Reply to Muslim women speak out against the hijab as an element of political Islam

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
You never answered - would you talk to a covered woman like this in real life? For real? Will you tell her to her face she's brainwashed, subjugated and gullible? Or are you just a keyboard warrior?[/quote]

I never wrote those things... gosh, you really need to get a grip.[/quote]

I would add that very, very few posts on this thread were "Western women wear booty shorts and get STDs" and "Muslim women are subjugated and brainwashed!" type.

Those stupid posts are there but for the most part it is a pretty interesting, respectful discussion.  Not sure why you are working overtime to derail it.[/quote]
There's actually quite a few posts of "hijabis are subjugated, brainwashed, gullible and oppressed", and in case you missed it, there's no discussion, just a bunch of ladies sitting around congratulating themselves.  Discussions happen when differing points of views are exchanged.[/quote]

Actually, way back on page 21 there was a list that got up to 15 reasons why a Muslim woman might wear a hijab.  Additional reasons were actively solicited, but this is where it stood:

Reasons Muslim women wear the hijab

1. It is required by law
                2. Their families or husbands force them to
                3. They (erroneously) think their religion requires them to
                4. Peer pressure from their friends
                5. Protection from harassment in the street (Muslim majority countries only)
                6. Desire to show they are pure
                7. Increase marriage prospects with men who want pure women and take the hijab as a sign of that
                8. To wear a symbol that proclaims Islamic pride
                9. To wear a symbol against Western neo-colonialism
                10. As a show of Islamic feminism that believes the hijab is a rejection of the objectification of women
                11. A mortification practice that they believe brings them closer to God.

Reasons 1 through 7 probably cover 90 percent, likely more, of the cases and are the reasons why most of the posters on this thread dislike the hijab. Reasons 8 through 10 are tiresome, but okay. Only 11 would be legitimately religious but even then one would have to say why this particular practice? Why not fast one day a week as a non-hijabi Muslim woman I know does? How about engaging in good works? Giving extra zakat?

Have I left out any other reasons?

12. Because as a woman you can't enter a mosque without one (only explains a part of Fridays)
            13. It's easier to get away with doing things you are not supposed to because your parents suspect you less (teenagers only)
            14. They look cute with those skinny jeans and skin-tight long-sleeved blouse, accessorizing nicely with the eye makeup and lipstick colors.
            15. Hijab means never having a bad hair day.

Some of these go into the brainwashed, gullible, oppressed bin, but reasons 8 through 15 (acknowledging the last three are a bit tongue in cheek) do not.

It would be nice if these reasons could be expanded on or added to, but all we are getting is drivel about hair being sexual, Islam not having a linear idea of equality, and Western booty women having STDs (even though the rate of chlamydia in Iranian women is 20 to 35 times the rate in US women).

As stated above, reasons 1 through 7 probably cover 90 percent of the cases of hijab wearing.  Number 3--the religion requires it--has been conceded by just about everyone on this thread to be erroneous. Also, just about everyone has agreed that the grandmothers of today's hijab wearers (outside the Arabian peninsula) way more likely than not did not wear a hijab.

So, we are left asking, if Islam does not require it and the hijab culturally has not been worn for generations why are told so adamantly today that the hijab is the proper dress for Muslim women?  You, dear PP, have tried to shut off this conversation at every turn even though this is an eminently reasonable question.  [/quote]

Good grief, PP, go spend some time with your husband or kids. To write this much in one sitting you must have way too much time on your hands. Don't you have a job? No spouse? No kids? No friends? Can't you spend your time volunteering for the Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity then?

I am the Muslim PP you are probably referring to. I have explained time and again my own reasons and many Muslim women's reasons for preferring to wear hijab. All I can say is reread this entire thread with a pen and paper and jot down the reason, because each time you finish reading my reason it appears to have escaped your brain again. At least if you write it down on paper, you can look at it to remember.

The conversation is closed with this: even if you find factual proof that women have never worn hijab for religious reasons, many Muslim women would still prefer to wear it today for modesty reasons. [b]It makes them FEEL more modest. [/b]

Digest that thought. Now please do yourself a favor and get a life.[/quote]

I'm glad PP took the time to summarize the points discussed on this thread. Reading through them makes me realize that not one point is valid.

Modesty - or this need to appear modest - again places the onus on the woman, and that's really the heart of this discussion.  dictionary definition of modesty -the quality of behaving and especially dressing in ways that do not attract sexual attention

We place the blame on women for showing too much "body" and thus, attracting sexual attention.  That's not modesty; that's imprisonment and brainwashing. Furthermore, this belief also empowers men.  "I can rape her b/c she was showing too much skin. She was asking for it."

It's no different from the mentality of any rapist, which is to use any excuse to overpower women.  Islam fails to enlighten men.  Is that how you want to raise your sons?  to pass judgment on young women who show too much hair?  to blame them for being too sexually attractive?  to empower them to harass or worse yet, harm women?

There's a sick theme that runs throughout Islam and to be fair, throughout many religions - that sex is dirty, that women are either Madonnas or whores.

Until we have PPs (like the one above) who continue to point out these silly and dangerous beliefs, we won't move forward AS WOMEN.

I'm sorry if the truth hurts.

[/quote]

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