Since most of the terrorists against American targets have been Muslims,
Western media are now, more than ever, focusing critically on Muslim
beliefs and practices. Particularly puzzling seems the apparently subordinate
position of women in the Islamic world.
For Americans who pioneered women's pants, miniskirts, and bikinis,
it is difficult to comprehend that anybody would want women in public
wear the burqa, that loose, black garment covering the entire body,
with only a veiled opening for the eyes. Most Westerners see the burqa
as a weird, if not hideous, dress that hides, rather than displays and
emphasizes, the charm of women's faces and hair, leave alone the feminine
outlines of their bodies.
The few Muslim women with whom I had the opportunity to talk about their
dress code admitted that the burqa was not the most convenient dress
to wear, but they defended it on grounds of Islamic morality. Married
women are to be seen without the burqa only in the private sphere by
their husbands and their extended family. They stressed that their all-important
contribution to society is to nurture and educate their children and
provide support and comfort for their income-providing spouses.
Unmarried women also wear the burqa to discourage lecherous males from
getting them into trouble. They do not date because their marriages
are arranged by their fathers who are supposed to know what kind of
husband would be best for their daughters.
Non-Muslims who believe that Muslim women are no more than slaves for
domestic labor and male sexual gratification have obviously never studied
life inside Muslim homes where the mother often dominates the scene.
It certainly does not appear that abuse of women and broken marriages
are more prevalent in the Islamic world than in Christendom.
Besides, different Muslim societies differ greatly in the degree of
freedom they give men, women, and families. While the Saudi regime still
does not want women to drive, women in Beirut, Lebanon, wear pretty
much what they please. Nevertheless, a walk through an upscale mall
in Saudi Arabia reveals that when it comes to appreciation of fine jewelry
and lingerie, Saudi and American ladies are not as different as a burqa
is from a bikini.
While many Americans have roundly denounced the treatment of Muslim
women, practicing Muslims tend to be just as critical of American and
European women whose pursuit of sex appeal and sexual experimentation
explains to Muslims the widespread neurotic female obsession with face,
hair, and breast size. While neither Christian nor Muslim regimes have
been able to eliminate prostitution, sexual promiscuity is far more
pervasive and destructive of family values in America and Europe.
Numerous American politicians and pundits have told Islamic societies
that they ought to learn from us how to become freer and more democratic.
The people of some Muslim countries are actually making noticeable progress
toward that end. Burqas, moreover, do not keep determined women from
participating in politics and public protest demonstrations, as we have
recently seen in Palestine and Iran.
Both Muslim women and men in the Middle East have told me that when
they watch American television, they wonder whether our concept of freedom
includes the scantily dressed girls in the beauty contests, the dirty
jokes of the comedians, and the obscenities of the Jerry Springer and
Howard Stern shows. All the while, American preachers and politicians
extol American family values. Unfortunately, when America offers its
concept of freedom to Muslim societies, it is unavoidable that the package
includes the trash of Hollywood, Madonna's and Britney Spears' femininity,
homeless women in front of the White House, teenage drug addicts, and
record numbers of female felons in prison.
Surely, there are vast improvements possible for women in both Muslim
and non-Muslim societies, for the women hidden under burqas and for
the women strutting their stuff in bikinis.