From time to time in recent years, the complaint has been voiced that “women’s studies” have gone far enough: panels on women at professional meetings are de rigeur. though the subject matter is becoming somewhat tedious; articles and books on women are proliferating, though they seem to be increasingly repetitive; and furthermore, it is argued, there is nothing intrinsically interesting or problematic about women per se. As for investigators whose interest focus on women in the Middle East, they have been called opportunistic, capitalizing on the feminist movement in the United States, and have been accused of imposing feminist concerns and sensibilities on Middle Eastern societies.

Women are a single element in any society under discussion. The recent focus on Middle Eastern women as women, their roles, positions and general behavior, has been an attempt, we believe, to point out that previous western studies of the Middle East have neglected this important element. Indeed, many of the scholarly books and monographs to appear in recent years seem to have been conceived and written as though the female half of the Middle Eastern world did not exist, or if it did, was simply a minor factor with little or no bearing on the processes of the society, and thus not worthy of more than passing consideration. The reasons for this neglect have been discussed before and by now should be obvious. They need not be repeated here.

Having succeeded in obtaining the visa (which may take anywhere up to three months) and once arrived in Baghdad, the foreign scholar is pleasantly struck by the cordiality and general hospitality of the Iraqis, who seem to be eager to help the visitor and exchange ideas and information with him.

There seems to be no established procedure to obtain research permits in Iraq. The best approach is for the scholar to write a formal letter stating his credentials and research subject and to submit it to the Ministry of Information. They, in turn, will approve it and issue a letter of introduction to concerned personnel and institutions. In the case of research outside the urban centers, appropriate agencies are notified as well as the security police. In my case, I was referred to the Ministry of Agriculture which issued me a letter that allowed me to work in the villages.