THIS FUCKING SHIT RIGHT HERE

Because seriously. THIS FUCKING SHIT RIGHT HERE.

Photo © fucking assholes

Warning: Sometimes I Feel Things Very Strongly and start swearing. This behavior is absolutely normal. Do not be alarmed.

My reply below. BECAUSE THIS FUCKING SHIT RIGHT HERE.



Hi, I'm a Muslim woman. If all of you ~free~ women would care to notice me and listen, I'd like to say a few things. That is, if you can hear me over the sound of ~freedom~ and ~choice~ rushing through your veins.

First, when you deny women the choice to wear the niqabs and chadors show in the photo, you are no better than people who deny women the choice to wear shorts and tank-tops. You are still DENYING WOMEN THE CHOICE.

Second, those are not burqas - they are wearing niqabs and chadors, which, like all outer garments, are ONLY required when the women will be seen by non-related men. If you are going to malign my faith and everyone woman in it - all in the name of ~freedom~, of course, which always makes it ok to ridicule others - then I would appreciate it if you could, if you're not too busy spreading ~freedom (to wear only what YOU want us to wear)~, please learn the appropriate terms for the various types of clothing that Muslim women wear.

(Second-and-a-half, I will bet you anything that underneath their chadors, the women in this photo are wearing cute tops, skirts, jeans, and shorts of varying length, because as noted in my first point - which you may have skimmed because you have ~freedom~ to spread, and I understand that - women are only required to wear these outfits when they'll be seen by non-related men).


Third - and this is very important, so please stop petting your bald eagles and congratulating yourselves on how your culture is so much better than a culture you clearly don't care to learn about - not EVERY Muslim country - or culture - is the same. The Uighers of China have a different society and culture (including female imams) than Saudi Arabia does, which has a different society and culture than Malaysia does, which is different from Jordan, which is different from Germany (who also have female imams), which is different from Yemen, from Uganda, from Morocco, from America, from New Zealand ... NO ONE CULTURE represents "true Islam" because Islam isn't supposed to be one-size-fits-all. It's supposed to take the best of each culture and make it better, and get rid of the bad parts. This picture is from ONE PART of the Muslim world. I guarantee you that if you took the time from digging your ignorant trench (a tiring effort, I know) and looked up how Islam is practiced - and how Muslim women dress - in various countries, you'll find everything from bikinis to full (and real) burkas, sometimes in the same population. One picture does not - CAN NOT - represent us all.

Fourth, there ARE issues with misogyny amongst Muslims. There are also issues with misogyny in the United States, in Great Britain, and in the West in general. I direct you to the Steubenville rape trial if you need more evidence of how women are really viewed in the Land of the Free. However, this comes from the latent misogyny already in place before Islam, cherry-picked and misinterpreted verses from the Qur'an, and misinterpreted and often outright fabricated reports of what the Prophet Muhammad had to say about women - which, if you care to further hear an opinion that, while different from yours, has spent more time studying this issue, was that women and men were equal, had equal rights, and that women were neither slaves, nor property, nor sex objects.


Fifth, the context for this picture is missing. It may well be that these women are marching in order to protest being told they have to stay indoors and not be seen (and the outfits that they're wearing may be mandated by law). They may be protesting rape and misogyny - we don't know because the context has been stripped away in favor of intolerance, ignorance, shock, and righteous and holier-than-thou anger.

If I may humbly submit my credentials for correcting this picture and much of the ignorance I've seen displayed, I've been Muslim since early 2010, having studied it since early 2001, and it wasn't until late 2009 - when I was 98% sure I was going to convert - that I talked with other Muslims, who gave me that extra 2% of sureness.

What drew me to Islam were the very things that people claim Islam DOESN'T have - a strong sense of justice (for humans, animal and environmental welfare, and social justice), equality for men and women, common sense, personal responsibility vs. blaming things on the Devil or other people, and not having to go through an intermediary in order to get to God.

I live in America and I do not in any way pretend that Islam is practiced perfectly all around the world, or that there aren't people twisting it around in order to oppress people. However, I have learned enough to not judge something just by one picture of it, and if I hear only bad news about a thing, to go look for another side to compare it to.

But you all don't have to do that because, you know, ~freedom~.