cartoon: women's clothing and feminism

[Deep13]

10. Personally, I agree with you...

...while at the same time recognizing my own secular bias. And yes, in some places women are harshly punished for non-compliance with pretty draconian dress rules. My own feeling is that such coercion is always wrong and that one does not have a right to insist that others follow one's own religious rules, even if everyone is nominally a Suuni Muslim. One thing that is interesting to note, however, is that enforcers of modesty--whether required by the state or just customary--are usually other women, especially the older women in ones own family. The same as true here with mothers and grandmothers teaching daughters to act "lady like," which means modest, deferential, and with learned helplessness. The Saudis are a bit unusual in using male religious extremists to act as morality cops.