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assignment 11

There are many controversies about the meaning of the veil, and whether is it oppressive to women or not.  Many people, depending on where they live, may think a women being covered up is empowering, whereas others may see it as the other way, women being free to wear what they want is empowering.  The culture of certain regions plays a huge role on the status of women and their clothes.

Lila Abu-Lughod’s point was for the audience to acknowledge and be aware of the differences of other lives.  People have different traditions in different places and we should all be respectful of them.  There seems to be a difference in the political demands made on those who work on or are trying to understand Muslims and Islamists and those who work on secular-humanist projects.

In my opinion, as a Muslim woman myself, I feel as if even though women do have the right to wear whatever they please, there are many factors and social pressures preventing them from doing so.  For example, a girl raised in a conservative muslim family in NYC still probably does not have the freedom to wear a summer dress even if she wants to because of the social pressure within her community, that probably is taught within their culture.  If the mother wears a veil, she might expect her daughter to wear one in the future.  Her father probably assumes she will wear one.  Once it becomes the norm in the family, it is hard to break out of it without causing your parents to throw a fit.  They were taught from the generation before them their customs and values and teach it to their children and when their children to do reciprocate, the parents might feel as if they have not done a good job being a parent.