Lollipop culture
"It's like a lollipop--you keep a covering on it to keep it clean and nice. You don't want anything dirty to stick to it."
That's what a friend in a girls' school here tells me she has heard from teenage Emirati girls, about why they want to wear the traditional sheila (head scarf) and abaya (black overcoat) when outside the home.
I've also heard in many places about how conservative Islamic dress and social regulations that we in the West would regard as oppressive restrictions actually protect women. Women are safer in societies that practice them, etc. I've always felt skeptical about such claims for many reasons, and living in the middle east has made me even more so.
Here's a recent report from a female correspondent in Syria:
Almost every woman, once she steps out of her house, exposes herself to some degree of harassment. Whether covered or uncovered, women here are used to hearing foul language and sexual suggestions.... They are also used to seeing men look hungrily at them as they walk by in the street. Sometimes the men brush against them, touching parts of their body. This is strictly forbidden of course, but these incidents are rarely reported.
That's what a friend in a girls' school here tells me she has heard from teenage Emirati girls, about why they want to wear the traditional sheila (head scarf) and abaya (black overcoat) when outside the home.
I've also heard in many places about how conservative Islamic dress and social regulations that we in the West would regard as oppressive restrictions actually protect women. Women are safer in societies that practice them, etc. I've always felt skeptical about such claims for many reasons, and living in the middle east has made me even more so.
Here's a recent report from a female correspondent in Syria:
Almost every woman, once she steps out of her house, exposes herself to some degree of harassment. Whether covered or uncovered, women here are used to hearing foul language and sexual suggestions.... They are also used to seeing men look hungrily at them as they walk by in the street. Sometimes the men brush against them, touching parts of their body. This is strictly forbidden of course, but these incidents are rarely reported.