what are your ideas about what their lives are like?
(this is for an essay on western stereotypes about shi'i muslim women in the middle east-- I'm gathering stereotypes. So obviously you don't have to actually know anything about what their lives are actually like to answer this question... just what you assume their lives are like.)
thanks
2007-11-04 05:07:53 · 20 answers · asked by Sarah 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You guys need to be more judgmental so I have more material for my essay!
just kidding. mostly. Thanks for the opinions.
2007-11-04 05:17:18 · update #1
Hopefully I can help you a little.
One of the parts of my job is to dispell stereotypes against the Middle East. Here are some of the most common stereotypes and misconceptions against women who wear the veil:
They are oppressed.
They are brainwashed.
They are controlled by their men.
They can't speak their minds.
They are uneducated.
They are traditional in all aspects of thier lives.
They live in abusive relationships.
Men tell them what to do.
They don't understand that they can wear whatever they want.
Most countries in the Middle East don't force women to veil. Some don't let women in government positions veil (Tunisia and Turkey). Some do have laws regarding dress. Saudi Arabia requires women to wear the abaya, which is a loose black overgarment, with a headscarf. Saudi Arabia does not require women to cover their faces. (I know, I have been to Saudi Arabia!)
Some women who veil are feisty, and feminists. They don't take any crap from men, and are doctors and lawyers. Some women who veil are very traditional in all aspects of their lives, including their family relationships.
You can't determine a woman's personality based on whether or not she veils, although it seems many people try to.
2007-11-06 05:35:22 · answer #1 · answered by pdx_girl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't have a problem with it. Most Muslim women who wear the hijab do so by choice, and its purpose is to preserve modesty.
In some Middle Eastern countries, it is the law that they must wear it. I don't hold with that, because I think that opens the way for oppression of women, if you can force them to dress a certain way.
If I were visiting a Middle Eastern country with strict dress codes for its women, I would wear a headscarf, even as a tourist, because that seems to me the polite thing to do. Besides, they're pretty.
2007-11-04 05:27:57 · answer #2 · answered by Chantal G 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
If they want to wear the veil, then good for them. Why should anyone stop them. Well I assume that the average woman in the middle east who wears a veil is probably someone who stays at home, looks after children, cooks and cleans, however that isn't a bad thing. They are not harming anyone and they are doing it for their religion and not for men.
2007-11-04 05:13:03 · answer #3 · answered by Hope 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
In their own countries, I suppose it's necessary because their men have been raised to be "horn-dogs." They see a woman and get all "turned on" just imagining women's freaking ankles! No wonder women hide behind ridiculous squares of fabric over their noses from that! Muslim mothers don't smack their sons upside the head enough when they think or say something sexist about their sisters or other females. Sexism needs to be addressed seriously over there.
But it annoys me when women wear that thing in the west because:
1. Like the Captain said, they think they're "all that" and a baklava ...and they judge ALL western women as sl*ts instead of thinking maybe they, themselves, are just a bit too bloody religious than is sane. "Modesty" is HIGHLY over-rated. I'm more impressed by confidence and self-security, unaccompanied by a hood to hide under.
2. They don't HAVE to wear that veil in the west! We have laws that protect us from unwanted advances! Men in the west look but very rarely "touch" because they were raised properly, to be gentlemen, and they are NOT ALL horn-dogs, like Middle Eastern men behave!
A man in the west appreciates a woman's beauty, but if he were looking at a Muslim woman and another woman walked by, he would so be enjoying the beauty of the next one and forget all about the Muslim girl. lol Men in the west ALSO recognize a woman for her "brain" whether she's covered in cloth OR NOT!
I don't know if these are stereotypes as much as 'exaggerations,' but I believe it's a stereotype that Muslim women MUST wear the veil all the time because of their religion.
If you read all the questions and answers in YA about this subject, you will probably conclude that Muslim women wear veils, often out of fear. NO WOMAN SHOULD HAVE TO LIVE IN FEAR OF MEN. Men are for being friends with and having laughs with and loving.
.
2007-11-04 06:39:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
its not the law of the land you stupid people if that was the case why are so many women walking around unveiled in Saudi arabia?
oh wait, thats my second point, we are not forced to wear the veil, otherwise why are so many muslim women working/walking around minus the veil?
the women are free to make their own choice
2007-11-04 11:43:20 · answer #5 · answered by deen.queen 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My wife wears a hair covering and she is simply being observant of 1 Corinthians 11 from the Scriptures. This is simply a restated possition of the Covenant Yahweh made with His people. The veils of Islam and the Catholic church come from paganisms sex worship temples,,,,temple harlots.
2007-11-04 05:13:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
If they choose to wear a veil, then more power to 'em.
If they are forced to wear a veil, or suffer ostracism or stoning, then it is wrong, and the people (usually fundamentalist males) that are forcing them to wear veils need to have their attitudes enlightened.
2007-11-04 05:14:55 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Live and let live.
Its their culture. I cant judge them.
My problem lies with the fact that these women think that ALL women in the west should cover up so this leads them to have an aura of superiority about western women. They also dont understand that in the west, women CAN get rich and happy without a man.
2007-11-04 05:12:18 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
The Quran requires that they cover their beauty.
I think this serves two purposes. It shows obedience and reverence for their established religion that they take seriously.
It also removes temptation from other men who would want the women of another man. What you cannot see, removed desire. The temptation top sin is removed.
Rev. TomCat
2007-11-04 05:14:10 · answer #9 · answered by Rev. TomCat 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
well take this from a muslim woman:
this veil offers me freedom rather than oppression and i really feel sorry for all the people who say that the veil is a sign of oprression- one of the western stereotypes,
so that's my thoughtse.
2007-11-04 05:19:58 · answer #10 · answered by another day of school 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋