I was watching Barney today with the kids. The Barney crew were imagining they were in Lebanon. A woman with a full headscarf and abaya walked by so Layla, a young friend of Barney, said:
"Barney, is she wearing a costume?"
"No, Layla, lots of people in Lebanon dress like this. It's their tradition."
"What's a tradition?"
"It's something passed down from one generation to the next."
UGH. NO BARNEY! WRONG!
First, I cringed when the little girl asked if it was a costume. Does it really look that much out of place? I guess so!
And then to boil it down to a tradition. Well, Barney, yes, for some people that's what it is. But there are some women who dress like that while their mother, and their mother's mother do not. So then what is it? It's not a tradition then, huh? Well, whatever, I'm glad Barney tried to tackle the subject, but it sure was darn right simplistic.
Anyway, on to other stuff...
I was watching "The View," the other day and the ladies were all discussing why a young 22 year old would get 10 plastic surgery procedures in efforts to look better. Hasselbeck got all up in arms, pointing her finger and hyperventilating about how it was a serious problem in our country (what isn't?) and we should "get to the guts" of why this young woman and people like her go to these extremes to look beautiful. My first thought was, "look in the mirror, lady!" Then I thought, "well, ladies, Islam has a cure for this problem!" and imagined them going, "oh no no no not that." To get to the guts of it, just turn on the TV, ladies! Watch a commericial. Not to mention the Britney, the Beyonce, and the Lady Gaga. All of whom appear on the Oprah Show or some such and get lavishly praised for their "talents," which apparently must be dressed up in provacative nudity. It's so gross.
6 comments:
wow! if we were an organized people, like the mormons and the jews with really strong interest groups in DC and well organized housewives who love to go on letter writing campaigns, i'm sure we could get an apology! but until then, i guess we just have to keep correcting the mainstream stereo types...*sigh*
do you think every single person in the world who doesn't wear a hijab is some writhing, scantily clad beyonce or britney? women didn't start dressing/behaving like that in the west until after the 1960s. women didnt even start wearing makeup until the 1920s for fear of association with prostitution. to label the whole of the non-islamic world over the whole entirety of history as being provacative whores simply because they don't wear a headscarf is mindblowingly ignorant, not to mention extremely hypocritical given the many and varied traditions for scantily clad women doing sexually suggestive "traditional" dances that had been established in the "islamic" world for centuries before britney or beyonce.
and yeah, islam has a solution but so do nudist colonies (their solution being desexualization of the entire human body). it's not about you fixing problems with the best possible solution, it's about opportunistic proselytizing.
hey jemima--what the hell?! u should read my blog from the beginning. what's with your anger? so unpleasant. and yes, i think "every single person in the world who doesn't wear a hijab is some writhing, scantily clad beyonce or britney?"...NOT! and your nudist colony example doesn't make sense because the naked body is sexual. duh.
what is "sexual" and what isnt is defined by societal taboos. this creates strange situations like western muslim women in the west wearing a headscarf in conjunction with figure-hugging tight jeans, even though the hair has virtually no sexual connotations in the west whatsoever and the, ahem, butt does. this is why men in victorian england got sexually excited at a bare ankle, and men in saudi arabia still do. this is why there are countless non-eurasian societies around the world in which the female breasts are not considered sexual, with them as a result being constantly on display. i mean, they're UDDERS. to produce gross baby milk. what's sexual about that? there are whole societies in africa in which both sexes walk around routinely all day long with less clothes on than beyonce has ever publicly worn; and it's not a big deal, in fact it's not even any kind of deal, because the body has not been sexualized. it's simply extremely hot, so you don't wear many clothes.
the naked body is not inherently sexual. cmon girl, think about this a bit. do you think men in nudist colonies, or scandinavian saunas, walk around with big throbbing erections the whole time? unable to control themselves? what you find sexual is determined by the society you were raised in and the way your mind has been trained to work. and even if you were raised in such a sex-drenched society as the present-day american-dominated west, it is possible to exercise self-control and cleanse your mind. and judeo-islamic-christian notions of modesty not only exacerbate the problem, they are really the main reason for the problem in the first place. as long as you have certain parts of the body classed as sexual, classed as taboo, people will try to use challenges to your in order to gain sexual power. men will also use these restrictions as a licence to behave like sexual predators; the woman must be "asking for it". if the entire body is desexualized it is impossible for whores to even exist because there's no way in which they can do it, because there are no taboos. the only thing that is sexualized is the sexual act itself, the sexual act itself will be free to exist as the pure, spiritual, sacred thing that it should be.
if only your muslim brethren preached male self-control with as much vigor as muslim women preach female modesty (which you certainly shouldnt stop doing in the meantime, despite it essentially fighting fire-with-fire)
i'm very relieved to see that your tone has calmed down. anyhow, you're still barking up the wrong tree because my blog does not attempt to say it's okay to show off your butt as long as you cover your hair. quite the opposite. i've struggled with the scarf issue and still do. my main point on this post was that women such as hasselbeck complain that other women are so insecure about their bodies and looks and wonder why oh why are they? i tell them to look in the mirror because they are part of the problem of body image distortion in the entertainment industry, parading on tv with their T & A and glorifying the beyonce and britney types. perhaps my next post will be on how "empowered" rihanna now is since she's simiulating sex acts at her concerts now..how tough she is, so in control of her sexuality. well i think that's absurd and twisted. as far as breasts being udders and societies walking naked, they are a different issue.
And you say that in the West, "the hair has virtually no sexual connotation whatsoever." I would agree that yes even hair CAN be sexualized, just type in "how to get a sexy hairstyle" in google and see what you get.
I highly doubt that everyone in the modern world can de-program their brain into thinking only the sex act itself is sexual whereas a naked body is not. Men and women are aroused by body parts! And I don't think there's anything wrong with being aroused by body parts--I believe that's the natural process.
and although i can not speak for ALL of muslim brethren as generally as you can, i can say that i personally know many who do not get an erection at the sight of a women's hair or ankle or cleavage or butt--if they did--you'd have a much bigger problem than "muslim terrorism" in America wouldn't you? You'd have muslim men jumping on every short wearing, boob popping lady they see on the street. most muslim men that i know can control themselves and they even teach young boys to control themselves too--strange, huh? there's no double standard in islamic culture as far as men and women's behaviors toward the opposite sex--both genders have to keep themselves gaurded in dress and behavior. if you haven't heard about that as much it's because the women's dress is always discussed more than a man's dress--in every culture--muslim or not. How many female magazines focus on fashion vs. men's magazine focusing on fashion in america? it's at least double.
and as far as your 'asking for it' example, the issue of modesty and hijab and headscarves in my view has nothing to do with sexual predators who will no doubt attack anyone they see fit--man, woman, child, the elderly. those predators are sick individuals with bigger issues.
and i've said before that the scarf/hijab is not a way to "hide" beauty or even sexuality---it creates a mindset and self-respect and yes, it is one solution to the body distortion and insecurities that we western woman are bombarded with.
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