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In searching for some issues on women's issues, Iran popped up and I thought it woudl be an interesting discussion and juxtaposition against our culture in The United States. This article http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.fbcf8186298b2e778498b791229a7397.351&show_article=1
is very interesting, about how Ahmedinjad has recently come out against the traditional summer crackdown against women who are "badly veiled" in Iran. It's worth reading so I'll let anyone who will take the time here form their own view. It raises the issue for me of the sign of the times globally and is Iran perhaps starting to begin to change or not?
Monday, June 21, 2010
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2 comments:
Jonathan – I found very interesting your post.
I have always thought that the line between culture and human rights is really thin, but in some countries with a completely different culture than us it is hard to understand it.
As you said, it is a really interesting discussion, but I am not sure if we are going globally in this issue. I found another article that may say something different about the muslin veil that could give us another perspective of this matter. Belgium is passing a bill that would criminalize wearing the full Muslim veil in all public places:
Human Rights Watch, a well known organization that works protecting human rights around the world, posted this article: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/04/21/belgium-muslim-veil-ban-would-violate-rights
I found these paragraphs very interesting:
“There is no evidence that wearing the full veil in public threatens public safety, public order, health, morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others - the only legitimate grounds for interference with fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said. And rather than help women who are coerced into wearing the veil, a ban would limit, if not eliminate, their ability to seek advice and support. Indeed, the primary impact of legislation of this kind would be to confine these women to their homes, rather than to liberate them, Human Rights Watch said”.
“A blanket ban on wearing such garments in public violates the fundamental right to freedom of religion, thought, and conscience as well as the right to personal autonomy, Human Rights Watch said. Bans of this nature - whether formulated in neutral terms or explicitly targeting the Muslim veil - have a disproportionate impact on Muslim women, and thereby violate the right to freedom from discrimination on the basis of religion and gender.”
At first sight you may think this law could liberate women, but as we see, it could be worse for Muslim women, because of their culture and religion. Do you think this decision could violate women's rights to personal autonomy and freedom of religion, conscience and belief? I think it would.
A particularly dicey, yet interest topic. I am very fascinated by cultures that differ from ours. While there are many differences from country to country, the basic premise is the same: gender inequality exists. Going back to Sharon's first post...we question why the U.S. is so far behind other countries in terms of female leadership, yet articles like this make me realize that while other countries may have had greater success in electing women, they are not necessarily more "successful" in combating gender neutrality - these countries' gender disparities just manifest in different ways.
Also, this quote perplexes me "Iran's morality police have returned to the streets in past weeks, confiscating cars whose male drivers harass women." So they penalize women for not dressing properly, but also actively protect them from the men...? Slightly hypocritical, yet our society shares similar sentiments - as the Haley article suggests (after this post), our society is "confused" on how to "handle" women.
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