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From: jefff@locus.com (Jeff Fields)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: Hijab (Dress code)
Message-ID: <1991May2.143819.2455@wpi.WPI.EDU>
Date: 2 May 91 14:38:19 GMT
References: <1991Apr9.055950.8418@wpi.WPI.EDU> <1991Apr16.211858.24977@wpi.WPI.EDU>
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In article <1991Apr16.211858.24977@wpi.WPI.EDU> darwish@eng.umd.edu (Mamdouh Maher) writes:
>  It is my opinion that Hijab was imposed because of how Islam views
>Islamic society in general and the family in specific. The effect
>of Hijab is far more than to eliminate rape, it changes how society
>views women. Islam seems strongly bent on not letting women be turned
>into mere sex objects. A woman has a lot more to offer than her body, and
>this is not obvious seeing how some women dress. Sex is not looked down upon
>in Islam, but Islam has created the proper environment for it. Sex outside
>of marriage is the major step in the destruction of the family, which is
>the basic unit of an Islamic society. I have lived in the U.S. for about
>six years, and I have heard men talk more frequently about a woman's hair than
>about a woman's personality or intellect. This is just one way in which a
>true Islamic society is clearly better.

As a native citizen of the US, I cannot say that true Islamic society is
better than US culture. I can say that there is a common attitude among
American males to objectify women as sex objects. This attitude was less
common in the era when there were prevalent values regarding proper sexual
conduct within the institution of marriage. Women, in this era, were
expected to wear clothing that covered the majority of their bodies, much like
the Hijab. Women in this era also had less freedom and had rigidly defined
roles defined by society.

Since the turn of the century, women have gained more freedom, and society
has expanded its definition of the woman's role in society. Unfortunately,
there has been a trend during this time where the old values are no longer
commonly held by Americans. Thus women became objectified because the
destruction of these values, and not because women's clothing in the US
became more revealing.

I believe that the Hijab restricts the freedom of Islamic women. Islamic
men, if they truly hold Islamic values, will treat a woman the same
regardless of her clothing. 

So, I would agree that Islamic society has more commonly accepted values
regarding proper sexual relationships than does US society. But, US
women have more freedom. I believe that given the choice, women, Islamic
or not, would choose to live in a society where they had greater freedom
even though they would be commonly viewed as sex objects.

-Jeff Fields