Sunshine7
- 2 comments
- 1 likes given
- 7 likes received
Bio not provided
El hamdullilah is right. I am glad that my mother and father raised me that way. Also I have 5 older sisters, so it was partially their fault as well. :-)
The opinion of that young man you talked to seems to be almost what is taught here for a lot of young men. They are taught that they are not able to control themselves, so it is on the women to protect themselves by covering up. This is ridiculous! Men need to learn to step up and be men and control themselves.
What society (and religion) should be telling men is that not only are they capable of being good, respectful, and polite to everyone, regardless of what they are wearing, but that it is expected of them! Not that they are incapable of controlling themselves. It just seems to be to be an ineffective, detrimental, and downright terrible approach which leads to the drastic consequences that we now see every day while living in Egypt.
I was surprised though, to be honest, when my friends who wear the niqab told me that sometimes they are more harassed even than others who do not wear it. But it seems clear that covering women is not the answer for men's behavior. Men are responsible for their behavior.
Also, don't get me wrong, my friends are Egyptian and the men are all respectful and polite to women. So it is definitely not all of them that think that way, as I'm sure you've noticed as well.
iGreen . . . it seems to me that it is completely the wrong focus. I agree with Hilde, why is the focus on how women should dress instead of focusing on the 'hooligans' and 'ruffians' who think that it's okay to 'tease' any girl regardless of what they're wearing. Just so you're aware, covering up doesn't work anyway. You said that the "Qur'an rightly says that hijab prevents women from being molested." Well I live in Egypt, in which the vast majority of men are Muslim (and thereby should understand that at the very least, those wearing the hijab should not be molested, as per your logic above). However, the truth of the matter is that I know many young women who wear the full niqab, not just the hijab, and are harassed just as much (and sometimes more) by the majority of men they come across on the streets. Are all these men hooligans and ruffians? And if so why are the majority of men in Egypt hooligans and ruffians? What has made so many of them that way? Clearly the problem, in Egypt at least because that is where my experience is, is not what women are wearing but what men are taught and what they think.
The logic behind this also belittles men and says that they basically can't help themselves. If men are constantly told that they can't help themselves and that any woman who wears clothes that don't fully cover themselves are actually giving them 'an indirect invitation . . . for teasing and molestation' then of course they will do just that! I am a man, and I have been raised to respect women, regardless of what they choose to wear or not wear. So if I see two beautiful twins walking down the street, one wearing a mini skirt and one wearing a hijab, my response is not to tease either! It's time we start focusing on raising men that respect women, rather than focusing on raising women to hide from the men because men 'can't control themselves.' It simply encourages the behavior in the men.
If you were to follow this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion then the only real solution would be to hide women away completely, because men are animals that can't be trusted. If men still 'tease and molest' women who are out wearing a niqab, then the logic above indicates that obviously the woman isn't doing enough to avoid their attention. She should stay indoors and only ever leave the house if she can leave in a vehicle where she is not seen by any man at all, so that they won't be tempted to harass her.
Can you see how this focus and this mentality in the end just encourages men to 'tease and molest' while hiding behind the above reasoning that they are incapable of doing anything else, and it's the woman's fault for wearing what she's wearing, or for being out in public around men? It is NOT the woman's fault. Men are fully capable of controlling themselves, regardless of what the woman is wearing. I know this, I am a man that is in full control of my behavior and my actions, it is weak and pathetic to put the blame of my actions on someone else. Men just need to be raised in the right way with the right level of respect instilled in them towards every human being from an early age.