I am reading quite a bit about women’s status in Islam these days for the obvious reason. I can tell you that you can find very diverse point of view on the subject out there, as diverse as the people of the muslim faith are -makes sense!
I am not trying to paint all muslim with the same brush here, but I am trying to understand how the men of Algeria I work with view me...There are mixed feeling on this location on whether a woman should be here. Let's just say that I get "looks"!
On her location the other female geologist has to deal with a well respected strict religious "doctor" who calls all women "whores" and watches pornographic movies whenever he can sneak in the room with the TV.
Anyway!
Generally, in what I found, depending on the point they are trying to make authors will either play the “all people are equal” card or the “women are lesser beings” card…obviously it is hard to play both, but apparently both are found in the holy scriptures.
Here is an interesting example:
“liberation by the veil” taken from http://www.islam101.com/women/hijbene.html
“Modesty and chastity , very important ideologies with Islam, are achieved by prescribing standards on behavior and the dress of a Muslim. A woman who adheres to the tenements of Islam is required to follow the dress code called Hijab, other synonymes are Veil, Purdah, or just Covering. It is an act of faith and establishes a Muslim's life with honor, respect and dignity. The Hijab is viewed as a liberation for women, in that the covering brings about "an aura of respect" (Takim, 22) and women are recognized as individuals who are admired for their mind and personality, "not for their beauty or lack of it" ( Mustafa ) and not as sex objects.
Contrary to popular belief, the covering of the Muslim woman is not oppression but a liberation from the shackles of male scrutiny and the standards of attractiveness. In Islam, a woman is free to be who she is inside, and immuned from being portrayed as sex symbol and lusted after. Islam exalts the status of a woman by commanding that she "enjoys equal rights to those of man in everything, she stands on an equal footing with man " (Nadvi, 11) and both share mutual rights and obligations in all aspects of life.
It goes on. If you want to see more go to the excellent website.
I say: “we could also burn the eye balls of men and the women would be freed of their constant sexual cravings expressed in unappropriate settings, or more reasonably we could force them to stay at home and make it a law that they should not be allowed outside without a female guardian. That would work too.
