Women in Iran

When I began reading the assigned article for this topic my initial reaction was that Maysan Haydar was being unfair towards non-Muslim women in her descriptions of the way many of us dress and behave, especially during high school. Upon finishing the article I came to appreciate the way in which she, on several occasions, clarified herself by essentially stating that no woman deserves to be treated improperly due to the way she dresses. Despite these remarks, I continue to view her opinion as being slightly condescending towards the women and girls in this country that appear to be more typical in their physical manifestation of femininity. Another aspect of the article that I found to be interesting is that she seems to approach the subject of proper attire for Muslim women from a completely Western perspective. The idea that people generally have of Muslim women in the Middle East (whether it is true of all regions or not) is that these women are forced to dress and behave a certain way. This is not discussed in the article at all and I wish that it had been since it seems important to me to make a distinction between what is expected of a Muslim American woman and what is expected or perhaps even mandatory in many instances for a Muslim woman in Iran or other areas of the Middle East. I feel that she is ignoring what should be a large part of the story of Muslim women by not acknowledging what life may be like in a place that has a much stronger Muslim influence as well as a higher population of practicing Muslims.

Sources:
"Veiled Intentions: Don't Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering"

I am...

I am a 25 year old psychology major. I work part time and go to school full time in order to support myself. I am responsible for my own life. My parents do not support me financially in any way. I live with my boyfriend of over 3 years and we help each other "get by". The threat of homelessness is real to us. I hope to transfer to a university one day and to become a counselor for high school students that have behavioral problems. In my spare time I enjoy listening to music, spending time with friends, and arguing with people on the internet. The arguments (or "discussions") that I have with people online (and offline) usually have to do with music and sexism. My favorite kind of music is gothic rock and deathrock. I also like some punk rock and some neofolk, and a plethora of bands that I don't care to attempt to categorize. I never lie to anyone besides my boss or the police and my sense of humor does not reflect my true beliefs. I like to make jokes about whatever I find the most deplorable. This is how I cope with social injustice and other brands of atrocity. This behavior frightens away the kind of overly politically correct and sensitive type of personality that I try to avoid. Essentially, I am testing people to see whether or not we can be around each other. Many of my friends would describe me as having a "strong" personality. I'm not really sure if they mean this in a negative or a positive way but I'm not very concerned about it. I'm mainly concerned with my own opinion of myself. Some people mistake this as conceit on my part but I think that people confuse arrogance with self confidence, perhaps due to their own jealousy or insecurities.