(no subject)
In the span of two days, I've seen three women wearing burqas. In a country that's both predominantly Christian, and professes to be liberal and free, at the very least, such is quite a sight to behold.
I was thinking how the idea of the burqa was always associated with repression and imprisonment, given that many Afghan women were forced to wear the full garb while under Taliban rule.
But seeing such in a place like the Philippines, it begs the question why. There's no systematic repression of women, or at least not in line with forcing them to wear the layers of felt or karakul.
So, I'm convinced somewhere along the way, these women actually chose to wear the burqa. It was their choice to hide away themselves.
At the very least, I could say the thought was interesting. Especially when one of them was holding a Spiderman backpack for one of her kids. Then came the thought of her taking her children to Toy Kingdom, or to Dairy Queen, or to the ice skating rink.
But is it completely an act of hiding? Or is it a more outward sign of faith?
I remember hearing about how some women in Afghanistan were hesitant about taking off their burqas. "This is our faith! This is how we want to lead our lives!"
Sure, some might say that the repression is so deeply set that the ones being repressed actually accept the reality of it. But how is that fundamentally different from us, "freethinkers," putting much emphasis on free speech and a non-intrusive, pluralistic society? This is our faith, we might say! This is how we want to lead our lives!
I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong with the burqa. But neither am I saying that there's nothing wrong with untrammeled, free flowing discourse.
Maybe the point here is that to some extent, all peoples of the world have to deal with limits. And those limitations set how people want to lead their lives. There's no real way of describing or gaging freedom, in that sense then.
So now, the question is, I think, on what grounds does our "freedom" stand? Where does it come from? And more importantly, does it really reflect how we want to lead our lives?
I was thinking how the idea of the burqa was always associated with repression and imprisonment, given that many Afghan women were forced to wear the full garb while under Taliban rule.
But seeing such in a place like the Philippines, it begs the question why. There's no systematic repression of women, or at least not in line with forcing them to wear the layers of felt or karakul.
So, I'm convinced somewhere along the way, these women actually chose to wear the burqa. It was their choice to hide away themselves.
At the very least, I could say the thought was interesting. Especially when one of them was holding a Spiderman backpack for one of her kids. Then came the thought of her taking her children to Toy Kingdom, or to Dairy Queen, or to the ice skating rink.
But is it completely an act of hiding? Or is it a more outward sign of faith?
I remember hearing about how some women in Afghanistan were hesitant about taking off their burqas. "This is our faith! This is how we want to lead our lives!"
Sure, some might say that the repression is so deeply set that the ones being repressed actually accept the reality of it. But how is that fundamentally different from us, "freethinkers," putting much emphasis on free speech and a non-intrusive, pluralistic society? This is our faith, we might say! This is how we want to lead our lives!
I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong with the burqa. But neither am I saying that there's nothing wrong with untrammeled, free flowing discourse.
Maybe the point here is that to some extent, all peoples of the world have to deal with limits. And those limitations set how people want to lead their lives. There's no real way of describing or gaging freedom, in that sense then.
So now, the question is, I think, on what grounds does our "freedom" stand? Where does it come from? And more importantly, does it really reflect how we want to lead our lives?