"Do Women Really Need Saving?" by Lila Abu-Lughod made valid points about Muslim women, or any religion's women followers, and their decision to wear head garments called by many different names. I think it is important to note that these women do not feel oppressed and like Abu-Lughod said - we should not be surprised that they do not throw their head dresses to the ground in great thanks to the "liberation" that America thinks we have created for them.
I do not particulariy agree with the first half of this article and how the author seemed to put the American society down, making us all seem egocentric and culturally bound. To me it seems like she threw one culture under the bus in her efforts to raise understnding and support of another. However, I do agree with her idea that women in Wastern cultures wear their head dressings out of respect for their religion.
The way I can personally relate to this idea the most is by comparing these women to nuns. A nun pledges her life to God, and while Muslim women do not make an oath of celibacy, they do, like nuns, choose to dress in ways that are intentionally more modest and religiousy focused. I feel like if anything, this would help them in their religous experience - not hinder them or make them opressed.
Overall when comparing the majority of Muslim women to Western society you have to give them props for chosing to be modest and holy in their everyday life, demonstrating their love and dedicaton in the most outwardsly way possible, instead of chosing to dress in bikinis, booty shorts, or tightly fitting clothes to accentuate their bodies. They are not opressed and do not need saving - they just choose different life paths than Western societies have chosen, and as an effect their cuture is different and more accepting of their dress manorisms.
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