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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Hijab and other coverings are a product of millennium of institutionalized violence.
To deny this is ridiculous. To not wear a hijab or some other kind of veiling was an act punishable by coercion, beating or in extreme cases death in most of Islamic society for a long time.
You can't pretend this tradition arose from choice and that modern Islamic women just up and decided to start veiling themselves one day (though I don't deny that many do wear the veil out of choice, still many, to this day, only wear it out of the threat of violence).
To be clear, I'm not advocating it should be banned or ripped off their head. It just strikes to a larger problem in society where we blissfully accept symbols of or actual oppression and control of women in the name of tolerance. I'd never judge a woman for wearing one, but I would wonder the circumstances of her wearing it. How many women who aren't raised in a tradition that teaches them should be very ashamed of their body and natural sexuality actively choose to veil and conceal themselves? Obviously some, but not many I'd reckon.
This, to me, is no different than other religious traditions that emphasize purity and modesty for women (and almost always only women). It something to be viewed as the past, not the celebriated as part of an ideal future.
ericson00
(2,707 posts)and one thing worth asking: why is the niqab/hijab so much more common than other religious traditional garb? T/R
JanMichael
(24,890 posts)It is nothing more than a control device.
Reminds me of that horrible movie the Accused. Until we start handling assholish scumbag men appropriately the only answer for women according to those most likely to abuse them is covering which is prehistoric in my opinion. Women shhould be seen as HUMAN BEINGS not chattel or possessions.