Muslim woman called "silly little girl" for exercising her own choice
Muslim women's choice of clothing is once again in the news. Manal Omar, who describes herself as a "32-year-old, 5ft 10in, professional senior manager for an international NGO" found herself at the heart of a complaint from an Oxford resident to a swimming pool manager. The resident was angered by her choice of swimming wear (which complied with pool regulations). When Omar went to see what the fuss was about, he informed her that he was not talking to her, only about her: "This has nothing to do with you." He then went on to call her a "silly little girl". Omar was wearing the equivalent of a wetsuit with a little minidress of swim fabric over the top to meet her personal standards of modesty. I've posted about this here, and its proven to be one of my most popular articles, and the swimsuit itself is a big seller.
The local Oxford newspaper ran a piece worthy of the Daily Mail about how outrageous her attire was and how this country would be overrun by asylum seekers, the end was nigh, we are all doomed, etc. They failed to contact her, and even when she contacted them they didn't wish to speak to her. So much for good journalism getting in the way of a rabid rant.
Omar has since published a very eloquent piece in the Guardian about this incident, and has rightly, focused on the way she was totally ignored in this whole matter. She is not debating whether Muslim women should cover or not. She takes it for granted that a woman has a right to choose what she wears. She is highlighting how the very man in question chose to humiliate her and then deny her of her opinion. The pool manager was equally guilty - failing to listen to her side of the story, or even point out that she had been swimming in this attire on many previous occasions. And of course the naughty naughty Oxford paper.
The press is quick to call women who cover 'oppressed', stuck at home, backward. As soon as a Muslim woman disproves this stereotype there is a move to disparage her again, mock her. I wrote about this previously, where Muslim women are caught in this wrong-headed bigoted crossfire, in The War over Muslim Women.
Here we have an example of an active, successful Muslim woman and what happens? Take away her voice! In fact, the story illustrates the very upside down nature of the debate we are in.
The local Oxford newspaper ran a piece worthy of the Daily Mail about how outrageous her attire was and how this country would be overrun by asylum seekers, the end was nigh, we are all doomed, etc. They failed to contact her, and even when she contacted them they didn't wish to speak to her. So much for good journalism getting in the way of a rabid rant.
Omar has since published a very eloquent piece in the Guardian about this incident, and has rightly, focused on the way she was totally ignored in this whole matter. She is not debating whether Muslim women should cover or not. She takes it for granted that a woman has a right to choose what she wears. She is highlighting how the very man in question chose to humiliate her and then deny her of her opinion. The pool manager was equally guilty - failing to listen to her side of the story, or even point out that she had been swimming in this attire on many previous occasions. And of course the naughty naughty Oxford paper.
The press is quick to call women who cover 'oppressed', stuck at home, backward. As soon as a Muslim woman disproves this stereotype there is a move to disparage her again, mock her. I wrote about this previously, where Muslim women are caught in this wrong-headed bigoted crossfire, in The War over Muslim Women.
Here we have an example of an active, successful Muslim woman and what happens? Take away her voice! In fact, the story illustrates the very upside down nature of the debate we are in.
Labels: Muslim women
posted by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed at 16:29
3 Comments:
It goes to show that ignorance is everywhere. Each "side" criticising the other for something they do themselves.
By "side" I mean side in the context of any philosphical or in this case bone-headed difference of opinion.
The person who complained, the pool staff and the Oxford paper are all shown to be ridiculous by their actions.
It's not just Muslims that suffer stupid discrimination based on false assumptions. Gay people, left-handers (in some cultures), ethnic minorities and red heads can all testify to this.
The victim of the discrimination is invariably minding their own business, living their life and not causing anyone any trouble - then along comes some moron to shatter their peace and publicly insist that their own odd opinion is somehow fact and even important enough to warrant sharing.
We humans are a strage lot.
She is very Monty Pythonesque. She made me laugh.
This is quite a strange tale. I must say that if the complaint had been made to me, I would also not have asked for any input from Omar (although I would not have been rude to her when she enquired what the fuss was about), but for a very different reason, because I cannot see that there is any kind of legitimate complaint that would need responding to, she has done nothing illegal, immoral, nor anything to offend anyone or interfere with anyones rights.
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