Yesterday, I was at a local hospital here. While I was waiting to see a doctor, out of the corner of my eye I noticed what I thought was a black bundle of material on a couch. On closer inspection, I noticed it was, in fact, a Middle Eastern Islamic woman who was draped head to foot in traditional Islamic dress.
Now, before a jihad is declared on me, and I am denounced as a culturally insensitive racist, read on. Religion does have this bad habit of ‘defeminising’ women. Islamic women in some parts of the Middle East have one choice for public clothing; the black Abaya. Not only is it black, but it covers everything. There is nothing feminine about it at all, but then again, that’s its purpose.
Abayat are known by various names but serve the same purpose, which is to cover up. The term hijab or veil is not used in the Qur’an to refer to an article of clothing for women or men, rather it refers to a spatial curtain that divides or provides privacy.
In the Catholic tradition, too, nuns have had to endure covering themselves, and making sure that they don’t let anyone know that they are actually women. A former Catholic priest friend of mine remembers officiating at a ceremony for nuns once, and was struck but just how devoid these women were of any form of femininity, and how that hit him for the first time. Female Buddhist monks are even more extreme, wearing plain robes, and shaving their heads. This ensures that their is absolutely no semblance of a feminine self.
There are a number of issues here; some I understand, and some I don’t. I can understand that wearing plain robes, shaving your head, and abandoning make up and mainstream clothing is a sign of abandoning one’s previous life and dedicating the rest of one’s life to either a higher being, or to a philosophy. But what I don’t understand is why the women must dress in ways that they never normally would as a woman, whereas the men in these religious cultures wear pretty much what they like.
Male Buddhist monks have to shave their heads, but hey, guys look good bald. Male Catholic priests have the freedom to wear either the clerical collar or pretty much anything they like, and Islamic men can also wear whatever suits them.
If we have religious rules for one gender, surely all those same rules must apply to the other gender. Buddhism is the only religious lifestyle where the playing field is fair and even.
On my trips to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over these last few years, what absolutely blew me away was a simple walk through the shopping centres and streets of this cosmopolitan, predominantly Muslim city. South East Asian Islam is a lot more moderate than Middle Eastern Islam, and the dress code for women may well be the same in this part of the world as it is in the Middle East, but the designs of the hijab and abaya are stunningly beautiful. Never in my life have I seen such femininity, colour, and unique design. These women are fulfilling all the religious requirements, but they are doing so without sacrificing their womanhood or their femininity. So too have I seen young Islamic women from parts of the Middle East wearing a headscarf, but free attire for the rest.
Seeing this woman yesterday yet again confirmed to me how much woman are still the ones who don’t make the rules, but follow them. And if women do become the rulers, (i.e Magaret Thatcher of the UK, Helen Clark of New Zealand, and Angela Merkel of Germany), they deliberately defeminise themselves, and like Hillary Clinton, be as tough and strong as a man. Otherwise, they don’t get taken seriously.
I heard someone make a very interesting point once about the physical appearance of some lesbians. “Why do these woman who don’t like men at all, spend the rest of their lives looking like them?” How many times have we seen a lady with short cropped greying hair, no make up, wearing pants and comfortable shoes, and say, “She’s either a lesbian or a nun.” The other observation, albeit a bit bad taste, was about the famous tennis player, Martina Navratilova. She was known as ‘the best man in women’s tennis.’ In saying this, I am not at all criticising how lesbian women choose to dress, but it is simply another interesting angle to look at when discussing this issue.
Are we letting women be women, or are we making them sacrifice their own unique gender qualities? Maybe the Islamic women of Malaysia have struck that healthy balance.
June 8, 2008
The absence of femininity.
Posted by damob under Social commentaryLeave a Comment
Yesterday, I was at a local hospital here. While I was waiting to see a doctor, out of the corner of my eye I noticed what I thought was a black bundle of material on a couch. On closer inspection, I noticed it was, in fact, a Middle Eastern Islamic woman who was draped head to foot in traditional Islamic dress.
Now, before a jihad is declared on me, and I am denounced as a culturally insensitive racist, read on. Religion does have this bad habit of ‘defeminising’ women. Islamic women in some parts of the Middle East have one choice for public clothing; the black Abaya. Not only is it black, but it covers everything. There is nothing feminine about it at all, but then again, that’s its purpose.
Abayat are known by various names but serve the same purpose, which is to cover up. The term hijab or veil is not used in the Qur’an to refer to an article of clothing for women or men, rather it refers to a spatial curtain that divides or provides privacy.
In the Catholic tradition, too, nuns have had to endure covering themselves, and making sure that they don’t let anyone know that they are actually women. A former Catholic priest friend of mine remembers officiating at a ceremony for nuns once, and was struck but just how devoid these women were of any form of femininity, and how that hit him for the first time. Female Buddhist monks are even more extreme, wearing plain robes, and shaving their heads. This ensures that their is absolutely no semblance of a feminine self.
There are a number of issues here; some I understand, and some I don’t. I can understand that wearing plain robes, shaving your head, and abandoning make up and mainstream clothing is a sign of abandoning one’s previous life and dedicating the rest of one’s life to either a higher being, or to a philosophy. But what I don’t understand is why the women must dress in ways that they never normally would as a woman, whereas the men in these religious cultures wear pretty much what they like.
Male Buddhist monks have to shave their heads, but hey, guys look good bald. Male Catholic priests have the freedom to wear either the clerical collar or pretty much anything they like, and Islamic men can also wear whatever suits them.
If we have religious rules for one gender, surely all those same rules must apply to the other gender. Buddhism is the only religious lifestyle where the playing field is fair and even.
On my trips to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over these last few years, what absolutely blew me away was a simple walk through the shopping centres and streets of this cosmopolitan, predominantly Muslim city. South East Asian Islam is a lot more moderate than Middle Eastern Islam, and the dress code for women may well be the same in this part of the world as it is in the Middle East, but the designs of the hijab and abaya are stunningly beautiful. Never in my life have I seen such femininity, colour, and unique design. These women are fulfilling all the religious requirements, but they are doing so without sacrificing their womanhood or their femininity. So too have I seen young Islamic women from parts of the Middle East wearing a headscarf, but free attire for the rest.
Seeing this woman yesterday yet again confirmed to me how much woman are still the ones who don’t make the rules, but follow them. And if women do become the rulers, (i.e Magaret Thatcher of the UK, Helen Clark of New Zealand, and Angela Merkel of Germany), they deliberately defeminise themselves, and like Hillary Clinton, be as tough and strong as a man. Otherwise, they don’t get taken seriously.
I heard someone make a very interesting point once about the physical appearance of some lesbians. “Why do these woman who don’t like men at all, spend the rest of their lives looking like them?” How many times have we seen a lady with short cropped greying hair, no make up, wearing pants and comfortable shoes, and say, “She’s either a lesbian or a nun.” The other observation, albeit a bit bad taste, was about the famous tennis player, Martina Navratilova. She was known as ‘the best man in women’s tennis.’ In saying this, I am not at all criticising how lesbian women choose to dress, but it is simply another interesting angle to look at when discussing this issue.
Are we letting women be women, or are we making them sacrifice their own unique gender qualities? Maybe the Islamic women of Malaysia have struck that healthy balance.
Enjoy your day.
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