Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Lifting the Veil

Seems like the last week or two I've been fielding questions on the whole to-wear-or-not-to-wear the veil question. I guess what with it being an issue of feminism and religion it definitely falls in my court so here goes:

The idea, touted by Jack Straw, Tony Blair et al that the veil is alienating for non-muslims totally misses the point. The veil is not worn to create a barrier or as a symbol to show a woman's religion. The veil is worn because Islam teaches women that their bodies should not be seen because they are a temptation to men. Now pause> rewind> play>. Men are tempted by their bodies and that's their fault and they should cover up so men won't feel bad. You know if men are tempted by the sight of me in hot pants that is THEIR problem and THEY need to deal with it. The whole idea that women should blame themselves for the effect they have on men is ridiculous and offensive. It comes under the heading of well-if-you-wear-mini-skirts-you-deserve-to-be-raped school of thought and we don't believe in that rubbish.

The veil is also not required by anything in the Quran, which simply says men and women should dress modestly and women should use a their scarf to cover their bosom (not their eyes!). The idea that the hair and even the face must be covered comes from Islamic leaders - male ones - who use it as a means to oppress women. There is no end to the things that veiled women cannot participate in fully - sports, physical work, dance, theatre, and of course now meetings with Jack Straw...

I don't think we should prohibit adult women from wearing the veil if they wish to. Remember these women have been taught that they are revealing sexual parts of their bodies if they take the veil off, that's like saying women should go to work topless, which they shouldn't unless they really need the money to put themselves through college... We should however look with pity on those women who do wear it and who often do so insisting it is their own choice. These are victims of extensive long-term cultural brain-washing and intimidation from their own families and communities. These women need more contact with the outside world, not less.

As if to prove my point for me there is a very revealing interview on the BBC with Aishah Azmi, the teaching assistant who lost her job as a result of her insistance on wearing a full face veil. During the interview she is asked whether or not she wore her veil when she was being interviewed for the job by a male member of staff. Her reply is - and this is amazing to me - "Do I have to answer all the questions?". Now I put it to you that this is NOT a woman who lives her life freely based on her own choices. This is a woman who has been pushed around, who is used to being told what to do.

This case also highlights the fact that expecting school girls to wear the veil is sick in the extreme. Firstly because it teaches them that their pre-pubescent bodies are somehow sexual and secondly because they're too young to have made up their minds yet whether or not they are religious. We should never refer to Muslim children, or Christian children. They are the children of Muslim or Christian parents. We wouldn't talk about a 6-year-old capitalist or an 8-year-old existentialist. Children should be allowed to make their own decision about religion when they are 16 or 18 or older if they choose based on fair teaching, dealing in facts. This is covered in length in Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion as recommended in just about every other post I write at the moment!

4 comments:

Robert Jackman said...

I agree with alot of the stuff you've written, but don't fool yourself into thinking that Jack 'Get your face out for the lads' Straw has even the slightest concern for women's rights.
If Jack cared about women being oppressed, then why didn't he raise the veil issue with Saudi Arabia (where women are forced to wear the full veil) when he was foreign secretary? Probably because he was too busy selling Saudi Arabia weapons.
And although the veil may be a symbol of intolerance or women's oppression, there's a huge hypocrisy if we are to say 'we're a liberal tolerant nation, so you MUST be liberal and tolerant too!'
I really enjoyed reading your blog, and I'm sure my readers will too, so I'll put a link to your blog on mine.
Have a read of mine and leave a comment if you will.
Robert Jackman
:)

Cruella said...

Very very interesting Robert, I should probably publish on this at greater length. When we see other countries engaging in racism - such as apartheid - we leap to our feet, not that everybody makes a fuss but enough people do that something eventually gets done. When it's women's rights all the heads go back in the sand.

Zola, interesting stuff too. Your firends poem oddly refers to dancing. My understanding of the sort of Islamic teaching that goes along with full veil-wearing is a type of Islam in which women would not be allowed to dance.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2222409,00.html

And your point that for yourself wearing the hijab makes you feel closer to God, this strikes me as incongruous since the Quran never mentions veils. Surely it can at best make you feel closer to certain muslim clerics who advocate it.

Also of course when you say "closer to God", to me I think "easier to remain brainwashed and shut out from the realities of life which given even a little consideration would quickly lead you to atheism...".

The idea that religiously-raised children have more "morals" than those raised non-religiously seems to be to be totally upside-down. If I have children I'll teach them to assess for themselves what is right and wrong based on how they would wish to be treated themselves. You meanwhile will be teaching your children that they should follow blindly a set of laws loosely interpreted from a very old book because if they don't horrible punishments will befall them and their loved ones. I would call my children "moral" and yours "frightened".

Robert Jackman said...

Cruella - any opinions on the Cameron/Rhymefest meeting?

Cruella said...

How can wearing a veil free you from worrying about being judged on your physical appearance? Surely not being judged on your physical appearance is what will stop you worrying about it. For that to come about we need a change of culture.

Besides I assure you, wrong as it may be in both cases, you will be judged much more quickly for wearing muslim headwear than you will for wearing ordinary clothes, however sexy or otherwise.

And here are some frightened Muslim kids I've heard about recently:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/27/wturk27.xml

(murdered "for wanting to live her own life")

http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/002234.html

http://stophonourkillings.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=751

http://stophonourkillings.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=745

According to a BBC Asian network survey one in 10 Dritish Asians believe honour killings are justified if the victim has treated the family with disrespect. That is not the measure of a liberated society.