Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Tickle Me El-Mo
Many Muslim women, including many in western cultures, state that they prefer to follow hijab as a sign of their faith and submission to Allah (not to men), and so that all Muslim women are respected equally rather than for their appearance, and as a matter of social responsibility. Hijab, say its supporters, provides women higher levels of sexual security and protection. Consequently, it encourages men to respect women for their chastity, modesty and obedience to God.
As a matter of social responsibility as applied to Arabic societies that used the hijab as a cover from harsh environmental conditions and then transferred it into a religious symbol of purity and chastity and obedience to their Islamic faith; but, I do not think it should apply to societies that do not have such a historical and traditional relationship with the covering from head-to-toe doctrination of the hijab.
I'm not sure how they measure higher levels of sexual security and protection and the assumption that it entails the male population to look at women as chaste and meek;
The two thoughts are based on the Arabic traditions of polygamous sex; multiple wives, multiple slaves/concubines, and women as the inferior in the male-female relationship....however, it tries to solve this by decreeing that men should now see women as "chaste, modest, and obedient", and as a result, their actions should have positive repercussions on the women they have around them. From what I've experienced, women are not respected(neither legistlatively or socially) in this male-dominated society, and I cannot imagine them being respected in Arabic nations, except perhaps parts of the fanciest cities in the latter nations. One could argue that because people do not listen to the doctrine, they do not adhere to it, then, they do not represent the Islamic way. But, I think that's too easy an answer, and it thwarts the main causes of the disrespect and inferiority that women face, daily.
