Again today I was the only Western woman in the waiting room, make that the female waiting room, at the clinic.
We had dinner with some new friends, Andrea and Roy, from Vancouver Island. Andrea once had a Muslim friend in college who wore the abaya and covered her hair completely, but not her face. In a discussion once about women "covering", Andrea's friend said that Muslim women think we are the enslaved ones: enslaved to culturally defined ideals for weight, beauty, breast size, hairstyle/color, fashion, etc. They are the "liberated" ones. When they make a first impression, they are not judged on any of those things - only their inner beauty and intelligence. Stops and makes you think, doesn't it?
I love this stuff!! It's been ages (OK, maybe only 8 yrs) since I've lived in a place that turns all my preconceived ideas of "what is" onto its head. I love being challenged to look at something from a different, sometimes wildly unimaginable, but still valid perspective. I love the way it expands my mind and requires me to accept that our way isn't the only way, and at the same time, this new found knowledge doesn't shake my beliefs or customs (yes, I am beginning to get why Muslim women cover, I respect it, BUT I'm not running out to buy my own veil!).
I don't think that all Muslim women embrace the veil as liberating. And I have to admit that I wonder if they use this reasoning as a way to make themselves feel better about it. There again though, that's my "Western Woman-colored glasses" thinking they couldn't possibly enjoy covering. Is it possible to shake off those glasses and accept differences without cynicism?
I hope someday to be able to talk personally with them - it's going to take a lot of courage on my part though. Not one has ever struck up a conversation with me. Not one has ever even caught my eye. I think I would have to be good friends with someone before they would honestly open up, exposing their true feelings/beliefs about such a sensitive topic. It's not very likely to ever happen, and that makes me sad.
1 comment:
Maybe you are over-thinking it a little. These women are probably very sheltered and this is the only way of living that they'd ever known. We dress they way we dress because that's how we were raised. Same deal with them. I bet a lot of them have never considered anything different simply because they may not know there's a different way to be.
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