2008 Woodie Awards
Determing Who Is More Free
Rollins faculty members and students met to discuss issues of oppression.
Karina Mc Cabe
Issue date: 11/19/04 Section: News
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Throughout the 1990s, a series of protests arose in the Republic of Ireland regarding how education administrators required that females wear skirts to school at all times, even when it is raining and cold. This constraint reveals that even a highly secular, democratic, western society can be just as oppressive towards females as an Islamic nation where women are required to wear hijabs (headscarves often worn with veils).
On Thursday evening, a small, informal group of faculty and students met in the French House to discuss this controversial topic. Two Rollins organizations, the Society for Enlightened Academics (SEA) and Voices for Rollins, sponsored the event.
Many students may have noticed a flyer advertising the event during the week that depicted a woman in a bikini, portraying western civilization's regard for apparel, and a woman in hijab, that portrays how many women in Middle Eastern nations dress. Accompanying the pictures was a cryptic message: "Things are never as simple as they appear to be," which truly characterizes the discussion.
The well-organized discussion opened with a remark on how people tend to perceive the "veil" as a sign of oppression; however, Chowdury Tehreen, '08, countered this notion by explaining that the hijab "is a means to allow one to become a human rather than a symbol of any sex. " She revealed how it allows females to conceal their beauty and protect themselves from the competition of aesthetic beauty that plagues much of western culture. Women, Tehreen explained, "should not be competing with another human who also God has created," and the veil allows women to "cover the beauty of your body." These ideas all come from an interpretation of what Allah has outlined as a code for living in the Koran, the holy book of Muslims.
This perspective of protecting females from society's standards of physical beauty is very different from how westerners typically perceive the veil as a symbol of oppression and seclusion from society. By wearing a veil, Tehreen believes, women are less likely to develop eating disorders, as they will not be so focused on their physical beauty; instead, women will focus on developing better personalities.
On Thursday evening, a small, informal group of faculty and students met in the French House to discuss this controversial topic. Two Rollins organizations, the Society for Enlightened Academics (SEA) and Voices for Rollins, sponsored the event.
Many students may have noticed a flyer advertising the event during the week that depicted a woman in a bikini, portraying western civilization's regard for apparel, and a woman in hijab, that portrays how many women in Middle Eastern nations dress. Accompanying the pictures was a cryptic message: "Things are never as simple as they appear to be," which truly characterizes the discussion.
The well-organized discussion opened with a remark on how people tend to perceive the "veil" as a sign of oppression; however, Chowdury Tehreen, '08, countered this notion by explaining that the hijab "is a means to allow one to become a human rather than a symbol of any sex. " She revealed how it allows females to conceal their beauty and protect themselves from the competition of aesthetic beauty that plagues much of western culture. Women, Tehreen explained, "should not be competing with another human who also God has created," and the veil allows women to "cover the beauty of your body." These ideas all come from an interpretation of what Allah has outlined as a code for living in the Koran, the holy book of Muslims.
This perspective of protecting females from society's standards of physical beauty is very different from how westerners typically perceive the veil as a symbol of oppression and seclusion from society. By wearing a veil, Tehreen believes, women are less likely to develop eating disorders, as they will not be so focused on their physical beauty; instead, women will focus on developing better personalities.