Its their right By: Jessica Burns

In the United States it is a huge thing to express yourself through things such as clothing, art, religion, music and more. We value the ability of self expression because this is the land of the free. Even in the United States, we like all other places, have had problems with oppression of rights. Each time something or someone is being oppressed in the United States we overcome the oppression over time. Because of our freedom of rights about these kind of things, it is common for Americans to want to help others overcome oppression to. For example right now women in the West want to help the women in the Middle East that are being oppressed and forced to wear clothing that completely covers them. Some women have created a group called FEMEN to protest what Middle Eastern women are required to wear but is this oppression, or do women in the Middle East want to wear this type of clothing. Who are we to decide if they are being oppressed when it is something that many women in the Middle East embrace.

When I see a women walking down the street with a hijab on I think that must really suck to have to be all covered up. In my culture it is common to see girls in revealing clothing and I like it that way because it allows me to be me. Well that same woman I see walking down the street in a hijab probably looks at me and thinks that must really suck to be in such revealing clothing, having men looking at me and disrespecting me because of what I am wearing. One of the reasons women in the Middle East wear clothes that cover them from head to toe is because women in the Middle East believe that only their husband should be allowed to enjoy the beauty of their body and not every man around, not because they are forced to wear them.

Something that is of extremely great importance to people in the West and Middle East is religion. We all have certain rules in our religion that we follow because it is a part of our beliefs that we follow from a book. For example Mormons follow the teachings in the Book of Mormon and dress in modest clothing when they go to church and in public for the most part that covers their shoulders, cleavage, and from their knees up. They wear this more modest clothing because they believe that is what god wants them to do, because it is a sin to be immodest. This is not too much different from why women in the Middle East wear a Hijab, Burqa, or Niqua. They wear them because it is a huge part of their religion and it is expressed multiple times in the Quran which is the book they follow in their religion. The Quran (Quran 24:30-31) talks about how important it is for women to cover up. They may be forced to wear these things by law but it is a law that they embrace.

Something that has made it difficult for women in the United States to be taken seriously over the years or treated as equals in the business world is because they don’t see women in the United States just for their brain or skills. Women for a long time were only being seen for their beauty because of what they wear. This is a huge reason why women in the Middle East embrace having to wear a Hijab, Burqa, and Niqab because it allows them to be looked at for their skills and brain not their looks. Although women are not thought to be equal to men in the Middle East they still receive a lot of respect for their abilities and not looks. Another thing to note is that women in the Middle East have recently been allowed more access to the business world and have been seen wearing pants even business suits but still remain completely covered.

Oftentimes when a woman from the United States travels or moves to the Middle East they continue to wear what they would in the United States. Although a lot of woman in the Middle East don’t agree with what they are wearing, they don’t go around trying to make people from the United States change to their clothing. They recognize that we have a choice of what to wear. Although a lot of Middle East women disagree with what the women wear they recognize it is our choice and we have our reasons for what we wear. Middle Eastern women wear their hijab’s for respect, religious reasons, and for marital reasons. We should let them wear whatever they choose to wear, and for whatever reasons they have chosen to wear it. We should let them wear what they want if it is what makes them happy, just like we do. Noone should be told what to wear. It should be a personal right to make that decision. In all we need to back off of women in the Middle East and stop trying to fix something that is not broken.

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