The veil as an empowering garment and gaslighting techniques

Submitted by A very concerned reader (Australia), Mar 28, 2021 at 15:20

Dear Dr Pipes,

Thank you very much for redirecting me to this article which I hadn't read yet. Undoubtedly, a very good work of yours. Very well explained and supported. And very scary to know that leaders of Islamism know so well our languages and our culture. Our mentality. That's their key to silently come into our terms without noticing.

About the feminism phenomenon, let me get into the Turabi's statement that you have added:

"A woman who is not veiled is not the equal of men. She is not looked on as one would look on a man. She is looked at to see if she is beautiful, if she is desirable. When she is veiled, she is considered a human being, not an object of pleasure, not an erotic image."

That's it! They have distorted the veil"s purpose and have turned it into the opposite! Actually, all your article has resonated to me and reminded me of many discussions I had, but especially, in regards to why wearing the hijab. Among the many reasons that I received, and besides the number one: "Because Allah commands so", there were these feminist ones. The veil is now sold as a freedom tool because then, men wouldn't look at women with lust, women wouldn't be harassed while wearing it. The veil as an empowering garment that would give "freedom" to women to be themselves without looking for men's validation in regards to their beauty. Also, this statement dismounts the equality utopia that women try to achieve by taking off their hijab! Because even doing so, he states that she wouldn't be seen like a man, because she would be seen only because of her beauty. Hence, the veil conceals that beauty so women can be appreciate by their worth as if they were men! Aren't these men genius? May God help Western women from these lectures. I know well...

Dr Pipes, Muslims are experts in gastlighting. And this is another proof in our hands. For those who aren't familiarised with this term:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/basics/gaslighting

All you need to make a woman wear a scarf is a very adept man who tells you the "right" reasons about why to wear it for your own good while these ideas fit like a globe into your Western mentality.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".