Posted on 06/30/2010 12:42:49 AM PDT by Maelstorm
Are hijab and women incompatible? Are the two contradictory? Is the one enemy of the other? At least that is what is believed in the west. Isn’t that?
Nothing has been as much discussed as those of women among men. So has been the argument about their dress, i.e. what they wear and how they wear?
Indeed, women’s clothing has always been in debate among public. It has generated immense controversy, raised countless speculations and has attracted both modernists’ and traditionalists’ views alike.
The issue has not yet died down. Just as early as June 17, 2010, an article ‘Dressed to Distract” about why men are distracted when women dress differently was published by The New York Times. It raised pertinent questions about the magnetism and sexuality of women and the reason why men are trapped into.
“Aesthetic allure is evolutionary, after all”, the author, Maureen Dowd, argued. She reported: ‘… a 33-year-old single mother, filed suit against Citigroup, claiming that she was fired in August from the Citibank branch at the Chrysler Center for looking too sexy’.
“Plaintiff was advised that as a result of the shape of her figure,” her lawsuit reads, “such clothes were purportedly `too distracting’ for her male colleagues and supervisors to bear.”
The author further investigated: ‘Lorenzana recalled that her supervisors obsessed over what she was wearing, “saying things are too tight, you cannot wear turtlenecks.’
“I said, ‘You are discriminating to me, because of my body type,’ “she said with a slight accent and a breathy voice. “This is genetic. What am I supposed to do?”
“My life has been hard my whole entire life. People have this misconception that, ‘Oh, you do well in your life because of your looks.’ No, I am harassed.” (The New York Times, June 17, 2010)
What is remarkable in the reporting is that the author deliberately skips a solution to emerging challenges faced by women at offices owing to her being 'too provocative' by wearing short dresses…an accepted lifestyle in American and Western culture.
Unarguably, tight and unethical outfits do generate the lewd glimpse of men toward their sexual counterparts, and the current reporting, undoubtedly, reinforces that argument.
The spontaneity of response to such unfairness meted out to women automatically turns the debate on why women wear hijab in the Arab world or why at all hijab is a necessity in Islam for women once out of their closet.
The natural pull between the opposite sexes is innate. There is considerable evidence that suggests that human sexual orientation is genetically influenced.
Women are different. They are attracted to a man based on what can best be described by Anthony Storr, a renowned psychiatrist as ‘neurotic attachments’ that triggers attraction.
Jung went further, and suggested: ‘There is feminine anima in a member of the opposite sex, and are attracted by what they recognize as the unconscious and hidden part of themselves’.
Further to add, the researchers, led by Prof Mark van Vugt and Johanna van Hooff of the University of Amsterdam, and Helen Crawford of University of Kent, examined the human bias towards looks by conducting a series of tests on 40 people.
The subjects, 20 women and 20 men, were hooked up to a machine that recorded brain activity and were then given a task to perform. While they're doing the task they were shown a series of photographs of faces of the opposite sex, ranging from attractive to ugly.
Men were easily distracted when they saw a pretty face but women stuck to task, the study revealed.
He added that the findings showed that men's desire for women was part of evolution.
The Koran, Islam's holy book, took notice of this difference in sexuality between men and women long back, and thus guidelines were offered concerning clothing.
‘Tell the faithful women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not display their beauty except what is apparent of it, and to extend their scarf to cover their bosom’. (Qur’an, 24:3)
The guidance is further revealed:
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies. That will be better that they should be known so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Qur’an, 33:59)
What is the purpose of hijab? Is it a sign of obscurantism or liberalism? Sara Bokker, a former actress, model, fitness instructor and an activist, remarks: ‘I AM an American woman who was born in the midst of America’s “Heartland.” I grew up, just like any other girl, being fixated with the glamour of life in “the big city.”
Eventually, I moved to Florida and on to South Beach of Miami, a hotspot for those seeking the “glamorous life.”
Naturally, I did what most average Western girls do. I focused on my appearance and appeal; basing my self-worth on how much attention I got from others. I worked out religiously and became a personal trainer, acquired an upscale waterfront residence, became a regular “exhibiting” beach-goer and was able to attain a “living-in-style” kind of life.
Years went by; only to realize that my scale of self-fulfillment and happiness slid down the more I progressed in my “feminine appeal.” I was a slave to fashion. I was a hostage to my looks.
As the gap continued to progressively widen between my self-fulfillment and lifestyle, I sought refuge in escapes from alcohol and parties to meditation, activism, and alternative religions, only to have the little gap widen to what seemed like a valley. I eventually realized it all was merely a painkiller rather than an effective remedy.
One day I came across a book that is negatively stereotyped in the West – The Noble Qur’an. I was first attracted by the style and approach of the Qur’an, and then intrigued by its outlook on existence, life, creation, and the relationship between Creator and creation. I found the Qur’an to be a very insightful address to heart and soul without the need for an interpreter or pastor.
I bought a beautiful long gown and head cover resembling the Muslim woman’s dress code and I walked down the same streets and neighborhoods where only days earlier I had walked in my shorts, bikini, or “elegant” Western business attire.
Although the people, the faces, and the shops were all the same, one thing was remarkably distinct – I was not – nor was the peace at being a woman I experienced for the very first time. I felt as if the chains had been broken and I was finally free.
I was delighted with the new looks of wonder on people’s faces in place of the looks of a hunter watching his prey I had once sought.
Suddenly a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Finally, I was free.’ [Currently, Sara is Director of Communications at “The March For Justice,” a co-founder of “The Global Sisters Network,” and producer of the infamous “Shock & Awe Gallery.”] (www.ccun.org: Cross-Cultural Understanding, Opinion Editorials, November 2008)
The word "hijab" comes from the Arabic word "hajaba" meaning to hide from view or conceal. In the present time, the context of hijab is the modest covering of body.
Whatever the controversy concerning hijab, the fact is that it prevents men from treating women like sex objects. It is, in essence, a liberating force that makes them be evaluated for intelligence and skills instead of looks and sexuality.
Hijab further acquires its new meaning and value in the fast shrinking moral life of an individual whose only survival mechanism sails through ‘dare to bare’.
> Sorry about your dad being stepped on by the FBI. I’ll bet
> he came here to get away from Mussolini.
Yes, he was sent/brought here by relatives on both sides of the Pond to get away from abject poverty and totalitarian oppression.
However, my dad was NEVER bitter about his experience with the FBI. It was extremely mild compared to what Mussolini would have done.
My dad LOVED his new country, America. There were no bilingual programs, so he learned English pretty much on his own by reading the Italian-American newspaper, which had an Italian side and an English side reporting the same stories. He spoke about 5 Italian dialects (some of which are languages in their own right, with their own literature and culture), and, though he always has a trace of an accent, he quickly learned to speak English fluently.
Like all immigrants, he supported the Democrats until the Union asked for money for Truman’s campaign against Eisenhower’s challenge. My dad loved Eisenhower for the humane way in which he treated my dad’s relatives back in Italy, more than a few of whom were in the Italian military. Eisenhower was infinitely more humane than Mussolini!
When my dad refused to give money to support Truman, the union revoked his membership, effectively firing him.
My dad became a Republican and started his own business. He worked like a beast of burden, gave the rest of the family gainful employment, and put his kids in college.
My dad was the typical immigrant success story of the last century.
The way women critize them are far worse than the way men critize them.
I will concede that the women in the photo look far more stylish than the “eyes only”, tent-like hijabs you see in some countries. That being said, I STILL think the women in the photo look very much alike (and, yes, interchangable). Enforcing that kind of conformity, even if it comes in multiple colors, is offensive to me as a man and (I believe) unacceptable to almost all Western women.
I still have to chuckle that on bad hair days they can be advantageous to old ladies...:O)
That’s interesting. Well, I can’t speak for women since I’m not one.
I get a bit fed up, though, by those adolescent-boy-in-grownup-body types who make the rest of us look bad, and will do my part in “policing our own” - for what it’s worth.
I’ll leave it to women to address the women’s side of things.
Most people walk around with little more than underwear, and you want to make a law to punish those who cover up?
You must have me mistaken for another poster. My comment was in reply to your post about Amish and Mennonites wearing head scarves. You might want to reread my post #22.
I don’t care what people wear as long as it’s voluntary. I certainly don’t advocate more laws, we have enough already.
Creeping Shar’ia anyone?
No. Modesty is a choice; the burka is a political, total personhood control statement, tidied up by political correctness in the name of a ‘faith’ that isn’t a faith, so much a lifestyle. How about the Muslim women who DON’T want to wear the veil? Where is their choice? Do they get to ‘walk away.’
No.
If an Amish woman chooses to leave her neat little bonnet at home and go ‘english’ she really doesn’t have to look over her shoulder, for the rest of her days, that a Fatwa has been placed upon her for ‘dishonoring’ the males in her family.
Accepting any little parcel of Shar’ia is accepting all of it.
The redhead is hot and the blond one isn’t too bad either.
> I certainly don’t advocate more laws, we have enough already.
Agree 100%.
For every law that a lawmaking body wants to pass, they should be required to repeal TEN.
There are hundreds of thousands of laws on the books, most of which are not even enforced.
Outside of the most egregious crimes, traffic laws and drug laws, few of the hundreds of thousands of laws on the books throughout the land are even enforced.
Other than national emergencies or exigencies, Congress should only meet once every 6 years, shortly after the election. The Congress should be made up of citizens who HAVE REAL JOBS in the Private Sector. After the session ends, they should go home to their jobs. They should only be paid for the time that Congress is in session, because the rest of the time they should be working REAL JOBS in the Private Sector.
Supreme Court decisions should be UNANIMOUS, or at least a Super Majority. I believe that would hurt us less in the long run.
The Executive should have very little to do with “domestic” issues, but rather should be PROTECTING THE BORDERS and THRASHING OUR OFF-SHORE ENEMIES mercilessly until they GIVE UP.
Or is walking around 1/2 naked real liberation?!
I’ve done that a couple of times. Apartments where I was living a couple of years ago, there was a blond woman with two little blond, blue eyed kids who married some slammite and started walking around in one of those things and she made the mistake of getting into an elevator with just her and myself, I mean that line somehow or other gets their attention...
I think you believe all women look alike.
"You have seen my wife, right?"
For every law that a lawmaking body wants to pass, they should be required to repeal TEN.
When I was in high school so long ago I’d sometimes do a paper on law. The local courthouse law library had one pamphlet size copy of city ordinances. State law was one volume. Federal law and regulations occupied one shelve.
Now look at what we have.
I think you believe all women look alike.
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