As promised, here is a paper that I wrote for my World Religions class. It is a little bit long, but I hope that the topic can capture your interest long enough to make it to the end! When you are done reading, feel free to give back feedback by leaving a comment or send me an e-mail or something!
When Americans think about women in the East, they think of oppression, limitations, and rules. Often they think women are treated as second-class citizens or worse, like an animal. “Some people who want to discredit Islam suggest that women are treated like second-class citizens or as inferior to men. They say that Muslim women must feed the men and children first and only eat what is left. This is a gross distortion of the truth”(Anway). Americans have a skewed idea of the Middle East due to certain events such as 9/11 or the war in Iraq. They tend to see veiled women as counterparts to these fundamentalist Muslim men who are on the eternal conquest to express jihad.
Veiled Muslim women are often regarded by Westerners as oppressed individuals who need rescuing from the evil clutches of their Fundamentalist polygamist husbands. “Most Americans see Muslim women as an oppressed lot, but I would like them to know that if Muslim women are oppressed, it’s because they forsake the true Islam and follow their country’s cultural practices. Islam throws away all the garbage that keeps women down and lifts them up to a status of self-respect and confidence”(Anway). These women are not oppressed by their religion nor their husbands, but by the country’s cultural dictations of how the Qur’an is interpreted.
In the actual text of the Qur’an, the prophet Mohammed mandates modesty from both men and women, but he does not dictate how this modesty should be attained. Veiling of the head and body is standard expectation for women who pursue the religion of Islam, but perhaps it isn’t mandatory according to the Qur’an. “Veiling is a complex issue. The prophet Muhammad never required veiling of the face. Modesty was his rule, but not veils. With the hardening of Muslim institutions, however, veils became the rigor, except for the working poor women. Different degrees of veiling evolved in different countries”(Adeney). Women are mandated to be modest, but not to be veiled. So how did veiling become the accepted social norm, when there isn’t any tangible evidence in the Qur’an?
“Khadija, the first Muslim women, was never required to wear a veil or seclude herself, and never lived to hear the word of God proclaim that ‘Men are in charge of women because God has made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property [to support them]’”(Brooks). The first Muslim woman experienced true freedom within Islam. She was not oppressed by the state, nor was she oppressed by the words of the Qur’an that state in Sura 4:34, "Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made some of them to excel others...and [as to] those on whose part you fear rebellion, admonish them, and leave them alone in beds apart, and beat them (Bukhari 8:68)."
As Muhammad continued to be a prophet for Allah, Khadija also continued to help spread the news of Islam. They worked together for the good of Islam and Khadija was referred to as the Pure One. She died many years before the prophet Muhammad because she was fifteen years older. In mourning, Muhammad married several women in order to fill the position of Khadija, his favorite and most loved wife. The new prophet’s wives has high expectations to fulfill, and thus great modesty was required to be as pure as Khadija. “Gradually the rules meant to safeguard the prestige of the prophet’s wives came to be applied to other Muslim women. Islam did not have to mean oppression of women”(Brooks).
Muhammad original purpose for hijab was to protect the intentions of his wives, but his followers interpreted this as a requirement for true faith in Allah. Those women who were most devoted to Allah wore veils and head coverings. Yet as time continued on, extreme measures were taken to protect the modest women of Islam: “Some women believed, as I did, that the religion only required them to dress within contemporary limits of modesty. Others insisted on going beyond a covered head to gloved hands and veiled faces, arguing that the corruption of the modern world made more extreme measures necessary now than in the prophet's day”(Brooks). The covered head was simply not enough for some women; they covered their faces and hands to protect themselves from the modern world. The modern Western world has urged individuals to hold tighter to modest measures.
Although Westerns identify the veiling and hijab as oppression, Muslim women tend to find freedom within the perceived subjugation. One woman reports, “I have been denied jobs because of my hijab. Nonetheless, I am grateful for hijab. It is liberating in a sense that other women will never know. I feel honored to represent Islam in such a powerful way as to be recognized as Muslim whenever I venture out”(Anway). Not only has she been denied by the world due to her devotion to Islam, but she continues to be thankful for hijab because it allows her to be identified as a devout follower of Islam. Another woman responds: “I kept the headscarf on and eventually got used to it. Now I get mad at people who stare at me or make fun of me, but that only makes me want to wear it more”(Anway). For this Muslim woman, the headscarf was worn out of demand by her culture; once she became accustomed to the modesty it provided her, she realized how much she needed this head covering to keep her pure and modest.
For some women, Islam has liberated those who previously felt trapped by the world. “Islam has provided a framework that has allowed me to express the beliefs I already had such as modesty, kindness, love. It also led me to happiness through marriage and births of two children. No matter how bad things get, I have something I can hang onto. The sisterhood and brotherhood of Muslims has been a comfort to me in hard times”(Anway). There is freedom within modesty, kindness, and love; there is freedom in happiness from a healthy family; there is freedom within the strong family-like bonds of the Muslim community. Another woman expresses her freedom as such: “My husband didn’t make me dress this way, and I’m not oppressed. I’m set free--free from bondage of fashion, clothes, hair, shoes, and the like”(Anway). This woman felt bondage to the world of fashion and appearances. Her choice to be modest through the covering of the veil allowed her soul to be set free from the things that bonded her to this world.
When the culture around a woman is degrading her as a human being, Muslim women find freedom in the protection of Islam. “Under such circumstances,” Turkish author Naila Minai comments, “the veil could be a tool for reasserting a woman’s human dignity by forcing people to respond to her talents and personality rather than to her body alone’”(Adeney). The veil is a tool that allows women to be equal in society, not to be oppressed or repressed. Modesty is a way in which women can find immense freedom in being recognized as a human being with personality and talents. “The best Islamic right by far is the hijab. I have a right to be looked at as a moral woman, not a piece of meat to be gawked at. People look at my eyes when talking to me. I am treated like a lady as a general rule”(Anway). This woman feels freedom when she’s protected by her hijab because she has the right be observed as a human being, not just a “piece of meat” to be whistled at. She is a lady, and she ought to be treated in such a way. The hijab of the Islam tradition protects this right to be regarded as a human being.
American women who convert to Islam find comfort and freedom to be protected by the modesty of the veil. One woman remarks on her change from American standards to Allah’s standards, “I no longer find freedom in tight pants or miniskirts, but through hijab and modesty”(Anway). Tight pants and miniskirts used to make this women have a sense of freedom, but when she converted, she realized that Allah had much different standards and expectations than the world. Her freedom was then found in modesty because she no longer had to meticulously worry about her appearances, how she looked, or who would judge her on her looks. Another Muslim woman regards American freedom as possible entrapment, “In a society which claims to envision a “freer” means of life for women, the American male attitude toward women actually puts women way down by promoting the sex-symbol image. Hijab removes the possibilities for men to “ogle” and demands they view women as people rather than objects”(Anway). Perhaps an American women’s definition of freedom is rather an oppression in another woman’s culture, or perhaps American women are indeed as trapped and oppressed as Muslim women are perceived to be repressed by the veil.
The East views the West in a negative way, just as Americans view Islamic countries. They see all the negative aspects of culture and determine that these characteristics make up the entire country. “Look at the West! What do you see?” Muslims groan, “Pornography. Beauty contests, displaying thighs and breasts. Weak families. Abused women and children. Disrespect for parents. Growing illegitimacy. Abortions. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Drugs”(Adeney). Yes the West is corrupt, just as much as the East. But let’s examine Western culture from an outsiders perspective. One woman regards the American woman as one who is enslaved to the bonds of appearance, “Most American women feel that they are the most liberated women on earth, but they are not really relieved from the bonds of oppression. Anyone who has to have a perfect body for fear of rejection and anyone who has to reveal their bodies to receive so-called “attention” is still oppressed”(Anway).
America often regards beauty for a woman as one who can attain thinness while not looking too thin, muscles while not looking too bulky, made up while not looking too vain, so on and so forth. Women feel the need to be beautiful and desired, so they objectify themselves and internalize these ideals of beauty. “The image of beauty in the West can hurt and humiliate a woman as much as the veil does when enforced by the state police in extremist nations such as Iran, Afghanistan, or Saudi Arabia”(Mernissi).
American women are oppressed by such ideals because it turns women into objects that must be molded and shaped to unrealistic expectations that are defined as beautiful. One woman regards her experience in a dance class that required her to fit into the Western ideals of beauty, “As a girl, I’d learned the profoundly unnatural movements of Western ballet, whose aim was to make the body seem as insubstantial as air. With its stress on elongation and fluttering extremities, ballet denied womanliness, requiring adult dancers to retain the shape of prepubescent girls”(Brooks). It was this obsession with thinness in Western ballet that made this adult woman feel as though she ought to be the size of a prepubescent girl. This ideal of thinness puts American women in bondage and entrapment. It leaves women with more curves feeling undesirable and ugly. “By putting the spotlight on the prepubescent female, the Western man veils the older, more mature woman, wrapping her in shrouds of ugliness”(Mernissi). The women who don’t abide by the cultural standards of beauty are oppressed by ugliness, while the women who internalize the ideals of thinness are also trapped. Instead of ugliness, these ”beautiful” women are trapped by ideals of thinness that can never be fully attained.
Beauty is a harmful definition that rules over the hearts and minds of women. But in the West, with such a negative expectation of beauty, women are obsessive about obtaining the idealized beauty at all times. “The Western man uses images and spotlights to freeze female beauty within an idealized childhood, and forces women to perceive aging--that normal unfolding of years--as shameful devaluation”(Mernissi). Instead of being oppressed by the veil or hijab, Western women are still oppressed by men who idealize beauty as youth and thinness. This leaves an older women, always striving and hoping for a way to trick men into thinking she is youthful, and therefore beautiful.
The West’s definition of beauty leaves women in a bondage of lies, inadequacy, and ugliness. “Framing youth as beauty and condemning maturity is the weapon used against women in the West, just as limiting access to public space is the weapon used in the East. The objective remains identical in both cultures: to make women feel unwelcome, inadequate, and ugly”(Mernissi). All Western women struggle with this expectation to be beautiful and desirable at some degree. Women feel the need to satisfy the ideals that men have set as social norms, so that women can feel adequate, accepted, and beautiful.
In the Christian church, beauty is often unfortunately defined by the world’s standards; women young and old struggle with being affirmed by Christ and not by the world. When walking into an American Christian church, one would probably notice minute physical differences between those inside and outside the church walls. Perhaps they cover up their bodies a bit more on Sundays, but the lingering effects of the size six phenomenon are still evident.
How terrible it is that Western Christian women have forgotten their Desert Mothers in their quest to be beautiful. Ancient mothers have defined beauty time and time again in the Bible not by their looks, but by their attitudes and actions. The Bible states in 1 Peter 3:4-5a, “You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. That is the way the holy women of old made themselves beautiful.” Our Desert Mothers have given us the key to beauty, yet a Christian woman continues to struggle with denying the world’s definition of beauty. It is by the gentle and quiet spirit of a woman that is so pleasing to God, our Creator. Yet the struggle for Christian women continues and they must meditate on the fact that God personally created each unique individual. Psalms 139:13-14, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--how well I know it.” God knit us together with marvelous workmanship, just as he also created the entire universe. A woman can gain much confidence if only she allows her identity to be rooted in Christ’s love.
A Christian woman could also learn a thing or two from her Muslim sisters regarding modesty. The Bible states in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” God purchased us at a high price of sacrificing His Son so that we may be in relationship with Him, therefore we do not belong to ourselves or to this world. We belong to God and we are to honor Him by keeping our bodies as His temples pure and holy for the Holy Spirit.
The Bible also demands that we stay pure, holy, and free of sexual sin. In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, Christians are called to different actions than those of the world: “God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor--not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways.” For women, this could be quite easy to avoid lustful passion and sexual sin, but the Bible says that we are to work together for the good of the Kingdom.
The success of our brothers depend on our actions because we are no longer individuals, but the body of Christ. Philippians 2:2-4 states, “Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.” Together, Christian men and women must work together to convey Christ’s love for the world. Men must avoid sexual sin, and women must not tempt them with immodesty. For Christian women must support our brothers in Christ and we should dress modestly as to not cause them to stumble. For the Bible says in Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard the law of Moses say, ’Do not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The Western Church has often forgotten about modesty, and I believe that Christian women could learn much from dialoguing with Muslim women.
At first glance, Muslim and Christian women seem so different, but upon closer examination it is important to remember that we are all humans created by God. Once we realize our humanity, it becomes easier to dialogue about importance issues such as veiling and modesty. American Christian women have misconceptions about Eastern Muslim women, and Eastern Muslim women have misconceptions about American Christian women. For example, Muslim women are “cautious of Christianity because they associate it closely with Western culture. They see women on television wearing revealing clothes or sleeping around, and believe all Christians act this way. It's important for Christian women to establish friendships to break down these stereotypes”(Cutrer). When we begin dialoguing with each other, we can break down stereotypes that inhibit the truth of the Gospel to be adequately shared.
With these thoughts in mind, it is important to remember that God set us free from our sin that oppressed human kind. It is vital for women of all ages, religions, sizes, and ethnicities to know that freedom exists in this world. We have the opportunity to walk forward, out of that oppression and into full freedom in Christ. It is when we walk forward in our relationship with Christ that we feel freedom from lies, oppression, and expectations. If you fail to seek Christ daily, you will easily become bogged down by the chains of this world. Christ provides hope and freedom for all people regardless of your current struggles.
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