tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post6457989360568795916..comments2023-10-20T08:32:14.040-04:00Comments on Heaving Dead Cats: The Burqa’s Hijab DefenseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653141544095753595noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-44705952681431318852009-08-01T05:47:07.000-04:002009-08-01T05:47:07.000-04:00As a Mid East studies major, I has a lot of Muslim...As a Mid East studies major, I has a lot of Muslima friends. It cracked me up how *tight* they would wear their jeans. Sure, nothing but their hands and faces were exposed (and frankly, I usually thought their western-style hijabs were beautiful accessories). Yet they would wear the skin-tight-iest jeans and long t-shirts you could imagine. So, they pretty much looked Western in their dress style, with a hijab added at the hair. <br><br>Another friend Khadija wears the burqa. She was born in the US and raised Baptist. She honestly does not see herself as a "better Muslima" than girls who wear hijab, or leave their hair uncovered. (She's also got a great sense of humor, and cracks up when neighborhood kids call her "the ninja".)<br><br>Remember also that women covering their hair is commanded in the Bible; Orthodox Judaism (and Kabala) require it; and pre-Vatican 2 Catholic churches in the US still required it (at church services at least). If you look at images of women in the Middle East you'll see Palestinian Christian women with veils, orthodox Israeli Jews with extremely modest clothes (read: mumus) and head coverings, and Muslim women in a range from no covering to Burqa (Iran, for example, is a theocracy where hijab is *required* to be in public)<br><br>I agree that banning the burqa is not the solution; this has to be an internally-motivated change to have the desired psychological and social outcomes (instead of just fashion police). Also, make friends with Middle Eastern women; everyone I've been privileged to be friends with was awesome, fiery, and a generous friend.<br><br><a href="http://angietheantitheist.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Angie the Anti-Theist</a>Angie Jacksonhttp://angietheantitheist.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-48509194185379912022009-08-03T19:01:45.000-04:002009-08-03T19:01:45.000-04:00Thanks so much for your perspective, Angie. :) It&...Thanks so much for your perspective, Angie. :) It's definitely food for thought on this touchy subject. I don't think laws are really the way to go for most issues that don't involve harm to a person. But I don't think countries should bow down to islamic bullying and enact pro-islamic laws to satisfy them either. Keep religion entirely out of politics! But I guess in a lot of countries that must sound like crazy talk.Neecehttp://www.heavingdeadcats.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-90895479545846210902009-08-04T14:56:04.000-04:002009-08-04T14:56:04.000-04:00Well in the US sixty years ago, it wasn't ille...Well in the US sixty years ago, it wasn't <i>illegal</i> for women to wear pants, but no one did it. I think over time as more Muslima move away from hijab, the burqa will fade to just a few fundamentalists. I think it's important to bear in mind that Islam is a much younger religion than either Christianity or Judaism. They're still having "growth spurts" and they haven't yet had a reformation. The Jewish Reformation synagogue is radically different from Orthodox Judaism. Likewise there is a huge difference between Latin High Mass and a Community Bible Church. They also have some really unfortunate dogma, like the idealization of martyrs. <br><br>What a lot of people don't know is that Muslim women had certain property rights centuries before women in the US. His first wife, Khadija, was orphan daughter of a very wealthy merchant, and throughout their marriage she retained full ownership of her possessions and her business - and Mohammad was COOL with that. He also didn't start polygamy until after she died, and some of his wives were actually old women widows of men he knew, giving them certain social and economic protections. I *don't* think Islam is a good way to live (or any other religion) but I know a lot of people who are very reasonable Muslim apologists, and they aren't inherently crazier or more prone to violence than an American Christian, and I think that's important for atheists to understand. Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens both have such superficial and strident voices on the subject of Islam. It's like watching a Pat Condell video - sometimes they go too far, and I don't want to be represented by an ignorant (male) voice on the burqa or abortion, whether he's an atheist or not.<br><br>Wow - longest. comment. EVER.Angie Jacksonhttp://angietheantitheist.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-5399793198567424232009-10-04T09:16:33.000-04:002009-10-04T09:16:33.000-04:00This article is about the burqa, not the hijab.And...This article is about the burqa, not the hijab.<br><br>And for that matter, I think they are atrocious and ugly, not to mention the crime against humanity part. They need some fashion advice from some of the decorative robes in the world, and scarfs.GMNightmarenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-13209260820846564422009-10-04T09:31:12.000-04:002009-10-04T09:31:12.000-04:00I own a few hijab, from Turkey and Iran. They are...I own a few hijab, from Turkey and Iran. They are beautiful dyed silks. I appreciate them because they are nothing other than a pretty scarf to me, but if I was pressured to wear it or lived in a country with different rules for men or women, I might see it instead as a shackle, not a scarf.Angie the Anti-Theisthttp://angietheantitheist.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2352648376305239677.post-7957301993666970172009-10-05T23:31:23.000-04:002009-10-05T23:31:23.000-04:00Yes, I agree. They are shackles.Yes, I agree. They are shackles.Neecehttp://www.heavingdeadcats.com/noreply@blogger.com