I came across this short story around our local blogosphere here, and though it isn't my creation, I've taken the task of translating it into English, and I would be grateful if the mods allow my version to be posted here, as I think it helps illustrate a point - even if it sounds a bit silly and hyperbolical. So here it is.
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The short story )
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Perhaps "the point" is to characterize immigrants as disruptive and entitled, and the state and populace as naïve and posturing, but that's, like, borrrr-riiiing ;)
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Go through and highlight each sentence that constructs that argument. You'll end up with about half the document colored in. If you don't find that noteworthy, well, so what? I do.
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Underage rape is what many Middle Eastern refugees have been accused of committing, once they've arrived in Europe. Thus, it's being included in the narrative as well. Omitting it would've been disingenuous. The whole point is: should this sort of behavior be tolerated by the host society, solely based on the argument that any aspect of the refugees' culture is supposed to be tolerated for tolerance's sake? That's the question you should be asking - not whether the inclusion of underage rape is appropriate for this sort of narrative. It is part of the issue, therefore it should be included. But of course you have a problem with that. Because the very mentioning of it makes you feel uncomfortable? But that won't make the problem go away, and neither will it remove the fact that Europe's current response to that problem has been beyond inadequate.
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The author is invoking a stereotype of Western men as seen by fundamentalist Islam. (Specifically, that they are rapacious misogynists who are only paying lip service to women's rights for prurient reasons.) I am most definitely calling out "the messenger" for bringing "the issue" to the table, because "the issue," as brought to the table by "the messenger," is a ridiculous and deeply hypocritical stereotype that reveals as much about the author as it does about their intended target.
You want me to propose a solution to this? Here's my solution: Fundamentalist Islam needs to be called out, to do exactly the introspection that it is most afraid of, and that will cause it to dissolve from the fringes inward. It's not just an issue of modes of dress as espoused by a culture when that culture dictates those modes in law, and enforces them with religious police.
What's your solution, by the way?
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My solution? Stop pretending that multiculturalism for its own sake would work, even if one side refuses to cooperate. Start calling things with their true names, and show some guts in handling outright outlaws.
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I started this thread with:
"It's interesting to me that this narrative leverages the sexual control of women so heavily."
That is not the equivalent of
"I have a problem with this narrative leveraging the sexual control of women so heavily."
... however much it would be convenient for you to assume so.
Do I have a problem with it? It's a meaningless question, really. I think it's intriguing, and very indicative of the biases of the author, and perhaps the biases of the group the author is ostensibly speaking for. And that's what I spent the bulk of this thread arguing.
Do you have anything to add?
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Sexual control of women, especially underage women, is prevalent in Muslim culture as well. What's more, it is institutionalised. In cases as extreme as Saudi Arabia, women who become victims of rape are even themselves accused of having "enticed" men to rape them, and are essentially punished twice - the second time for being victims. Meanwhile, that is a taboo topic there, which is why the situation that this imaginary immigrant describes is so extremely impossible, too. That cannot be ignored, either.
Even if, just like abomvubuso above, I cannot agree with the notion that trying to equate the mores of Saudi Arabian society with those of the modern, free world, is fair in any way, or could be used as a justification for anything, I at least can see why the extremely hyperbolic examples in this story have been used, and why exactly in this particular amount and ratio.
The problem here is not "why are we talking about the objectification of women so much". The problem here is "why is it being tolerated", and by extension, "whence the double standard".
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