Christoph Reuss wrote:
>
> Lawry deBivort wrote:
> > Have you ever asked a nun or a catholic woman whether they feel oppressed
> > when they wear 'habit' or cover themselves?
[snip]
> So, when "several were pro-veil", does that mean that they _really_like_
> the burqa (which BTW is much more than a veil) ? Of course not!
>
> Chris
To continue with my socio-cultural thoughts....
There is no a priori reason not to believe that at least some
burqa wearers genuinely like it.
This can be a "reaction formation": Valorizing what one
is stuck with anyway. It can be lemming-mind. It can be
a symptom of ignorance that there are any alternatives, i.e.,
that "it" is anything at all (Burqa as analog to the
proverbial fish not noticing its water -- I call this
"categorial deprivation", as opposed to
"em,pirical deprivation", where one knows there
is something good which one does not have). And, last but
not least, it can be "functional": If you are a [wo]man who
wants to escape (or enter) Taliban territory, a burqa may
be a good disguise.
I cite as an analogy male circumcision here in the
enlightened west (sorry, please capitalize
the preceding words...). Many men apparently think they
are better off for it. Some may have no idea anything
was done to them at all. Many
do it to their sons so that their sons "won't look different
in the locker room" (they could, of course, instead,
question the appropriateness of persons being subjected to
locker room public nudity!). Etc.
If you want to see how much we live in a free marketplace of
ideas, try telling the parents of a jewish newborn male
that they should not genitally mutilate their baby.
And here, Lawry, I've actually talked to these people.
Some of them have gotten to expect this offensive rudeness
out of me, so before I tell them, they tell me they already
know what I am going to say. One replied: "But the
grandparents are religious and it is very important to them"
(as if it was the grandparents' foreskins that were at
issue!). It's a BRIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the persons saying this may have elite PhDs even!
I have been told of one jewish couple who did not mutilate
their son, but I have not had the pleasure of speaking
with *them*!
So, Lawry, now that I think about it, I don't have to
"apologize" to you for not having personally talked
with any burqa wearers. I've talked with jewish
parents of male children, and, as one would say in
mathematics, they are in the same "remainder class"
("congruence class", etc.). Yes, I've taken an
oar to persons who have never heard of the sea* (albeit
I've not yet had the courage to do this at work, but
I am prepared to very politely and self-effacingly
broach the subject with the person where I work
who has their PhD from David Gelertner, should this
person's wife become pregnant with a male child.
Just like I tell management bad things I see even though
I know they probablky don't want to hear it and that
I am "expendable". I cannot do otherwise.
One final thought for you, Lawry:
I am evidence.
(Which is not to preclude that you or anyone else may be
eviedence, too!)
Never again.
\brad mccormick
--
*Ref.: Athena's instructions to Odysseus after she
told him to stop killing the parasitic hoard
who had infested his home during his 20 years' absence.
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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