenics, running and basic weightlifting," said the captain. "Generally, we do a warm up, teach them a few movements and then do some circuit training with them. We start very slowly as many of the girls have never worked out before."
Initially, one of the challenges facing Vanden Bout, a 29-year-old from Vermilion, Ohio, was having adequate access to a location to conduct physical training. Her goal was to find a clean, private area in which the women could conduct the training without fear for their safety or injury.
Located on the compound, the AAF has a gymnasium complete with a basketball court and a weight room, with regular classes offered during the duty day. After shifting some schedules to accommodate a class, regular meeting times were established and classes began with maximum attendance.
"Communication with the ladies is obviously a huge challenge as I don't' have an interpreter in the room when I'm teaching," explained Vanden Bout. "The ladies prefer to not have a male around when they are participating in physical training, but they are motivated and eager to learn. I know it [physical training] can be a little intimidating to them, as they haven't done most of the stuff I'm teaching before, but they do get excited to try new movements and seem proud of themselves when they tell me they're sore!"
Staying physically fit for the captain is nothing new as she has been playing sports since she was 12 years old, but adapting to new and emerging functionally based fitness programs has resulted in a better outcome with, as she explains "better results" and she hopes to pass that knowledge on to the students.
"I think this training first helps the ladies to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle and to pass a fitness test, which is important to their future careers in the AAF," said Vanden Bout, who is deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. "Second, the training helps to build camaraderie amongst the females on base, hopefully increasing retention and the likelihood that they'll enjoy their time in the military and encourage others to join."
Vanden Bout said she has already see change in the women both physically and emotionally and has also added information to her classes about their daily diets including hydration and minimizing sugar intake. She went on to say the women are motivated and in turn it motivates her to provide them the best training possible.
"I really enjoy doing this program, it is making my muscles feel strong," said AAF member Avezzo Azizi of the regional and cultural affairs office. "It is so kind that the captain is helping out. I feel it is important to do this."
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Women are at a crossroads in the Middle East and North Africa. This is widely reflected in the current battles over the adoption of quotas aimed at improving women's chances of being elected into parliaments. Although women's quotas were introduced as early as 1979 in Egypt, there are new efforts underway in the Middle East to implement them. Last year, Tunisia adopted a law requiring that party lists alternate between men and women. In a more restrained manner, Libya recently drafted an election law that gives women only 10 percent of the seats. However, the struggle for quotas has also met with resistance as in Egypt, which abandoned a 2010 quota law altogether that would have ensured the presence of 64 women in the parliament.
Quotas are not only being adopted in the legislative arena in the Middle East, they are being entertained in government as well. Recently, the Iraqi cabinet approved a quota system that requires women to make up half of all hires in the ministries of health and education and to account for 30 percent of hires at all other ministries.
Although Middle East parties and governments trail other world regions in the adoption of quotas and in female legislative representation more generally, where they have adopted quotas, they are beginning to experience modest rates of success. Middle East countries that have quotas, in effect, have over twice the rates of representation (19 percent) when compared with countries where women are permitted to run for office but do not have quotas (8 percent). In fact, five Middle Eastern countries even have higher rates of female legislative representation than in the United States, where women hold 16.5 percent of Congressional seats (See Table).
Having participated in the movements for political reform in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Iran, and elsewhere, many women's rights activists have seized on this moment to demand broader political, economic, and social rights. Conservative and Islamist forces have also been energized by recent developments, as is evident in the recent elections in Egypt, and they are among those forces pushing back against such an agenda promoting women's participation.
While women continue to confront serious challenges to their advancement in the Middle East and North Africa, there are some profound changes underway that are forcing radical transformations in women's status. The percentage of women in universities in the region increased from 9 percent to 27 percent between 1991 and 2009. There are considerably more women than men enrolled in universities in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, and Kuwait. In Egypt, women make up half the university students. It is not surprising, therefore, that women are now demanding a greater role in key political and economic institutions. Women are already visible in a number of public arenas. They make up a quarter of the judges and prosecution staff in the region. Although some of the lowest rates of female labor force participation in the world are found in the Middle East and North Africa (26 percent), the number of women in the public sector is increasing. In the United Arab Emirates, the proportion of women in the public sector increased from 12 percent in 1995 to 66 percent in 2007.
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