interesting page on women in Islam

[snugglekitty]

I ran across this page yesterday while looking for Danish knitting patterns. (To strange a chain of causality to make up, isn't it?)

http://www.jannah.org/sisters/

I read some of the pages, mainly the ones about the veil. I found them interesting. I particularly enjoyed "Liberation by the Veil," which dispelled many misconceptions that we as Westerners have about the veil. It emphasized that most devout Muslims are AGAINST the veil being mandatory since it is a symbol of faith, and also that part of the purpose of the veil is to ensure that women are valued for their personality, faith, and intelligence, not for their looks - that the goal is to remove the physicality from women's interactions with men so that women are treated as people, not sex objects.

I have mixed feelings about this.



First of all let me say that this is all my own opinion. I am strongly in favor of people of faith doing what they feel their Deity requires. And when it requires them to go against what most folks are doing, that takes a lot of faith and spiritual courage. And I know that most people in this culture would not inconvenience themselves for their beliefs. So, to Muslim sisters wearing the veil for the sake of conviction - brava, all of you. These are only the thoughts of an outsider reflecting on the veil as a cultural phenomenon, not a religious one.

As to the veil removing the aspect of physicality - I don't think that it works that way. Beauty cannot be hidden. Even if you cover the body and the hair, you can still see the face and the hands. Even if you cover those too, you can still see the eyes and a bit of the skin. If you cover EVERYTHING, you can still see someone's way of moving, hear their voice, feel their energy. (Plus, you see their clothes.) There's nothing that can be done to keep people from judging each other based on appearance, unless you count text messaging.
Also, as mrpet pointed out, what is hidden becomes a greater focus of our attention. For example, if you want to have a private conversation in a noisy room, you can better do so by speaking in normal tones than by whispering. If you start whispering, everyone looks at you to find out what you're hiding.

I agree with this site's position that the veil being mandatory removes much of its power as a symbol of faith. If my religion became the state religion, and everybody had to go out and dance the Maypole naked on Beltane, the Maypole dancing would be cheapened. Also, used in this way it becomes a symbol of oppression rather than a personal religious choice. Not good.

One aspect of the veil that wasn't discussed, at least not in the way I'm thinking of it, was the way that the veil is a marker for tribe. In other words, when you are in your tribe, with your family, you do not wear the veil. When you are not with your family, when you are with strangers, you do. I can relate to that. I walk around my house naked and feel perfectly comfortable, even if there are people around, but I would never walk down the street naked. Even if I'm answering the door, I still put on a bathrobe. I don't want to have the vulnerability of nakedness with people who are not my tribe. Islam defines tribe by biological family, and even though that's not how my life works, I know it is the way many people's lives work in other places.

I can understand desiring to be treated as a person rather than a sex object. However, in my experience, that has more to do with respect than it does with attire. This weekend at the clothing swap a stranger came into the house while most of us were undressed, someone who knew my sister. Even though we were naked and he was a normal, not used to our customs, he treated us all with respect and kept his hands and eyes to himself. He did not assume that our dress, or lack thereof, had anything to do with him. But, on the other hand, it is harder to change people's minds than it is to change their clothes, so perhaps that is why Muslim folks see the rules as necessary.

And secondly, eliminating physicality from public interactions seems to have too much to do with that mind-body split. To be denying the body in favor of the mind, or God. It's my personal feeling that if the gods didn't want us to have bodies, we wouldn't. I mean, why would we be here? I'm sure a lot of people think that it's a test. I don't believe in a God that would try to trick us, and even if that God does exist, I'm not playing His game. (Notice how it's always a Him in those cases?)

Finally, there's the motivation for the veil to do with modesty and chastity. Those are very reasonable reasons. Personally, I'm not into them. All too often, "modesty" means "shame" and "chastity" is chiefly enforced for women. But wearing long loose clothes and a veil is certainly modest and chaste, and if those are goals for you, carry on.



It's strange to be looking into a mindset that is so far outside my perspective.

(Edit: As I was walking away from the computer, a thought came into my head, which I will now share. "If Goddess told me to wear a veil, would I?" The answer is yes.)

Comments

[tisana.livejournal.com]

Interesting take on it.

I, too, had it pointed out to me that the head coverings were out of respect for the women, not as a measure of control, but while that's poetic, it's hard for me to see it that way. Perhaps my mind is too narrow in my take on what feminism is. But I do like the idea of it being a choice to show faith.

I have mixed feelings about Islam, especially how women are treated. I figure the only way to feel more comfortable is to learn more....

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

One of the things that helps me feel more comfortable about Islam's views of women is knowing that it was actually an incredibly progressive religion for women during its inception. Muslim women were allowed to own property, refuse marriage proposals, etc long before that started happening for Christian/European women.

Unfortunately, the rates of progress were very different.

[water-childe.livejournal.com]

See, I have a perspective on veils that has nothing to do with religion or chastity. I wear veils and head scarves while at Pensic. I tend to mix Greco-Roman clothes with various Middle Easter styles. They work best, are easy to make, are colorful, and protect me from the sun. They also mask my un-period hair (too short and odd colored). There are times during the heat of summer, especially after Pensic, that I miss my veils. I sometime toy with the idea of wearing them in public with some of my more mundane clothing, because it means less greasy sun block.

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

Finally, there's the motivation for the veil to do with modesty and chastity. Those are very reasonable reasons. Personally, I'm not into them. All too often, "modesty" means "shame" and "chastity" is chiefly enforced for women.

Bravo! Brava!! I wish I could have put that into words YEARS AGO. Shows what enforced faith [catholicism, in my case] will do to a person.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Why thank you. :)