Anthropologist Carol Delaney, in her book Investigating Culture, asserts a feminist standpoint with regards to an issue about public curfews. In a chapter about the intertwining relationship between space and place, she writes:
It is important to become more aware of how space keeps certain people in and out—prisons and mental hospitals are obvious examples, but so too do courts, churches, offices, government buildings, and even public parks regulate who can enter. Who has freedom of movement? In a classroom, who can walk about? In an office, what people are “chained to their desks”? Who feels safe walking in a city at night or in a large park alone? A number of years ago when I was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the mayor put a curfew on women after dark because there had been an increase in the number of attacks and rapes. I called and asked why not put the curfew on men since they were the ones creating the problem. Why not let women, for once, have free use of the streets? (My request was not instituted.) (43-44)
Indeed, why must the women of Cambridge be forced to change their ways due to the way men feel about them? The same can be said about the use of the Muslim hijab. The hijab is intended to promote modesty and to keep men from objectifying women. However, it is an unfortunate circumstance that the women must go to these great lengths to keep from being objectified. The punishments in the afterlife are steep for those women who do not keep themselves properly covered. “It is said that for every strand of hair exposed, a woman will burn 90 days in hell. Not surprisingly, hell is imagined as being occupied primarily by women” (Delaney 261). Yet it is the men who are lusting after the women, not the other way around! Shouldn’t they be burning for their corporal sin, not the women? It is not their fault they have hair on their heads. Another note on the study of place and space and freedom of movement: Women in the Middle East are quite often forbidden from going out in public without a male figure to escort them. In Saudi Arabia in particular, women are legally forbidden to drive cars. One of the reasons for this is that driving a car may lead them to have interactions with non-mahram males (such as if they are stopped by a policeman). This extreme restriction of mobility is, in my opinion, a violation of women’s rights. While it is admirable for the men to attempt to control their urges (in both the Cambridge situation and in Islam), they are doing so by controlling the women instead of exercising self-restraint and willpower. Throughout my research I have found many justifications for wearing the hijab. They still ring true, but I also believe in the obligation of men in society to control their sexual urges towards women and practice self-restraint, so that women’s rights of freedom of movement and dress need not be curtailed.
I thought you did a very nice job of taking something from the Muslim culture and applying it to something you know. By doing so, you show the reader connections they might not have thought about at first which is basically what happened to me while reading the entry. You again used class based material and readings to further prove your point which is great. For example you used the term of objectification in describing how women are perceived to be sex objects in both Muslim and American society. I also thought it was really neat how you were able to use information we learned about space and place and apply it to the explanation of the hijab. I found this entry to be different than other entries you posted in the sense that you held a specific opinion. You felt that some of the precautions women had to follow violated their rights. By stating how you felt you were making your blog more personal and relating it to your knowledge of anthropology. Although you did have a feminist perspective, you also made it known that you were well aware of other justifications for wearing the hijab. For this entry, I can’t really say there was anything you missed out on! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog entry; I really like how you incorporated things that we had learned in class into your entry. In this entry in particular I liked how you compared the excerpt from Delaney’s book to the Hijab. It is very interesting to compare one cultural experience in Cambridge to the women being forced to wear Hijabs. You chose a very creative way to help others understand the sexism against Muslim women. By finding an incident in the US I think it made the situation with Muslim women easier to understand because it became more relatable. I do find it unbelievable that women should be punished because men can’t control their urges. I also really liked your video entry above. I think that by actually putting on the Hijab you were putting yourself in the role of the many Muslim women who must wear them. Your blog is really well written, and definitely follows the anthropological guidelines that were set out for us. Good Job!
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