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A Bunch Of Men In Saudi Arabia Want To Cover Women’s Eyes To Prevent Male Gaze
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By Dhruv Arora:
What a ridiculous time to be alive.
Before you go ahead with reading this, let me warn you that this is not a news report, but an all-out rant.
The latest in patriarchy today is that a bunch of men in Saudi Arabia who like to run around and call themselves Saudi Arabian Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (who are, I imagine, often falsely abbreviated as the PENIS squad) are now seeking a ban on “tempting eyes” of women. This absurd move wants to make it necessary for women with “attractive eyes” to be forced to wear a full veil, seemingly for medieval reasons (unconfirmed). The group seems to be committed to drive home this agenda and claim that they “have the right (sic)” to force women to cover up anything that they may wake up with the realisation of having offense with. (Source)
This is supposed to somehow promote virtue and prevent vice, as the groups’ name suggests. In case you are wondering who qualifies as a woman with attractive eyes, an unnamed journalist from the country has broken it down for you. It may apply to women with‘uncovered eyes with a nice shape and makeup’, which was later broadened to ‘even without makeup’. ‘If they are beautiful, the woman will be in trouble,’ he added.
This isn’t owing to a misled idea of liberation, while many may have the opinion that veils should be okay as long as they are being worn consensually (here, consensually is both the keyword and the word most oft ignored), consent is not even a talking point here. Or perhaps it is, between the men in the society, because it really does not seem to matter what the women’s opinions may be in this situation. Women with opinions? Blasphemy!
The idea that men “have the right” over women in the society to make them go through hoops in order to not “invite trouble” is not a new concept, but even people who may support that preposterous notion may see that this truly is a whole new level of stupid. What adds to this problem is the unequal representation in positions of power, which often ends up being the reason why such moronic notions are actually accepted as norms and laws into societies.
To sum it up, let me break down the appeal and paraphrase it in order to add two words that might make this entire debacle much simpler to understand: “We have the right to do, so force women to cover up, because penis”.
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Babar
http://youtu.be/0h1zuwpFdo4
BASU
Great job…
Damien Hanet
That’s normal. In Western Culture it is considered very impolite to not be able to identify someone you talk to. Also wearing something that prevents your identification is illegal except for some work or some special days, like carnaval where people dress up and hide their identities to do mischief.
Basically, nobody hides their faces because it is hiding their indentity. And why would you hide you indentity except for doing trouble?
Another point is that Western women have to follow the strict clothing rules of Saudi Arabia, in Saudi Arabia. Isn’t it normal that people going to Europe follow the same rule? (don’t roam naked and don’t cover your face if not necessary)
cbc
From being in ksa i have learned many things:
SOME women in the west may be oppressed against ror wearing a hijab but in ksa ALL women are oppressed against for not being covered.
Regarding the employment status.. most companies done allow women to work in them and even more recently are not allowing non-saudis to work in them.
The problem in ksa is instead of the government educating its men and people to prevent unwanted happenings they force the women to cover up and obide to ancient laws…men look at women here wrongly so its the womens duty to be covered. Men try to converse with women in cars so the women arent allowed to drive..and so forth..do you see a pattern?
Unfortunetly the governement brainwashes its people to think like them and any outsider is looked down upon..it is all justified by “the religion (sharia)” yet in the muslim religion it is opposite of so much of the governments laws and beliefs. Anyways to all the “barbars” out there..everyday the world is progressing and ksa is forced to progress with its and someday this hell hole will be an actual country and therefore i gloat in your face because there is nothing you can do about it!
Babar
What is more moronic are feminist rallies where they go topless and indulge in nudity, models going nude for fashion shows, nude protests for PETA, women going nude for magazines, nudity in art, movies, music videos, etc.
Dhruv Arora
I am so sure that someday, somehow, you will make sense.
Cees Tompot
You are the most optimistic person I ever met on line!!
rifath
I hate burkha.. I m forced to wear it.. N I get harassed by men lik u wen I’m in a burkha more than wen I’m nt wearing it.. I get it tat u hate women they intimidate u.. It will not degrade us.. We will remain strong and above patriarchs n misandrists lik u !!
TheSeeker
And what did you accomplish by saying that? The fact still remains that women do not have a say here.
madhushri
Saddened after reading this..can’t believe people can be so insane.! Moreover how can someone follow it and they have the power to make women follow such an act..
Terrible !!
Alvia Thahir
Every time I see an article against Hijab or Niqaab I would like 2 requote deepika padukone’s “You got a proble m” tweet!
Coz, its truly frustrating to justify your choice of attire to every dumb activist on earth!
But, thankfully this article wasn’t one amongst them. And to clarify it, ISLAM doesn’t allow men to force such ignorant rules over women.
So whoever this crazily abbreviated group are haven’t learned their religion yet!
Templetwins
Saudi Arabian Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice are none but the religious police in Saudi who enforces the sharia law. When a bunch of these religious police saw the husband of a woman being stabbed in the hand after an altercation by someone who was attracted by the womans eyes (makeup/mascara/eye-liner or otherwise) these religious police had simply proposed such a law(which is absurd), which will eventually be thrown in the trash can, meanwhile it gives ammunition to SJWs to cry sexism.
Meanwhile in Saudi, they are trying to build a city/factory just for female workers committing gender discrimination against men, no one bats an eye.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/saudi-arabia-builds-women-only-1256010
fathima
It is I feel the worst place to be.. Sometimes I feel greatfull for not having born there and at the same time worry for females there- who too are humans but are not considered one.
Babar
Many girls are grateful to be born in the Middle-East, where they can roam freely in a burqa without being harassed and racially abused, where they feel human because they are not compelled to dress semi-nude to ‘fit in’. Thank you.
Taniya
I am an indian and a muslim who has been living in saudi arabia for the last 7 years. I am telling u what i see and know.
1)There are some places in the makkah’s holy mosque where women are not allowed to enter.
2)King Fahd University of petroleum and minerals which has a position of nit or iit in saudi arabia is an all-male university.There is only 1 mixed sex university-KAUST-run by saudi aramco.
3)Only rarely I see women on cashier counters. But yet i do see women on streets with small kids begging for money and selling water.
4)Saudi is a country where there are very few cases of rapes.yes.It is also a country where we see very few women standing on their own feet.
5)Very rarely I see women in burqa roaming freely, Babar. Even in arab shops.
6)In religious way, there is misunderstanding of islam. It is not so told in islam that a man can have 4-5 wives.I am serious not joking.check the no.of wifes of the saudi king( 11 wives ).Islam says education is must for boys and girls.
7)Women whether educated in saudi or out of saudi are not to work in petroleum or mineral industries.
Babar
In Saudi Arabia, rape, molestation, and harassment of women is the lowest in the world. Furthermore, from banks to shopping malls to coffee shops to mosques, all have separate areas, spaces, and floors for women. The government spends the majority of its unemployment benefits on women. Shops selling female attire ban men from entering those shops unless accompanied by a female relative. In Saudi Arabia, women spend more in one day than most people earn in one month. Women are under no obligation to work, and even if they do, the husband still has to provide for them. Women do not have to contribute to the household. Compare this with girls all over the world working menial jobs, from BPOs to coffee shops to dishwashers to cashiers. Middle-Eastern countries are filthy rich, offering women a much more luxurious and healthy lifestyle than anywhere in the world.
Babar
And in the Middle-East, no one is going to snatch your headscarf or call you a terrorist for wearing a burqa.
The Joker
Dude, there is no FREEDOM in Saudi Arabia.
Babar
Yes, there is no freedom for girls to show their thighs and cleavage in public. Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, do not treat women like meat, unlike their Western counterparts. Semi-nude images of women are not plastered on walls, there is no sale of adult DVDs, no one devises cunning methods to sell provocative clothing in the name of fashion, advertisements don’t feature women in skimpy clothing, girls don’t have body image issues, there is no STD epidemic, drug and alcohol abuse is unheard of, and rape is the lowest in the world.
Babar
And if Saudi Arabia is so bad, what are countless western expatriates doing there, where there are no taxes, petrol is cheaper than water, excellent salary packages, great food, where even in a modest job your company will provide housing, education for children, free airline tickets, among a host of other benefits which has seen westerners, including women, from all over the U.S. and U.K. leaving their so called freedom and settling in Saudi Arabia.
Babar
Mr. Arora, do you know that educated, independent Muslim girls in Europe, U.S., and Canada choose to wear the burqa, and are not ‘forced by their husbands’, as the U.S. media would like you to believe. Miniskirts and skimpy clothing are automatically seen as a choice, even though they are enforced through constant images in movies, magazines, music videos, advertisements, billboards, fashion industries, peer pressure, and a need to ‘fit in’, but if a woman wants to cover her body and save herself from lewd stares and wants to reserve her body for the gaze of her husband, it is immediately labelled oppression. Please talk to burqa clad women in India and abroad, and it will give you a broader perspective on the issue, instead of succumbing to theories of oppression invented by the U.S. – an imperialistic nation which thrives on human suffering.
Voice of reason
@Babar – You are a life long supporter of oppression to women in the name of “Nature and Society had decided roles for both men and women” and such shit. You have always supported islamic countries even though they suck and stink to the core, i pity those born in the middle east.
you say that in middle east women can roam freely in burkha and that no one forces it on them, great let us even agree for a moment, but what if a girl wants to wear a mini skirt, what if she want to enjoy a drink, will she be allowed to do so. I agree that if some one wants to wear a burkha she should be allowed to but what if she does not want to, what if she decides on a skirt and a shirt, that should be allowed too, or is it that since you and pathetic people belonging to your circle feel its immoral for women to desire contemporary dressing and hence should not be allowed. You also mentioned west treating women as meat, but have a reality check, in most Islamic countries, Women do not have basic rights of education, job gender equality is non existent, Look at middle eastern countries, the number of wives that these sheikks have will give you a complete picture of how women are treated as a sex object and child producing machine.
you idiot , you say women do not need to work in middle east, are you so dumb that you do not understand that may be many women like working, what about them?.
honestly i do not think this BABAR is a real person, this is a publicity or marketing stunt which is used in such a fashion that you automatically respond. I cant beleive that such a bastard can exist as it will only show that he belongs to a very bad family, a family where the father had 3- 4 wifes, women were rampantly raped forced to wear burkhas, girls married off at tender age etc…. since all of this is not possible together, so here you go BABAR does not exist! I say this because, BABAR has spewed so much venom towards feminists and other general writers that one can only imagine the circumstances of his childhood….
sahil
in Saudi if you report rape you will be called a heretic and stoned or murdered. So people are not really going to be reporting it now are they. But for Babur Saudi is heaven.
Babar
Perhaps we can look in our own backyard before pointing fingers at others.
Fem
Perhaps we point fingers at both.
Whose backyard its happening is irrelevant when it affects a human being.
Girl
Babar – You’re one of those guys that we despise in general.. Simply because of your shitty ideologies. I’ve got friends and family in Saudi – NONE of the women want to wear a friggin burkha. (They don’t wear mini shirts and walk around nude either – before you start ranting again). Whether you like it or not and whether you are going to agree or not, you will just have to accept the fact that Saudi tops the list for most oppressive place to live as a woman.
Why does a woman have to cover anything? Are you a friggin animal? Can you not control yourself? If a woman’s body and skin bothers you so much, and if you can not control yourself or handle yourself in public, then stay the fuck inside. Lock yourself up inside your house and no one will care. Who do you or any of the male patriarchs think you are? What makes you all think you can dictate how a woman should be dressed?
Bottom line is Saudi is an oppressive country. As a woman, it is the last place I would want to live. As a woman, I would much rather have my freedom and deal with the men who are assholes than live in Saudi and see the world through a black screen. I would much rather live in a country where I will not be penalised for bringing you to justice. I would much rather live in a place where I can walk around in shorts and if you lay a finger on me, I can give you a nice tight slap in public without having to worry about what your male run government will do to me. I would rather live in a place where I am not my husband’s sex toy and where I am not one of my husband’s many choices.
The only thing going for Saudi is the fact that it’s tax free. If I get a swanky high-paying job in Saudi for a couple years, I would actually take it.. I’ll save a truckload and come back to my free democratic country that is not run by male patriarchs and I would enjoy it while wearing a nice short skirt over a drink of wine with my male and female friends alike with no one to stop me.
In case you haven’t understood the point I’m making – You’re wrong. You’re quite stupid. You will never be right. You don’t have a sense of logic or reason. Please stay in Saudi because you wouldn’t be able to handle the real world where women have a say and don’t have to walk around in black ensembles. Oh and last but not least – You suck.
Ann Inquirer
Islamic countries are one big insane asylum when it comes to sex. Learn more from the koran. Women are only worth half a man. Females OF ANY AGE are covered because their curves harass men. These male supremacist fascists can’t control themselves, as all females are considered sex toys – even eyes can turn them on. This is ALWAYS THE FEMALE’S FAULT. That is why she can be stoned to death. She is in a catch 22. If she reports rape, it tells the vice squad she has sex without a husband, and that is a lashing or stoning offense.
The worst is that Islam approves SEX WITH INFANTS, this is approved by the ayatollas. Google mufakhathat
https://www.facebook.com/AnnInquirer/photos/a.630982070336848.1073741836.355910681177323/669034009864987/?
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Khogen
The only good thing about saudi is ban on porn and alcohol and women dont have to change surnames after marriage. Rest everything is Insane. And it is not because of islam, it is because of the sick arabic culture. And if u think rapes are low then let me tell it is damn undereported and defination of rape is very weak. Many cases which we consider as rape will not be considered rape their. Child marriage is legal, marital rape is legal, sex with slaves is legal. Moreover women have to take permission of their forget fathers, even husbands and sons, to just get out of the house. Such an insult to womenkind !!! All the Glitters is not gold, saudi is a good example of this. They are their just because they have oil money, nothing else.
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