----- Original Message ----- From: "jan matthieu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 9:48 AM
> I wonder if not having to wear a burka can be considered a human right. I would say that NOT HAVING TO wear it SHOULD BE considered a human right. > In any case, as was repeatedly stated here and elsewhere, burka's were > the normal attire of countryside women in large parts of Afghanistan, > especially Pashtunistan. Women wore it before the Soviet invasion, > during and after, but it was not legally prescribed. Taliban enforced it > on all women, but now they have gone, this doesn't have to mean all > women would nor should take them off, and the fact women are still > wearing them has no connection to the possible remaining influence of > the taliban. Burkas are a cultural artifacts associated with tradition, not a taliban idea, and it makes even more dificult for these Muslim women to choose. We must aware to avoid a very common confusion: a cultural product is not necessarily good by itself. And freedom of choice, at least in this kind of issues, should not be restricted by tradition of culture. > I have no doubt those people, who think they do Afghani women a favor by > trying to 'liberate' them from the outside mean well. But some disasters > are wrought by the well meaning. No doubt the communist regime meant to > do well for the equality of male and female by abolishing the dowry > practice; only it wasn't accepted by the majority of the population that > just wasn't ready for it, it was considered an attack on their culture, > tradition and religion and it directly led to the anti-Soviet uprising > and the real start of the war. Of course nobody has the right to impose others what he/she considers "good" (americans and catholics tend to forget it, as history clearly shows), except when there are serious threats like illness or violations to human rights (like selling the daughters). I agree with Jan and also with Karen Watters, who said that change must be gradual. > So maybe some things need time. If you want to force them, they > boomerang back and have the opposite effect, as the taliban repression > could never have happened without the communist meddling in the first > place. I hope this opinion doesn't make me a bad human rights activist? > > Jan Matthieu As Karen said, it's a question between fundamentalism (archaism?) and modernism. Clothing is not a trivial issue, it is an individual manifestation of identity and belonging but also a display of social traits, practices and customs. Freedom to manage our own personal appearance is a right associated with modernism. If it is good for me, I should defend this right for anybody else. By the way, my own "portable prison", five days a week, is a jacket and a tie. At least I have some degree of freedom choosing colors. Greetings from the rainy, cloudy and fresh Mexico City. Salvador Sanchez
