August 25, 2003
My previous post seems awfully frivolous after reading this piece posted by a female blogger in Iraq.
Her Baghdad Burning post begins with this:
Females can no longer leave their homes alone. Each time I go out, E. and either a father, uncle or cousin has to accompany me. It feels like we’ve gone back 50 years ever since the beginning of the occupation. A woman, or girl, out alone, risks anything from insults to abduction. An outing has to be arranged at least an hour beforehand. I state that I need to buy something or have to visit someone. Two males have to be procured (preferably large) and 'safety arrangements' must be made in this total state of lawlessness. And always the question: "But do you have to go out and buy it? Can't I get it for you?" No you can't, because the kilo of eggplant I absolutely have to select with my own hands is just an excuse to see the light of day and walk down a street. The situation is incredibly frustrating to females who work or go to college.
Before the war, around 50% of the college students were females, and over 50% of the working force was composed of women. Not so anymore. We are seeing an increase of fundamentalism in Iraq which is terrifying.
For example, before the war, I would estimate (roughly) that about 55% of females in Baghdad wore a hijab- or headscarf. Hijabs do not signify fundamentalism. That is far from the case- although I, myself, don’t wear one, I have family and friends who do. The point is that, before, it didn’t really matter. It was *my* business whether I wore one or not- not the business of some fundamentalist on the street.
For those who don’t know (and I have discovered they are many more than I thought), a hijab only covers the hair and neck. The whole face shows and some women even wear it Grace Kelley style with a few locks of hair coming out of the front. A ‘burqa’ on the other hand, like the ones worn in Afghanistan, covers the whole head- hair, face and all.
I am female and Muslim. Before the occupation, I more or less dressed the way I wanted to. I lived in jeans and cotton pants and comfortable shirts. Now, I don’t dare leave the house in pants. A long skirt and loose shirt (preferably with long sleeves) has become necessary. A girl wearing jeans risks being attacked, abducted or insulted by fundamentalists who have been… liberated!
Fathers and mothers are keeping their daughters stashed safe at home. That’s why you see so few females in the streets (especially after 4 pm). Others are making their daughters, wives and sisters wear a hijab. Not to oppress them, but to protect them.
I lost my job for a similar reason. I'll explain the whole depressing affair in another post. Girls are being made to quit college and school. My 14-year-old cousin (a straight-A student) is going to have to repeat the year because her parents decided to keep her home ever since the occupation. Why? Because the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq overtook an office next to her school and opened up a special 'bureau'.
Men in black turbans (M.I.B.T.s as opposed to M.I.B.s) and dubious, shady figures dressed in black, head to foot, stand around the gates of the bureau in clusters, scanning the girls and teachers entering the secondary school. The dark, frowning figures stand ogling, leering and sometimes jeering at the ones not wearing a hijab or whose skirts aren’t long enough. In some areas, girls risk being attacked with acid if their clothes aren't 'proper'..............
And I was complaining about not being able to share a Florida time-share!
Time to get my priorities straight. First, get that evildoer out of the White House and get someone in there who understands the complexities of human nature.
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Old Comments (3)
Gerry on 26 Aug 2003
The situation there, for men and women, make our problems seem small indeed.
I've got a $10 bet with my brother in law that W will lose the election (he will be happy to lose, but he's a little cynical). I've been making this prediction since at least May or June. I have some faith in the American people, after all, we didn't elect him in the first place.
Elayne Riggs on 26 Aug 2003
You shouldn't feel frivolous at all, Elaine. I think some of that reaction to Riverbend's blog (and mine was just as strong and admiring as yours) comes from her writing skills; she's very adept at articulating her daily observations, which is invaluable to people who yearn to know exactly what's happening (from a viewpoint with which we can identify) in the land our country is occupying.
Zaynah Mahir on 14 Apr 2004
While I can appreciate the instability the occupation has caused the Iraqis I also appreciate the resolve of the Islamists.In 1980 when the first 12 million went to Saddam and the marxist baathist arabs nobody in the feminist movement over here even noticed. Saddam's atrocities were not mentioned in feminist press. One arrogant PHD asked me " Zaynah how do you justify the way Muslims treat women?" I said to her " I have known 8 women who were raped, including my own mother. I told her "I dont know any Muslim woman from any Muslim country that can say that " This happened in the US. I have lived through 2 rape wars in the US. America is not safe , never has been . These women who complain about the Islamists should talk to the women ;like me who see and know Islam and purda for the refuge it is. Upward mobility and education have not saved women in the US from predatory men. Only a functioning legal system will do that. In the court I worked in night operations . I handled every document. I see that in my own town men who beat their wives are fined a mere $35. So I figure that my life is worth only that much to the legal system. If women in Iraq can stop asking Americans for help they will do better. They should ask Allah first.