Islam has always fascinated me. When I was little, I found the muezzin’s calls from the mosque near my house beautiful. I loved to just sit outside, close my eyes and listen. As I grew up, Islam had other significances. Islam was my friend, who happened to have ‘Osama’ as a part of his name and you can imagine the discrimination he has faced. Beat up by mobs, spit at and completely humiliated, he left America last year. Islam was my Hindu friend who found out that she was actually adopted from a Muslim family. She cried more because she had Muslim roots than because she was adopted. I slapped her across the face. My best friend. The poor girl. Islam was the most misstated in that ridiculous History curriculum I wrote of earlier. Islam is my friends from Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, Qatar, Bahrain and the list goes on. And of course I have Indian friends from all different religions. So what’s my point? That Islam didn’t make my first friend a bad person, he endured more than any human being could have and he still didn’t let go of his faith. Islamic roots didn’t hurt that Hindu friend, whose doing fine now and is actually thinking of converting to Islam. And those friends I have, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them. Yea, I just felt the need to affirm their normalness.
I go to the mall once in a while with my friends. We’d be a group of girls just walking in the mall, sometimes loud and sometimes quiet, but no matter our mood or our noise level, we always seem to attract unwanted attraction. “Hey beautiful!” men, or perhaps I should call them boys, would yell and crowd around us, “Wanna come over tonight? I have a king.” No, I don’t. I can’t stand it. Sometimes I feel like I hate the other half of the population because of this. Sometimes I can’t imagine that there actually is a male who doesn’t do that, who doesn’t judge me solely on my appearance. Yes, I am oppressed. I’m oppressed that the size of my breasts, the tone of my skin or the shape of my lips hold more value than my intelligence or hard work. No matter what you say, here in the Western world or even in a country like India, even the most esteemed of women are judged by a sexual innuendo. No matter how we dress, how quiet we are, how hard we try to be unnoticed, the fact that we are female outstands all those efforts. On the other hand, I find Muslim women blessed and liberated. With the power of a burqa or a niqab or even a hijab, Muslim women are liberated from being judged only by the aforementioned. They can now hold a stand based on intelligence, piety and personality. That is true freedom.
On July 22, 2009, the French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, claimed that burqas are “not welcome” in his country. “In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity.” Excuse me while I laugh. This ‘social life’ thing has been brought up before. Italy’s Romano Prodi said that banning niqab is “common sense” because it (niqab) makes social relations “more difficult.” Again, what do they think? Have they even talked to a Muslim woman before? If seeing a person completely is a requirement to have a social life, ban text messaging-we’ll see how long American teens can last. And phones, faxes, letters, emails, IMs and even radios. Social life, my foot; that’s the excuse to use when there really is no reason at all except pure ignorance and discrimination.
Sarkozy wants to liberate women. Who’d have thought that he’s today’s best Susan B. Anthony or Betty Freidan? What is liberation? Binge drinking, porn, casual sex and TV shows that demean the value of women to be only that of a sexual toy. Or, being respected for yourself without the barrier of a physical appearance if you choose. Being free from unwanted eyes, free from eve-teasers, free from those aspects of womanhood in the modern world that I hate. I don’t know about you but I choose the latter. To Sarkozy, “fermez la bouche! Vous ne savez pas que vous dites.” (who’d have thought 5 years of French would actually be useful?
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Well written!!!!!! You made an exceedingly significant point here!!!!! Good!!!!
You are taking it in a wrong manner. i agree d way in which men react at times is pathetic but you cannot justifiably generalise it as a trait. As far as the burqa goes, it is an attempt to liberalise women from the tyranny of a religion dominated by men. It is easy to say that you will prefer a burqa but when you will be forced to wear it everyday everywhere like a ghost because a feudal religion says that it is good, you may not like it that much. It will be the first symbol you will protest against. Why are you giving up? Instead of wearing a burqa why dont you try to challenge such men or find ways to do something about it? Im sure an intelligent woman like you will be able to come up with some simple but effective ideas. Why not give it a try and put it up as your next post? I will be more than happy if you can do that.
Thanks for reading and thanks for the comment.
You deemed Islam as a “tyranny of a religion dominated by men.” And there ends your knowledge on Islam. From the beginnings of Islam, at a time when Christianity ordered women to be silent servants-the descendents of Eve’s sin, Islam granted women liberty. While the olden Christian ministry claimed that women are sinful from birth, Islam gave men and women EQUAL chances of salvation under God. It teaches that men and women are equal in God’s eyes; a teaching many other religions took so long to understand (and some still don’t). True oppression is labeling a woman under a burqa’s black cloth as being oppressed, dominated, forced without understanding that it’s her CHOICE. Islam is not a feudal religion and everyone is not forced. Of course, there are women who are forced, oppressed and completely dehumanized. But… there’s abuse in every religion, culture, country. If we can ban burqas, we need to ban so many other things. Should Brahmins be somehow “banned” because of the plight of their widows? Should Buddhism be “banned” because Buddha once talked about how evil exists in a woman’s soul from birth? Should Orthodox Christianity be “banned” for not allowing female priests? Where do we draw a line? It’s not the religion or its aspects that have to be changed but rather people’s minds. Oppression occurs because the oppressors are ignorant and the oppressed are silent. That is what needs to be changed.
And I do challenge men. Every day of my life. I think, as both a female and a minority, this is the smaller piece of the pie. And I’m neither going to sit here and let things by nor sit here and complain, of course I know there are things to do.
Hi. I agree with your point that those who want to wear a burqa by choice should be allowed to do so. I think that its a valid point as everyone has a right to live the way they want. Im also not contradicting what you have said about Islam as i am not that well versed about the subject. But i dont agree with you if you tell me that it is not dominated by men presently and women’s human rights are not violated in the name of Islam in many countries; and that too more ruthlessly than anywhere else. In so many Islamic countries women are not even allowed to vote. Frankly i would not like to live in a place like that. And i agree we have problems with other religions as well but justifying one problem on the basis of other is something i dont agree with. You are right that oppression occurs because the oppressors are ignorant and the oppressed are silent. If you think going behind the veil will help you change the mentality of some men, i think you are going in the wrong direction. The real revolution will happen when women will come out of the veil and decide to fight against the oppressors; both religious as well as social.
social emancipation doesn’t happen from behind enforced veils. truth is what starts as a liberating practice actually gets manipulated as a tool to control with – be it in any religion , political thought or ideology.
I agree.. but the thing is, not all veils are physical. I mean, I believe that I’m currently under an enforced veil too.. though not a material veil. Restrictions are not limited to one particular religion or community. I believe that we’re all in many ways controlled, none of us have freedom.. especially in terms of women’s rights.. but it’s the individual’s right to choose. Forcing a so-called “freedom” on someone else is just as much of a veil.
Wearing Burqua or not is somebody’s personal decision. Nobody has the right to force someone to wear or not to wear it.
But to say that Burqa saves women from eve teasing…?! It’s UTTER RUBBISH!
“Cover your whole body so that you won’t get ogled at” she says!!! “Don’t talk to men so that they won’t take advantage of you”, “Never leave home so that you won’t get raped!!” If you think the first ‘advice’ sounds sensible, I guess you would agree to the following 2! It’s basically the same eh?
When somebody comments on you you are supposed to react! We need more Thasni Banu’s. Not women who curtail their own freedom.
Wow. Okay, was not expecting this post to be randomly found. =D
I haven’t reread it but I can guarantee that I will never ever say that I support forcing women to wear a burqua. Or for that matter, forcing a woman to wear jeans. She should always get the freedom to choose. And that’s what this article was about- the freedom to choose. If she wants to wear the burqua, she should be allowed to. No country or government should be able to forbid that.. that’s all I was writing about.
I do not agree with people who say that women get raped or oggled at because of what they wear.
I do not agree with people who claim that women should be somehow “protected.”
I am all for true freedom. But that freedom should include the freedom to restrict yourself if that is what that particular woman wants for herself.
(This is actually really funny. Because I’m all for Slutwalks and Thasni Banu’s! I guess this came out wrong? Weird.)
Arrghh…
I think I’ve never misjudged a person like this in my life! It was a total blunder and I’m really sorry for that.
And I totally agree with you, banning burqa is an unacceptable intrusion to one’s personal freedom just like forcing to wear it is. And such a decision from a republic government is really bizarre! Well, Sarkozy is pretty good at doing bizarre things, ain’t he?!
And I don’t think I’m the only one to be blamed for this misunderstanding
I mean, in that post your sympathy towards burqa kind of silenced your opposition to the ban. Maybe my mind only digested part I wanted to hear 
I reached your blog via Manoj, and I read your post in the same context as his status message(http://www.facebook.com/odunghat/posts/10150271313792630). As a teenage boy who raises his voice for sexes, I always get very frustrated when women restrict their own freedom. And I got blind with anger and all I wanted to do was to throw dirt on you. Hope you’d understand 
I went through your other posts, and I really feel ashamed for the way I judged you before. I apologize once again. Continue your good work. Cheers!