Bassam al Qadi of the "Syrian Women Observatory" (I know, I've never heard of them either), has written a silly argument about why he supports banning the niqab in Syria's university campuses. Not once in his article does he consider that some women would choose to wear this voluntarily. But that is fine, because it's only wrong when the "fanatics" seek to deny a woman her voice. Men like Bassam al Qadi are allowed to speak for her instead because they know what she wants before she does.
Welcome to the ugly side of Syrian secularism.
Monday, July 19, 2010
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3 comments:
I don't agree with that comment. Women who have been oppressed, suppressed, and brainwashed might very well ostensibly wear a niqab "voluntarily." But the reality is that the very idea of the niqab is denigrating to women, as it objectifies them and erases their identity. This is akin to saying that police should not interfere when a man abuses the woman if the woman refuses to press charges, or "voluntarily" accepts her abuse.
But some might say that the reason some Syrian women are sporting a Western look 'voluntarily' nowadays is because they have been 'brainwashed' by the Western ideology Nour.
So where do you draw the line? We are all brainwashed to one degree or another but is some brainwashing more acceptable than another? What determines what type of brainwashing is good and what type is bad?
algerianna
Nour you have never, to my knowledge, said anything against the opposite extreme of the spectrum. My question remains, why are we tolerating one extreme and ignoring the other? There would be sheer uproar if the Minister of Education banned women or men wearing "indecent" apparel from universities.
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