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Saturday, January 27, 2007
To Veil or Not to Veil? How Many Times to Ask the Question?
The BBC speaks with four Muslim women about why they wear the veil. One, a munaqaba (full face cover), chose to wear it because it's an "act of worship" and because she doesn't trust men and wants to protect herself. Another, an Iraqi, is forced to wear a hijab at gun point. The other two are coerced into wearing it by peer pressure and social harassment.
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what is up with :Industry: Construction
I recently heard Salmon Rushdie's comment on the question of hijab and I tend to agree with it. He said that women who choose to wear it are doing disservice to the large population who are forced to wear it.
funny...
that's how I feel about make-up!
- Arianne
...Then again, women in other parts of the world who aren't allowed to wear makeup would love to if they got the chance. Iranian female university students, for instance, are punished for wearing too much makeup.
In communist Eastern Europe, many feminists liked makeup, high healed shoes, etc. because they helped display individuality in the face of Soviet uniformity. Western feminists, on the other hand, hated such things because they “sexualized” females.
In many cultures, wearing a mini skirt is "rebellious" or "feminist" because society deems such clothing immodest. Many 50-year-old Western women [my mother included], on the other hand, have less than fond memories of being forced to wear skirts as school uniforms on snowy days.
I personally hate wearing the fancy dresses that poor women in 3rd world countries would do anything to afford to buy.
My father hates neckties, yet he finds himself wearing them at times. But really, what’s so “modern” about a necktie and “backwards” about a Kuffieh? Is one more really more practical than the other? Am I missing something?
If I owned a business, I would ban all my female employees from wearing headscarves, burqas, make-up, high-healed shoes, skirts, dresses, pumps, jewelry (ok I’ll be nice--- wedding rings exempted) and pantyhose. I would ban all my male employees from wearing turbans, kuffiehs, ties, hair jell, polo shirts, suits, and loafers. I would instead require everyone, male or female, to wear three pointed pirate hats and capes. I think that would look pretty awesome. And, frankly, I don’t think it would be any less practical than the conventional attire.
Bottom line: Everybody takes his or her own culture’s fashion for granted.
- Arianne
I think the question is rather to unveil or not to unveil
ng
Philistini,
you lost me on this one.
Suzanne,
humm! I see what he's getting at, but how is our forcing women who choose to wear it to not wear it will help those who are forced to wear it?
see, too much forcing! Doesn't work.
Hi Arianne,
what do you have against polo shirts??
Anyway, I was glad you didn't add push up bras to your list : )
Your fashion plans for the world are troubling, but my son is in and was wondering if you would throw some ninja outfits in there for variety?
As to your question about the purpose of neckties: i've given that object of male clothing much thought and the best purpose I found for it is that it points towards the other male natural attachment lying south. Or is that my feminist paranoia?
But seriously, excellent points!
ng,
you wish!
haha --- I've got nothing against polo shirts.
I bet about 90 percent of the world's population think strangely of my turtle-neck and t-shirt obsession.
- arianne
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