I didn't believe this wasn't a send up. Here's the link to the story in the Telegraph about orthodox Israeli Jewish women who have started wearing the burka.
Hi Sunny, that link isn't working for me:( xx
Is this the article?
Sorry about that techno glitch. That is indeed the article, Tiger. What a strange old world we live in.:cool:
your right sunanda what a funny world
What a sad world where you have a woman praying to God to forgive another woman for walking round in a wig, do people not realise there are so many other far more important things that need forgiveness, to me this smacks of trivialising religion/faith and introducing into it a form of pettyness that the world can do without.
Love
Rebecca xx
It is a very bizarre twist on a hotly contentious issue.
I'm very interested in the declaration that the wearing of the burka is like a 'sexual fetish'. Last year I worked with a make-up girl who also works in the Agent Provocateur department of Selfridges in London. Those of us who are familiar with the big department stores in the West End of London are used to seeing rich Arabs shopping in them with their wives. This girl told me that the burka/veil-wearing women who often frequented the shop bought the sexiest of underwear. This is probably no massive suprise, but it does hint at feelings of sexual power as expressed by the woman, doesn't it? So the fact that they are wandering around in public covered from head to toe, but underneath all that are possibly in very kinky undies says that there's a sexual element to it. I remember meeting a woman a few years ago who ran a little independent lingerie shop and she had a regular male customer who'd get a kick out of wearing ladies knickers underneath his normal, everyday clothes. It does make you wonder... The women who choose to wear the burka do so to feel sexually empowered, I believe. I wouldn't say that it was a fetish, but there is an inescapable link to sexuality.
Really interesting.
What are "jewsish" women and what do they look like? :confused: 😀
OMG!!! My bad! My typo and I didn't even notice it. Thanks Scott. Mods, help - can you spare my blushes and rewrite my title for me, please
xxx
OMG!!! My bad! My typo and I didn't even notice it. Thanks Scott. Mods, help - can you spare my blushes and rewrite my title for me, please
xxx
LoL...done:) xx
This article raises so many issues that I dont know where to begin...
But commenting on what Tigerlilly has posted I'm not sure that Muslim women ( or men ) regard it as a sexual fetish at all.
Muslim women wear the burqa or a loose outer gown because they believe that their bodies are a private space and not up for public perusal or inspection, and is only meant to be seen by a select group of family insiders.
Perhaps because they wear this they feel more feminine as they dont feel the need to compete out there and wear similar attire to males. Their is in any case a strong emphasis on Muslim women, especially the ones from Arab societies in the Gulf, to identify and amplify their feminine side and they do this by purposely not identifying themselves as males and portraying a different image to that portrayed by men, by wearing attire which is different from that worn by men.
It's possible that the Muslim Arab women you describe seeking out the sexiest lingerie in Selfridges do so because having been brought up to emphasise their own femininity have no problems with "acting" and furthering the feminine sexual role in order to attract the masculine and male energy. And because they ordinarily cover themselves up their behaviour such as seeking out the best lingerie is more noticeable?
On the other hand, a Western woman brought up in Western societies where wearing similar clothes to men is the norm can also seek out and wear similar lingerie but it doesnt raise eyebrows because they already reveal more than Muslim Arab women?
Here we have one society emphasising the feminine whereas the other is portraying a more masculine image because of work and practical considerations, although ultimately beneath it all they are the same.
I dont see the burqa as a sexual fetish at all and I would say that the whole sexual fetish issue is in the minds of those who like to look for sexual fetishes in everything...!
Kaif
I'm not quite sure where you're coming from, Kaif, but one thing I would like to comment on is your insistence that Western women wear the same clothes as men: how does wearing a dress or skirt, of whatever length, equate with wearing similar clothes to men? Sorry, I'm not in any way anti burka, but don't see the validity of your argument.
Maybe you misread what I said, kaif. I said
I wouldn't say that it was a fetish
And I still believe it's a worn as a form of sexual empowerment for those who choose it.
And because they ordinarily cover themselves up their behaviour such as seeking out the best lingerie is more noticeable?
Yes, I probably agree with you there.
I'm not quite sure where you're coming from, Kaif, but one thing I would like to comment on is your insistence that Western women wear the same clothes as men: how does wearing a dress or skirt, of whatever length, equate with wearing similar clothes to men? Sorry, I'm not in any way anti burka, but don't see the validity of your argument.
Sunanda
From a traditional viewpoint in many Asian/African/Muslim societies wearing tight denim jeans for instance is a "male" attire, not to be worn by women. This is what I meant rather than skirts etc - that it was expected that men and women wouldnt wear the same type of clothes. Also there's a colour differentiation between the genders. Amongst the Gulf Arab Muslims for example, the women wear black outergarments - burqa's, abayas etc - whereas the men wear white, and until recently colourful garments on men were frowned upon.
So what I meant was that an attempt is made consciously or sub-consciously to keep separate attire for the genders. This is something which isnt widely known or understood in the West where there has been a lot of debate recently about burqa's, that the whole dress issue amongst Muslims is more than just women covering up their faces.
Kaif
Yep, I take your point Kaif. But my point was really that not all women go round all the time in western attire. We can choose what we wear. I've often wondered about the choice of black for women too, since in a hot country black actually absorbs the heat, thereby making life more uncomfortable for the women in their black than the men in their white. But in Afghanistan don't the women tend to wear blue burqas? (I'll adopt your spelling.)
But we have debated the wearing of burqas ad infinitum here on HP. My point in making the original post was to demonstrate the irony of orthodox Jewish women choosing to adopt Muslim women's dress. And you can bet there's not going to be a big outcry against them as there so often is here in Europe against burqa wearing Muslim women. As I said before, we live in a strange world and in strange times.
xxx