Dr. Ruth Westheimer explores shifting gender roles and the challenges of modernization on Israel's Bedouin people in her new special, SHIFTING SANDS: BEDOUIN WOMEN AT THE CROSSROADS. The Bedouin, an Arab ethnic group with a strong sense of tradition, culture and lifestyle, retain their ancient nomadic ways despite the ever-encroaching modern world. But change is coming to the desert. Bedouin women, traditionally a group with little control over their destinies in the male-dominated society, have begun to look beyond the constraints of their culture to seek greater equality. Dr. Ruth follows the personal stories of some of these courageous women - a doctor, a lawyer, a businesswoman and the head of a weaving collective - to illustrate how their tumultuous journeys led to social and individual transformation.
