Womens rights and the Veil
My parents, to their eternal credit, raised their daughters (my younger sister and I) to be independent, self-sufficient women. Whatever we set out to do was doable if we worked hard and believed in ourselves. We would never have to rely on anyone to provide for us. Oh yeah - and we (like our parents) are never shy about sharing our opinions on the issues - something my poor liberal mother now regrets and she now has 2 very conservative daughters!
Needless to say, as a result of our upbringing, I look at religion - especially Islam - from a decidedly feminist point of view! That is one reason why this column resonated with me.
"The clothes that women wear, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, are a powerful political statement about where they're at; about the amount of freedom, self-esteem or independence they possess."
That is a very true statement. All I have to do is to look at my own wardrobe over the years - as I struggled with my own self esteem issues. When my self esteem was at it's lowest, I wore lots of dull drab colors and clothing that allowed me to "blend in" with the world around me. As my self confidence grew, I started wearing brighter colors and designs - clothing guaranteed to capture the attention of passers-by. My clothing choices have never been immodest, by any means, but I do dress to impress when needed. All that said, I agree 100% with the statement;
"The veil, and the full-length gown, the jilbab, is a form of dress that deliberately makes women undesirable by hiding their form and their features. It desexualises and disempowers; worse still, it implies that women must cover up to prevent tempting men, thereby removing from men any need to take responsibility for their actions."
I know that there are many who claim that they have "chosen" to wear the jilbab, but if it were a true choice, then we would not have the honor killings of girls who choose to not wear traditional garb or those who try to leave Islam, would we?
I think author Salman Rushdie says it best (in response to the Jack Straw controversy);
"Speaking as somebody with three sisters and a very largely female Muslim family, there's not a single woman I know in my family or in their friends who would have accepted wearing the veil.
"I think the battle against the veil has been a long and continuing battle against the limitation of women, so in that sense I'm completely on [Straw's] side. "
The discussions that we are having are long overdue. If we are going to live in a "peaceful" world, then the followers of Islam need to pick sides. You need to cast your lot with the radicals or with the West. If you choose to cast your lot with the West, then you need to speak up (as Mr. Rushdie has done many times) against those that wish to return the whole world to their version of paradise - a 1st century paradise where men ruled and women were chattel.
Needless to say, as a result of our upbringing, I look at religion - especially Islam - from a decidedly feminist point of view! That is one reason why this column resonated with me.
"The clothes that women wear, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, are a powerful political statement about where they're at; about the amount of freedom, self-esteem or independence they possess."
That is a very true statement. All I have to do is to look at my own wardrobe over the years - as I struggled with my own self esteem issues. When my self esteem was at it's lowest, I wore lots of dull drab colors and clothing that allowed me to "blend in" with the world around me. As my self confidence grew, I started wearing brighter colors and designs - clothing guaranteed to capture the attention of passers-by. My clothing choices have never been immodest, by any means, but I do dress to impress when needed. All that said, I agree 100% with the statement;
"The veil, and the full-length gown, the jilbab, is a form of dress that deliberately makes women undesirable by hiding their form and their features. It desexualises and disempowers; worse still, it implies that women must cover up to prevent tempting men, thereby removing from men any need to take responsibility for their actions."
I know that there are many who claim that they have "chosen" to wear the jilbab, but if it were a true choice, then we would not have the honor killings of girls who choose to not wear traditional garb or those who try to leave Islam, would we?
I think author Salman Rushdie says it best (in response to the Jack Straw controversy);
"Speaking as somebody with three sisters and a very largely female Muslim family, there's not a single woman I know in my family or in their friends who would have accepted wearing the veil.
"I think the battle against the veil has been a long and continuing battle against the limitation of women, so in that sense I'm completely on [Straw's] side. "
The discussions that we are having are long overdue. If we are going to live in a "peaceful" world, then the followers of Islam need to pick sides. You need to cast your lot with the radicals or with the West. If you choose to cast your lot with the West, then you need to speak up (as Mr. Rushdie has done many times) against those that wish to return the whole world to their version of paradise - a 1st century paradise where men ruled and women were chattel.
posted by The Lady Logician at
7:08 PM
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