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Reader Salty Dog correctly notes that the loose and flowing garments of Derkaderkastan whose praises I sang also include the burkha, whose praises I did not sing. Let me correct that now.
The burkha is viewed in many quarters as the apparel of oppression, much as the brassiere was once viewed in some quarters. Quite rightly, in the case of the burkha, though the brassiere, we now understand, is more rightly seen as an article of support, modesty and seduction, in turn.
In those countries where the burkha — or its close cousins the niqab and hijab — are mandatory, it is without doubt an object of oppression, a tarp over feminine expression and freedom of action, a wall between them and the world.
There are places were it is not civilly mandated, though it may be enforced within families.
Take Kuwait. Moderately civilized place that has been inching toward full democracy and women’s rights for some time. You’ll find women, Arab and otherwise, in western suits running offices, handling cash, conducting business, driving BMWs. You’ll find them in the Sharq mall, decked out in trampy low-cut western garb. You’ll also find teenaged boys, their minds on sensory overload and lacking the software to deal with this situation, dogging the girls, squirting them with water and so forth, as they try to figure out how to flirt. And you’ll see the women and the girls unabashedly giving it back to the men, whether in the marketplace or in the mall, in the form of tongue lashings.
You hear stories that the burkha is sometimes appreciated, by women not required to wear it, as something that can be easily thrown on for a quick trip to the supermarket without having to go through the rituals of makeup and dress by which we oppress our women here in the west. Having a bad hair day? Burkha.
But that is really not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the burkha as a weapon of subversion. Or in the case of Kuwait, rarely the full mosquito-screen viewhole bedsheet over the head, more frequently the niqab … black robe and headdress with half-face veil. Anyone who wants to correct my definitions, have at it.
Was there in fact sex in this place? Were people on the make? A young Kuwaiti man about town, when a friend of mine asked him about it, explained that yes, in fact, there was. Some well-to-do Kuwaiti men kept separate apartments. So, he said, did some Kuwaiti women.
How did sex thing this work? How did men pick up women? For all the relative liberties of Kuwaiti life, it remained a morally clamped down place.
“In the mall, when you see the woman in niqab, is she with someone or is she alone? Does she have shopping bags?” the Kuwaiti rake said.
“You look at the feet,” he said. “Are the toenails painted? Is she wearing the slutty shoes?
“And when you look at her, does she look back? Does she make the flirt with the eyes? If you see these things, then maybe there is a possibility.”
Yeah, if you’re Kuwaiti. Fraternization between unmarried men and women of different religions and races is frowned upon, and the cops watch for it.
Besides, God only knows what kind of tribal vengeance scenario you find yourself in the middle of if things go wrong. Nonetheless, it was heartening to see that lust lived, and the hated burkha could actually be used as camouflage for those seeking to undermine the social restrictions imposed upon them by strict interpretation of Islam.
Is any of this true? I don’t have a clue, though I do know that in the course of human events, sex, like water, will find a way.
The Kuwaiti Lothario insisted that sometimes, women went naked under their burkhas, or only wore dangerously exciting lingerie. Urban myths? Perhaps. Although there was a steady stream of purportedly Lebanese women in hot pants and Kuwaiti guys going in and out of the apartment building next to mine on Thursday nights, and the underground nightclubs where young men and women drank the forbidden beverages and danced the forbidden dances.
Well, those are the Gulfis. Of course they drink in Dubai, and last I heard were thought to be mulling some limited accommodation of the devil water in Kuwait. The Wahabis of Saudi Arabia … when they are not in Dubai drinking and living it up with Russian hookers for the weekend … look down their noses at the Gulfis and their loose morals.
Topics: Islam, middle east, sex
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:59 am on Thursday, May 31, 2007
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May 31st, 2007 at 12:58 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden. [...]
May 31st, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Never got to Qatar, did you? Think Bahrain, but on a larger scale; I hear Dubai is similar (never got there). I visited a pub in Qatar, had an excellent Guineas, listened to a terrible comedian. Booze? What ever you want……
Anywho…….my assessment of Kuwait is that of shifting standards. The conservative elements serious fought that (for example, the parliment voted on women’s suffrage only after a lot of politicial in fighting, and only after they stuck in the requirement for polling places separated by gender….it helped alot that the Emir’s sister campaigned publicly in favor of the woman vote).
On the other hand, the Kuwaiti Times (the English edition) routinely printed stories about drunks getting picked up, or bootleggers getting arrested for making their own hooch. (BTW, I’m sure that the Ministry of the Interior might favor a relaxation of prohibition laws simply to reduce their workload from all the “drunk in public” arrests.)
So there is a degree of naughtiness there. Indeed, I recall one Kuwaiti whose hobby centered on surfing satellite channels for the best p0rn; he liked to share his latest discoveries with his American friends. Or that Kuwaiti woman who came to the base now and then, dressed in very tight clothing; if she had decent color coordination, she would have been a decent sight, not a spectacle.
Yet the burka was quite common in Kuwait, and there is a mosque about every kilometer or so (you can see them from the highways, amongst the new subdivisions).
All of this reminded me of the “blue laws” era here in the US, where (for example) you couldn’t buy certain items on Sunday……but people still wanted to. Or the dry counties around the country, where you can drink only under certain conditions.
Hypocrisy? Or just a change in the way Muslims live? A good question either way. But it is certain that many Arabs indulge in “decadent western practices”. Indeed, I suspect a few were suggested by Arabs.
I rather doubt that the burqa (and all the variations thereof) will go away. Assuming, of course, that the Middle East doesn’t blow up, and become some sort of Caliphate, or a series of Taliban like states. Some people will wear it for their own reasons. But it’s the mandatory wearing of a burqa that is the danger sign. The positive sign is the flaunting of those sort of laws.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:11 pm
What you say certainly gives credence to this post. But it doesn’t make me want to visit the Middle East any more than I did before.
(h/t Instapundit)
May 31st, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Mr. Bingley was considering a smoking jacket. Found him one, although not exactly the colors he preferred. I posted it in the original Pajamas thread…but because of my good heart, I shall do so here, as well…
http://www.discountcostumes4u.com/images/products/fw1445%20smoking%20jacket.jpg
Should anyone see, Bingley…please do let him know.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:01 pm
In The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad she describes “Burkha compliments” and sexual harassment and exploitation of people in the full burkha in just post-Taliban Afghanistan. She lived with the bookseller’s family after being with the Northern Alliance prior to the liberation of Kabul. Well worth reading for an understanding of both men’s and women’s attitudes and experience in Taliban influenced Afghanistan and Afghani’s in Pakistan. They are very different.
Incidentally I was horrified by her description of an Afghanistan - Pakistan border crossing in 2002 while the border was “closed” - just cross more than 100 meters from the road, and the guards/police/army aren’t allowed to interfere because it’s a ‘tribal area’. That’s how Pakistan “stopped” al-Quaeda escaping.
May 31st, 2007 at 11:26 pm
No matter the cut of the thing, I would find it oppressive for anyone to tell me what and how I could dress. Of course, that is just one part of the story. Suppression of normal sex drives is only the beginning (though one of the most egregious) of what “submission” does to individuals.