Libya’s rebels: Hubba hubba!
Forget being a doctor, lawyer, or banker. The real catch for Libyan women in post-Qaddafi Libya are the revolutionaries.
In the time of Muammar Qaddafi’s regime (and his backwards refusal to support normal opportunities for Libya’s young people), men had a hard go of it in the relationship department. Thanks to scant job prospects, low wages, lack of educational resources, and the tradition of living at home well into adulthood (think Matthew McConaughey in “Failure to Launch,” but living under an eccentric dictator instead of the friendly exasperation of Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates), young men figured things like getting married and owning their own homes were out of their grasp.
But now, according to a fascinating new story by Ellen Knickmeyer on the Foreign Policy website, these same men are now the real catch in the country: Thanks to the nationwide rebellion, Libya’s awkward, basement-dwelling dweebs are now gun-toting bad boys, and ladies are swooning.
“We saw them as lost youth, unemployed,” Rahana el-Gadi, 19, told the magazine about men of her generation. “Now we were surprised, so surprised to see what they’re capable of,” she added. “We dream of the day they come back, and we welcome them.”
And now cell phone jokes are being pass around Libya regarding the “newfound eligibility of the young civilians turned fighters.”
“Forget doctors and engineers: We want to marry a rebel,” one of the messages goes. “Looking for a rebel to wed?” another asks: “Press ‘M’ for a husband from Misrata, ‘B’ for a husband from Benghazi…”
And since it’s well documented these revolutionaries know how to use online dating sites, a Libyan marriage boom can’t be far behind.
