She danced a dance of hot flush, cold shivers , of rage and soothing. She danced the last dance of fertility .. a last dance to a long lost goddess; a deity that existed thousands of years ago , when we were hunters.
Dance in a white slip under a crimson red light in an empty space.
Dance to the tune of a crying piano, a weeping violin …
Yet dance to the tune of raging hormones.
Dance in memory of the last egg.
Dance till you feel in peace ..
Dance till you are covered in sweat
Welcome to The Half-Baked Bloggers Consortium‘s (HBBC) fourth post. Meet the members here.
Hijab: veil: cover: curtain: barrier: a wall??
Did it transcend from the religious sphere and seeped into the post 1967 society as a cultural identity?
I remember watching a documentary showing the late Tunisian leader Bourgaiba removing the hijabs of Tunisian women at the presidential palace, thus making way for a secular society.
Okay I always write in the form of a stream of consciousness.. whatever i think of is in my mind is written on the paper.. thoughts.. ideas.. etc so one must bare with this.. bad way to write essays .. blame the fiction.
Hijabis= good , non-hjabis= bad.. that is what some ppl think.. that is wrong. one cant judge ppl on what they wear or not wear. Some wear it for the sake of religion,, and some wear it for the sake of the patriarchal society ( no girls in this family will be ‘uncovered’). That is just BS like are you telling me that you are so protective of your daughter/sister so you just wanna let her wear the hijab becaue it sounds right for you.. while you – the father/brother/fiance/husband- could be one jerk, who knows nothing about religion and just wanna use that bloody non-divine right over the female so she can wear it.
In contrast their are girls I see everyday in uni. who are forced to wear the “scarf” but hate it and hate following religion
That is what @JoActivist tweeted me when I asked what do you think of women who remove their hijab. The point is those who wear it by force should remove it, they have less respect for it and some loathe it… why wear it to please a male in your family .. why please a society that is far from being a religious one.
It pertains to religion in the fact that it is the way you show your religious qualities in day to day life but it is a part of your identity in the fact that the hijab should become a part of your self something you become one with
The above-mentioned tweep continued.. I assume talking about those who chose to wear it because they are convinced.
Confused to start with and wore it on an unhealthy basis to start with. I shy away from their judgemtn .. not meeee! I’m talking about gals who take it off. I’m not a hijabi :). I actually encouraged my friend to take it off Because she was wearing it to Uni (to please her husband’s relatives) and never outside. I told her it made her double-standard.
Another tweep @Halawa told me when asked what do people think of a female who removed her hijab.
Girls who wear it because they want to and convinced by it then good for them.. but those who wear it for others, for society, for a male then drop this act and live your life.
Women in Arab countries have become increasingly visible in demonstrations for democracy, especially in Egypt and Tunisia. However, they still face several hurdles, many of which were discussed at a recent training program in Stockholm for opinion makers from the Middle East and North Africa. As a journalist from Cairo, I had the opportunity to get to know different people from the rest of the Middle East, as well as Sweden, to understand what women experience in different contexts.
One of the most important issues women face are so-called “honour” killings. Across the world, too many women are murdered by their male relatives, because they have “dishonoured” their families by engaging in “unacceptable” relationships.
Although having a sexual relationship outside of marriage is what usually comes to mind, causing “dishonour” may also include marrying a man from different religion or sect, or even a husband the family simply doesn’t accept.
Sadly, “honour” crimes continue, primarily because of the absence of effective regulation and the lack of implementation of existing laws, in addition to negative attitudes towards women.
But slowly, governments are doing something about it.
According to the Ma’an News Agency, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ordered an amendment to the existing “honour killing law” in May, which states that perpetrators of crimes “in defence of family honour” should no longer receive lenient sentences. This decision came after the Ma’an News Agency highlighted the case of Ayah Barad’iyya, a 20-year-old woman from Hebron who was drowned by her uncle because he disagreed with her about the man she had chosen to marry.
Earlier, in 2009, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree to amend the Syrian Penal Code with an article that confers a more severe sentence for “honour” crimes than before.
Article 548 of the Syrian Penal Code previously stated that anyone who commits an “honour killing” could claim mitigating circumstances and receive a reduced sentence. The new article, however, clearly states that murder in the name of “family honour” would result in a sentence of no less than two years. Article 548 was amended again in January 2011 to increase the penalty from two years to five to seven years.
However, Bassam El-Kady, the director of the Syrian Women Observatory (SWO), one of Syria’s main women’s rights organizations, said that the “article should be cancelled, not amended”, echoing sentiments of many women’s rights activists who believe the sentence isn’t harsh enough.
Individuals and organizations are also working to end these crimes. Breaking the silence around the act is one of their most important tools.
One of these efforts is Murder in the Name of Honor, a book written by the Jordanian journalist and activist Rana Al-Husseini in 2009 to raise awareness of the brutality of these killings. The book chronicles Al-Husseini’s 15-year journey to uncover stories of violence against women and draw attention to the fact that this is a global epidemic, not something that only happens in Arab or Muslim communities.
In Egypt, the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA) started a project four years ago, focusing on four governorates in Upper Egypt. The group uses different activities and media programmes on local radio and television channels to break the taboo around discussing crimes of “honour” by allowing those listening to the shows to call and ask questions or share their stories.
A Facebook group, “No Honor in Crime” also works to raise awareness about the issue and talks about positive steps taken to combat “honour” crimes.
The Jordan-based group, which reaches out to Arab activists in all countries, decided not to focus on honour and human rights, but instead on debating “honour” as a concept.
By creating spaces where “honour” was discussed as a concept, participants had to subject their current understandings of honour to logic and reason, and therefore had to take a more critical attitude to the issue. The mission of the group therefore became a “society-wide conversation to reclaim honour”.
But another factor in women’s lives might actually have the greatest impact. According to the September 2005 Population Reference Bureau Report, Arab women now have similar or higher levels of education compared with their husbands, especially in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine. Women are fast becoming more educated, and information is an important source of empowerment, as education will offer women more opportunities to work and become financially independent. In a few years, this could result in more women speaking up for laws that protect their rights – and countries instituting more policies that show they are listening to women.
Source
The relationship between women and their shoes is one of life’s greatest mysteries; a mystery that director Julie Benasra examines further in the sure fire hit, “God Save My Shoes.”
The documentary sets out to uncover the sociological, historical, cultural, psychological and even erotic factors that lead women to be completely obsessed with the toe-hugging, many times sky-high objects we wear on our feet.
Benasra, who entered the documentary film making world back in 2004, traveled to Florence, Milan, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and even Toronto, interviewing shoe-wearers and shoemakers alike, including some of the most influential people in the business.
If you own 60 pairs of shoes, you’ll want and probably need to see this documentary.
What is your relationship with shoes? and how many pairs do you have?
Observation of a lost soul Blog 