Linking Hijab to Oppression of Women

[***super_nova***]

Only 44seconds video

The Problem of Linking Hijab to Oppression of Women

[Anonymous]

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@bluecat*poledancing wrote:

  100p/cent of the poplulation would agree with you.

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i know 

[donnashuggy]

I want to know why topless sunbathing has gone our of fashion.

[the_great_she_elephant]

I think before we start pontificating about why some Muslim women choose to wear a hijab it might pay us to actually ask them.

Our aversion to the practice is subjective - based on our own perception  of how we would feel if our culture dictated that we should cover our heads in public. It doesn't follow that those Muslim women who wear the hijab feel the same way.

When I was a teenager in the 1950s I and my friends all felt sorry for all those poor oppressed married  women in Russia who had to leave their babies in creches and go back into the workforce. Nowadays it is fashionable to feel sorry forthose  poor oppressed stay-at-home mums who have no careers and are financially dependent on their partners.

Until quite recently I was a practising Catholic and for most of that time I was required to wear a head covering every time I entered my church.

Did I feel oppressed? No. It was simply a religious requirement and I went along with it.

Do I look back now and realise that it actually was a form of oppression. Yes.

In school I was taught by nuns, who wore long black robes and stiff, uncomfortable head coverings that hugged their faces.

Did these women feel oppressed? No; it was a requirement of the way of life they had chosen and  they went along with it.

Would nuns today feel oppressed if they had to go back into those restrictive habits? Probably.

Did the changes in these areas come about through government intervention, or in response to the criticism of non Catholics? No; it hapened because there was a movement for change and modernisation  within the church itself. There is still a long way to go: birth control, divorce, female priests etc:, but those changes will not be brought about by outsiders shaking their heads and wagging their fingers, it will happen when Catholics themselves bring enough pressure to bear on their hierarchy to make them happen.

The same thing applies to the hijab and the niqab, when enough Muslim women decide these modes of dress are unnecessary and a form of oppression then they will disappear, but the change will have to come from the women themselves - not from outsiders telling them what to think.

And lets not forget, not all Muslim women in Australia wear the hijab, only a tiny minority of them wear a niqab and of those that do there are even some who have chosen to do so against the wishes of their more progressive families.

[village_person]

Islam is a priapic religion and the hijab is one more sign to underscore that notion.

In Coles at Westmead this afternoon a young female (?) was shopping with her mother. I would say the girl (?) was about 8 or 9 years old and she wore a hijab. Are we to presume that she studied the koran and came away with the conclusion that she should wear the hijab.

[icyfroth]

That's the thing. It's passed down from mother to daughter.

And mother would pass it on because she would be under pressure from her community to do so.

[the_great_she_elephant]

I don't know about you, but I would presume that she is being indoctrinated in very much the same way that I was as a child: it's a sin not to wear a hat in church,etc. etc. and I would hope that when she groes up and goes out nto the world she will begin to realise how absurd it all is. I would not assume that at 9 years old she feels any more  oppressed than I did at the same age.. 

[Anonymous]

Do I look back now and realise that it actually was a form of oppression. Yes.

exactly.

imagine being required to  cover 

your hair, neck, arms and legs not

only in church but everytime you're

outside of your home or having to 

cover up when you answer your door.

[***super_nova***]

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@icyfroth wrote:

That's the thing. It's passed down from mother to daughter.

And mother would pass it on because she would be under pressure from her community to do so.

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The thing is that I know number of young Muslim women, whose mothers are totally westernised, do not wear hijab, and the daughters started to wear it as teenagers and continue to wear it decade later.  Their fathers mostly do not care; one would prefer if his daughter did not wear it because he is concerned about people's reaction to her. 

My friend, who is a business woman in very high managerial position in branch of large multinational company in her country wears hijab when she is back home, but while she was visiting the Melbourne branch she did not.   

If I would go to country where women go topless, i would still prefer to wear tops.  Does it make me oppressed?

[icyfroth]

If you went to a country where you had to wear head to toe covering would you feel opressed.

[the_great_she_elephant · Accepted solution]

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@*julia*2010 wrote:

Do I look back now and realise that it actually was a form of oppression. Yes.

exactly.

imagine being required to  cover 

your hair, neck, arms and legs not

only in church but everytime you're

outside of your home or having to 

cover up when you answer your door.

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That's my whole point, Icy. You can imagine it. specifically you can imagine how you would feel if you had to do it. that doesn't qualify you to project your feelings onto those who are doing it?

Do you know any Muslim women?

Have you ever asked them how they feel about wearing the hijab? 

Because until you have you are not qualified to speak on their behalf.