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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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 Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:35 am Post subject: In defense of the veil |
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This is by that British reporter who converted to Islam after being held captive by the Taliban, post 9-11. She certainly doesn't come off as a brainwashed ninny, though I do think she concentrates a bit overmuch on defending Islam as she and her friends practice it, and how it was practiced in Muhammed's time, as opposed to how it is practiced today in countries where it is the majority faith. Sort of like defending the Catholic Church on paedophilia charges, by pointing out that back when St. Peter was the Pope nothing like that was going on.
She identifies as a feminist, but seems to be the type of feminist who would consider things like beauty pageants to be a significant source of women's oppression. (Most feminists I know these days just sort of shrug those off as goofy anachronisms.) Anyway, it's not too long a read, and might give you something to think about.
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In September 2001, just 15 days after the terrorist attacks on the United States, I snuck into Afghanistan, clad in a head-to-toe blue burqa, intending to write a newspaper account of life under the repressive regime. Instead, I was discovered, arrested and detained for 10 days. I spat and swore at my captors; they called me a "bad" woman but let me go after I promised to read the Koran and study Islam. (Frankly, I'm not sure who was happier when I was freed -- they or I.)
Back home in London, I kept my word about studying Islam -- and was amazed by what I discovered. I'd been expecting Koran chapters on how to beat your wife and oppress your daughters; instead, I found passages promoting the liberation of women. Two-and-a-half years after my capture, I converted to Islam, provoking a mixture of astonishment, disappointment and encouragement among friends and relatives.
Now, it is with disgust and dismay that I watch here in Britain as former foreign secretary Jack Straw describes the Muslim nikab -- a face veil that reveals only the eyes -- as an unwelcome barrier to integration, with Prime Minister Tony Blair, writer Salman Rushdie and even Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi leaping to his defense.
Having been on both sides of the veil, I can tell you that most Western male politicians and journalists who lament the oppression of women in the Islamic world have no idea what they are talking about. They go on about veils, child brides, female circumcision, honor killings and forced marriages, and they wrongly blame Islam for all this -- their arrogance surpassed only by their ignorance.
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http://tinyurl.com/yh5jou |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:44 am Post subject: |
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Oh, and I do want to comment on this...
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| Some young Muslim feminists consider the hijab and the nikab political symbols, too, a way of rejecting Western excesses such as binge drinking, casual sex and drug use. What is more liberating: being judged on the length of your skirt and the size of your surgically enhanced breasts, or being judged on your character and intelligence? In Islam, superiority is achieved through piety -- not beauty, wealth, power, position or sex. |
The part I highlighted strikes me as a bit of a false dilemna, as if all the western world offers women is the opportunity to be judged according to breast size and skirt length. |
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