Egyptian women apparently can't win: when dressing, by Western standards, "normally," they get accused of being, and treated as, prostitutes; dressed in the hijab, Muslim men still harass them. "Egypt voices: Sexual harassment," interview by Linda Wardani, for BBC, September 3 (thanks to RB):
Seven Egyptian women talk about their experience of sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo. It is an increasingly common problem, with a recent survey suggesting more than four out of five women have been sexually harassed, while nearly two-thirds of men admitted assaulting women.Interesting correlation: sexual harassment in Egypt is becoming "increasingly common" just as it is also becoming increasingly Islamic.
NOHA WAGIH:Must be the Ikhwan, play-acting as Virtue-Vice police.Once I was out driving with my brother when he stopped at a supermarket and I waited for him outside. Two guys got out of a car and walked towards me in an intimidating way. They started commenting on the way I look and the way I'm dressed.
I usually don't answer back, but this time I said: 'I'm not here to get picked up, you know.' This was too much for one of them who started shouting that I was crazy. I replied that even if I were a prostitute, I wouldn't give him a second glance.
This made him mad. He came right up to me, shouting that he was a policeman and he would 'show me'. In no time three more cars pulled up, and a group of men got out and started yelling at me and my brother.[...]
POSY ABDOU
I get harassed 100 times a day. I tried everything to stop it but it doesn't stop. I wear loose clothes, I don't wear make up, I spend more than an hour in front of the mirror everyday thinking of ways to hide my body.
I walk home everyday. It only takes me 15 minutes, I cross the bridge. It is usually very loud and busy, but that does not stop men from approaching girls, any girl, good looking or bad looking, covered or not.[...]
ZEINAB BOULAKI
I get harassed whenever I walk down the street; even during the seconds I cross the street to take my car.
Yesterday, when I was parking the car in front of my house, a guy grabbed my bottom, I shouted at him, and insulted him. At least I did something about it.
My mother says I shouldn't answer back, but I think this is wrong.[...]
HODA GALLAL
I get harassed every day, although I am always carrying my baby. I thought being a mother would make me immune to harassment, but it made it even worse.
Once I was waiting for the bus with my child and a car stopped, the guy waved his hand at me with a 20 pound note. It was unbelievable. Another time I was walking home and this guy unzipped his trousers in a car next to me.
I screamed, but he shouted back very aggressively, saying 'Who do you think you are? Why would I even look at you?' People in the street gathered around us and to my surprise they were not sympathetic with me. They supported him. They all defended the guy because they do the same thing.[...]
REEM IBRAHIM
I stopped wearing skirts, and stopped doing my hair at the hairdresser's, I also stopped wearing make up, even my fiance asks me why aren't you taking care of your looks as you used to do.
But what can I do, I try to stop it but nothing works. I used to always have a smile on my face while walking down the streets, now I am always frowning, always provoked, always feeling the threat of someone approaching me physically or verbally.
At a bus or a microbus, I always feel there is a hand trying to touch me. It happened so many times, that I keep looking at the seat behind me as if I am crazy.
"I don't wear make up...
This is the problem. No, seriously--it is. If she were to use a dark blue eyeshadow around the bottom of her eyes and along the socket of her upper eyes, well smudged, it might help.
A pink color on the upper and lower lash lines, would add to the haggard look. A very little bit of dark blue smudged above the upper lip would suggest a "lady moustache".
Foundation applied as lipstick would take all the sensual color from the mouth...
Men would run, thinking her a communicable disease carrier.
And here I thought Islam elevates women. Contrast this with the decadent West and the "bikini Olympics". Gee, women are free to reveal or conceal themselves and they don't get touched on the street. If they do, the police arrest the prep.
What about the Egyptian police? Oh, that's right, in an Islamic Paradise, women can't testify in Sharia court. Maybe the problem isn't the clothes you wear, but the religion that you practice.
You can change your clothes, but not your mind. Women are truly the slaves of Islam.
Abscedere,
Unfortunately the situation sounds as if it wouldn't matter if they had the skill of a Hollywood horror film makeup artist. Maybe if the women who are accosted shot one or two of their willies off, granted the ladies would need a pretty large caliber gun to ensure they hit anything, would this stop. But this is the result of a truly sexist, misogynistic society and as long as islam is allowed to infest the minds of the masses, it will never end. I would normally say leave the damn religion if this is such a problem, but we all know what happens to those who see the truth and leave the murderous, misogynistic cult.
OT
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/08/30/2008-08-30_5_buried_alive_tradition__pakistani_pol-2.html
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A Pakistani lawmaker defended a decision by northwestern tribesmen to bury five women alive because they wanted to choose their own husbands, telling stunned members of Parliament to spare him their outrage.
"These are centuries-old traditions, and I will continue to defend them," Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents Baluchistan province, told The Associated Press Saturday.
"Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid."
The women, three of whom were teenagers, were first shot and then thrown into a ditch.
They were still breathing as mud was shoveled over their bodies, according to media reports, which said their only "crime" was that they wished to marry men of their own choosing.
Zehri told a packed and stunned Parliament on Friday that Baluch tribal traditions helped stop obscenity and then asked fellow lawmakers to stop making such a fuss about it.
Several lawmakers stood up in protest, describing the so-called honor killings as "barbaric."
Human rights groups accused local authorities of trying to hush up the executions, which according to local media reports and activists took place a month ago in Baba Kot, a remote village in Jafferabad district.
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The irony is they do it to men also.
If you're young and good looking and you happen to travel in Muhammedan countries you can expect lots of accosting, harrassment and embarrassing situations.
Perhaps this is part of what Churchill described in 'River war"
a degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of its dignity and sanctity.
These people are obsessed. Sexually and otherwise.
Gee, I live in a Bible Belt area and I've never heard of this level of harassment. I was at the beach the other day and the most attention that the bikini claim women get is a smile.
As a devout Christian, I say with seriousness that even if a woman walked down main street in a bikini, she would not get harassed. I think maybe she would an ugly look for not having any class, but then so would a man walking down main street in a speedo.
What is it with Islamic men and their rabidly violent sexuality? Oops, I forgot, its Mohammad.
What worries me is that, like Australia, rabid Muslims sexism will come to my town and women will not be safe to even walk down the street.
One more comment. People need to get video of this harassment, so people can see it for themselves. Set up a hidden camera and document this stuff. Muslim men always say "they respect women", but getting video is a sure way of exposing these lies.
I think the video of the execution of the women in the blue burkas in the Afganistan soccor stadium went a long way in communicating how evil the Taliban are. Video of Muslim men harassing women would help to raise questions about Islamic sexuality and trouble with really respecting women.
Sexism is Islam's "Achilles Heal" but evidence of it needs to psychologically trump the misplaced protection of violence prone Muslim minorities. It is good that we protect minorities however leftist's compassion is misplaced since they often are willfully blind to the sexism of Muslims and the threat it poses to the security of women.
Get video folks! Especially in the UK. The truth will hurt Islam, we need only expose the ugly underbelly of this creepy religion.
You're wrong. The Veil protects. Ask Naomi Klein.
The line must be drawn in the brains of men. That is civilisation.
Islam is obsession with sex. Oh, and with sex. (And with sex, of course)
FreeSpeech
I think you mean Naomi Wolf.
FreeSpeech, I think you may mean Naomi Wolf, though it wouldn't surprise me of Naomi Klein, either.
I can't believe this story actually appeared on the BBC. Somebody must be new there and not have gotten the pro-Islamist memo.
Just think of the potentail Taser market in Egypt. I'm buying that stock for sure.
"But what can I do, I try to stop it but nothing works."
Wear a full, loose skirt, and a pair of strong, heavy shoes. When one of the cretins gropes you, use one swift kick to perform a little MGM on him.
How often have we heard the expression "uncovered meat" used as justification for muslim sexual harrassment?
Too many times, that's for sure.
But even setting aside how truly insulting and degrading such a pathetic attitude towards women is, how can that EVER justify the violation of another human being's personal space and right to be left unmolested?
Whether the "meat" is covered or not is really not the point - the point, the ONLY point, is whether that meat is yours to consume or touch in the first place.
Why is that so hard for them to understand?
Do Muslims walk into Butcher Shops (Halal or otherwise) and take a few lamb chops off the counter without paying because "well hey, they weren't covered, so they were begging to be taken"?
Of course not. The whole premise of that as an argument to justify the theft is utterly ridiculous.
But unfortunately, lamb chops are apparently afforded more respect than women in the crazy world of Islam.
I'm trying to make sense of this. Their religion says women should coverup, to be modest. If they go out, covered or not, they are constantly harrassed and molested. Is it because they are out and about without their male escort? Are they also supposed to be accompanied by a male relative? Is this the message their molesters are trying to send them?
Or, even more bizarre, does this society have an ususual amount of sexual perverts per population? If that is the case, then there must be something inherent in the environment/ upbringing/culture that fosters sexual perversion.
But, and this must be the catch, their religion also teaches them that if they are tempted by a woman that is is the fault of the woman - not the pervert. Therefore "perverts" don't exist in islam.
What a mess.
I have never forgotten a post I read on the blog of a muslim woman who had moved to a western country from some benighted place like Pakistan. She said her biggest relief was being able to step on an elevator without fear, regardless of how many men might be in the car.
Islam creates terribly degraded societies and it is beyond me why its adherents can't see it. They are truly the most irrational and ignorant of God's creatures. Yet they have the nerve to call the time before islam the Time of Ignorance.
"Time before ignorance" - it must be a referral to the time before they had religious license to lie, cheat, kill, and molest. I guess they were ignorant of all of those juicy "skills."
Sorry - I should have written "Time of ignorance."
C'mon folks, let's face it...those women must be islamophobes!
in spite of the stories these women tell, i will bet they still go home and pray by saying Allllahhh akkkbarrrr...
Gee, and they aren't even running for vice president
Too bad Muslims hate dogs; they'd actually be helpful in this situation. I've found that very, very few men of ill intent will approach you if you are accompanied by a large and well-trained dog.
"Or, even more bizarre, does this society [Islam]have an ususual (sic) amount of sexual perverts per population?"
Posted by: charlie
I have seen articles that claim pornography websites get a majority of their "hits" from Moslem countries. Of course, pornography is not necessarily perverse. But bestiality is, and on those websites, the viewers are overwhelmingly Moslem. Of the ten countries with the most viewers, nine are Islamic. Interestingly, there is some variation between nationalities in choice of animal partner. Sheep are most popular in some cases, and goats in others.
By discouraging contact between unrelated members of the opposite sex Mohammedanism, no doubt unintentionally, encourages homosexuality on the one hand and this sort of harassment of women on the other. Accusations of bestiality are usually the topic of humorous jibes against any population that has a lot of of contact with sheep and goats (New Zealanders, Falklanders etc): it seems that in the case of Muslims the jokes have some truth in them, again because of their fatuous religion.
MerryMaven - are you thinking of *this* article, which also appeared on 'dhimmiwatch' on May 12 2005, courtesy of 'Norwegian Kafir'?
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/006128.php#comments
"In Pakistan the hijab is simply unable to protect women from being seen as sexual objects in public.
"Women with or without hijab, any kind of hijab, are stared at, followed and harassed by men on roads and streets and at bus stations, shopping malls, and other public places.
"This harassment of women in public places is known in Pakistan as "Eve-teasing."
"Women in Pakistan experience Eve-teasing wherever they go in the country, although there are variations from region to region, city to city, and even within regions and cities.
"For example, in the northwestern region, the conservative and supposedly most Islamic region of Pakistan, women without or with any kind of hijab are likely to be stared at by nearly ten out of every ten men on roads, streets, shopping malls, etc., while in such cities as Islamabad and Lahore women are likely to be stared at by, for example, four out of every ten men.
"Similarly, women in some regions are most likely to be followed by strange men almost from their doorsteps to their destinations and then back to their doorstep every time they leave their homes.
"Women in some other regions of the country might not be followed every time but often, occasionally, or at least sometimes when they go out in public places.
"When these women are in a good mood, they jokingly say that they've acquired a free escort or bodyguard.
"But in fact this is no joke. It scares women to death.
" If their father, brother, or husband comes to know about their "escort or bodyguard," the women must surely expect that limitations will be placed on their right to movement outside the home, or, even worse, that they will be the victims of honor killing..."
"When I came to Norway in 2002, the first cultural shock I got was that men in public places did not stare at women.
"I had observed and even experienced so much staring by men in Pakistan that I thought it was a universal reality.
"When I found that it was not so in Norway , I was upset for some time. I thought; "Am I so ugly that Norwegian men don't even give me a second look?"
"Soon I realized that men in Norway just don't stare at any women in public places.
" Imagine my feeling of excitement in my exposure to Norwegian society when I discovered that Eve-teasing is not a universal reality.
"This is one of the most cherished discoveries I have ever made in the whole of my life...". END.
Note that Pakistan and Egypt have nothing in common except Islam: the physical environments, languages, genetics and pre-Islamic cultures [Hindu and Buddhist in Pakistan; Graeco-Egyptian Christian, in Egypt] of the two regions were utterly different. And yet: Muslim men in Pakistan and Muslim men in Egypt both engage in precisely the same blatant, ugly, aggressive sexual harassment of women.
I mention particularly the pre-Islamic cultures being different, since a common tactic used by Muslims is to claim that this or that evil practice in a Muslim society is a hangover from the pre-Islamic culture. Apply Ockham's Razor to the situation in Egypt and Pakistan and Ockham says: the problem is ISLAM.
ebonystone and wallyuk- if your numbers and facts are right(I'm sure they are) - then it does appear that something (I wonder what? maybe the examples of their revered "prophet"?) in the islamic society does encourage a twisted sort of sexuality - even if it isn't always "preverted" by text definition. I've also been wondering about the reverse phychological effects of "covering" up what is obviously coveted. Even Victoria's Secret knows the benefits of not showing too much, by their standards.
Unfortunately, understanding what makes something tick incorrectly is not the same as "fixing" it.
Another interesting thing I've noticed: whenever the topic is on something of this nature, or about Mo's 6 yr old "wife" - the trolls and islamic posters are silent. Where are they now? Why aren't they trying to defend themselves now?
This all goes to show that attraction, normal or creepy, is in the eye of the beholder, and it's ultimately the beholder's responsibility for how he or she thinks or acts.
If you're in the market for a relationship (or just browsing) and you value religious observance, you will be attracted to the religiously observant. You will find their modest, sensible attire endearing and aesthetically pleasing. Call that party X. And sometimes over time, or perhaps instantaneously, pious "X" is just smokin' friggin' hot... in the eye of the beholder.
Now, is it X's fault for being so damned pious and therefore attractive? Would you rather they were less pious, or look elsewhere for the less morally upright so you don't feel as bad?
It's easy to see how one can always move the goalposts to blame the... "beholdee." And Islamic law leans decidedly in that direction, offering only the complete segregation of the sexes as an absolute solution, because in Islam, Jesus evidently never said "one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
It's no accident that societies based on Judeo-Christian values have such an emphasis on personal responsibility across the board. And having that emphasis, or not having it, has far reaching and readily apparent consequences.
They have to learn from America the muslimahs have to arm them self.
“Approximately 200,000 woman defend themselves against sexual abuse each year. The Carter Justice Department found that nationwide 32 percent of more than 32,000 attempted rapes where committed, but only 3 percent of the attempted rapes were successful when a woman was armed with a gun or knife.”
Everybody respect a gun, it’s religious neutral.
Large declines in rapes and attacks on women have occurred wherever the laws of concealed weapons have been enacted in USA. Primarily is it urban poor and minority woman that have benefited.
I suppose NRA could recommend a good 12-gauge pump action shot-gun loaded with double-ougth buckshot. Could easily be concealed under a muslimah standard outfit, on close range it will blow a hole in any horny muslim big enough to kick a football through.