Why do some non-muslims think that when a muslim woman chooses to wear the veil she is oppressed?

Question

Why dont they see it as freedom of expression?

DR Z I have read your answers for other questions, you seriously need help!

The Taliban are not ruling anymore and still some muslim women are choosing to wear the veil in Afghanistan, interesting!

Where in the middle east do women get beaten????

yes they do LIMBO!!!

elmjunbur you have some real misconceptions about muslim women and covering. Try again!

By the way some of you need to visit the middle east to get a true picture of life there.
Stop falling for the stereotype images you find in the media. It 2006 liberate you minds.

Answer 1

because she is forced to wear veil by the men.the very purpose of veil in the beginning was to protect body from desert cyclones. even male Arabs cover most of their bodies.

Answer 2

You're partly right. If a Muslim woman chooses to wear an outfit that completely covers her body, she certainly should be permitted to do so. If she loves to sweat and smell under all those black robes in the blistering sun, that should be her own business.
BUT, what if a Muslim woman living in the Near East would rather let the wind blow through her hair, and feel the breezes on her lightly covered body. Does she have that choice ?
The question is not what a woman wears, but what she MUST wear, and what she is forbidden from wearing. In other words she has no say in the matter.
Yes we can see it as a freedom of expression. You can express any freedom that the mullahs give you permission to express. Allahu Akbar

Answer 3

It is only freedom of expression if the woman chooses to wear it of her own free will and it is not forced upon her by society, her family, fear, or cultural rules. I have seen Muslim women wear the veil in my city and thought nothing of it. When I see images of other countries where every single woman is wearing it, it appears there is no choice. I personally believe the reasons behind the wearing of the veil makes it oppressive or not.

Answer 4

In christianity, women were often told to cover their head to obey their husbands. So, when they see us coming with a veil, they assume it is worn as a symbol of submission to the husband. Nowhere in Islam does it say to veil for that reason, and women who choose to do it, do it because they are being obedient and trusting of their Creator. Brainwashing has alot to do with them deciding what is "normal" and "best."

It never occured to them that wearing a veil is more liberating than bikinis and that whole lifestyle, which means:

you have to wax the bikini area,
pluck your eyebrows,
dye or highlight your hair,
get extensions if needed,
spend hundreds of dollars and hours in face makeup,
wear crippling high-heels,
smile at every man even if he might be a perverted dog, and

THEN you will be TRULY "RESPECTED" (haha, that is SUCH backwards thinking. "Oh, they respect me for being a strong woman who CHOOSES to spend all my time with fake things to make me look pretty)

Funny how they have so much respect for a veiled nun, but not a veiled Muslim woman.

And, if you live somewhere where is it a rule that you must veil, this is not oppression any more than living in a country that forbids you from going around naked, or covering your chest, because some people would argue that's oppression, simply because you aren't given a choice. In that sense, every governmental rule is "oppression."

The problem is, they think its some kind of torture or cruelty to have to veil. They can condition themselves to not trip in heels but not a long dress; they can wear a wig but not a scarf. They hide their real face under a mask of unnatural makeup but a face veil is just oppressve. What nonsense is this?!?

Oh and lets not forget PANTYHOSE!!! Are they oppressive or what! No wonder many non-Muslim women would often rather dress like a man in trousers!

Answer 5

Most non-muslims do not realize that it could be a voluntary decision. Being christian I can do many things that people may find opressive to them if they were forced to do them. You being muslim could be from a sect that does not require the veil but you wish to wear one from a personal beleif. The real issue is why do people judge differences as bad or opressive. We need to all learn more about our neighbors and appreciate the differences as life enriching experiences. BTW I live in an area that has a large Muslim population and the diversity is great. You will not find a more generous or loyal friend than a neighbor from another culture so long as you are genuinely appreciative of differences.

Answer 6

A Muslim woman wearing the veil simply means that she has submitted to Allah. I know no one who thinks that this means oppression.
Now tell me; what do Muslim Men wear to show submittance to Allah?

Answer 7

Because most Muslim women don't have a choice. They cannot show their faces in public, cannot be educated and have their genitals mutilated when they are young so thay cannot experience pleasure. Yes, here in the states some Muslim women choose to wear the veils but over there they have no choice and no rights.

Answer 8

Because men do not have to wear veils. If a woman chooses to wear it without pressure from someone else, I think that is fine. For me, it gives the appearance of someone who is not treated as an equal, and that is why I would have a problem with it.

Answer 9

Because in some Muslim countries she would be stoned in the street if she didn't.

There wasn't much "freedom of expression" in Afghanistan under the (Muslim) Taliban where women could be killed for exposing their faces and men were forced to grow beards and were beaten up or arrested if they didn't.

Answer 10

Because maybe not all of them WANT to cover themselves all the time. If a muslim woman WANTS to, no that's not oppression. That's her choice. But typically in that culture a woman HAS to cover herself, even if she doesn't want to. She has to hide herself. And yah, that's pretty oppressive.

Answer 11

Covered and gagged isn't exactly the things that make us think freedom of expression. We see reports of places where women are beaten or killed if they aren't completely covered from head to foot--that also doesn't exactly give a picture of freedom of expression on the woman's part, although the men punishing seemed pretty free to express themselves.

A Pakistani woman who was a comic in England had a good story. "Someone asked me if it is true that muslim women walk ten paces behind their men. Yes, they look better from back there." I heard another say after the family was about to move to a moslem country on business, "I'm glad my wife is expected to walk a distance behind me, too close and she's likely to kick my butt for going on this job and dragging her along."

I do understand the "freedom" from immodest clothes, where women feel safer because men are imagining fun things to do to them because of some attractive piece of flesh that flashes here or there. The honor killings and equal punishment part is what astounds me. In strict countries if a woman is raped, she is punished sometimes by death and the man MAYBE gets a reprimand. The freedom of expressing justice is a little unequal I think. A man can testify in court against a woman, but a woman's witness is worth little or worthless. A man can divorce his wife for any cause, but the wife often has no legal grounds to divorce her husband no matter what he does. Don't give me that "freedom" crap.