Women

As far as I understand it, women do not like to be stared at. They're not much different from men in this regard. This fact being a given, women must have it rough here. Keep in mind that women are outnumbered by men by a very wide margin, and also keep in mind the (sort of) ban on sexual relationships in the region, which adds a forbidden fruit angle added to the situation. Women are like unicorns here - if you see one it's hard to look away. That is not to say that women need to be treated like Selma Hayak in any one of her roles as seems to be the case.

When walking with some of the ladies of the Education Center I've gotten an idea of what it must be like to be a woman on base from the perspective of a woman walking (or someone next to that woman walking). Turns out it is really easy to detect the watchful eyes of everyone you pass. Perhaps they could be a bit more subtle, but when it's coming from all directions, I doubt that even if more effort was put into discretion it would much change the plight of the women.

I do try my best to not fall into the habit of staring, but it's hard.

There's a famous photograph taken soon after WWII of an American woman walking down an Italian street. The photo is called "American Girl in Italy", and I think it captures the status of women here on KAF very well.

Picture might as well be titled "Any Girl in any Setting in Which Men are not Afraid to Get Caught Staring"