[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by Thor

Its one of the ironies of the islamic world, the least educated, most abused women of that part of the world are often the most strident and supportive of the subjugation they face.

While your GF's friends 'choose' to wear the burka, they are fortunate to live in a society where this is a right. However in MOST of the islamic world women are constantly in fear of religious persecution for any deviation of the sharia or islamic cleric codes in their states, provinces, countries.

I don't think you can pretend this is a women's right issue when its a clear issue of Islamic rules on what a woman can/cannot do, this is not a secular issue about women's rights, its a religious rights debate.

Not sure how you can pretend to move it from that fact.

In one post you say women's rights, in another it's religious rights. Which is it?

I'm curious why you think the debate for women's rights in the muslim world is anti-muslim?

Describe to me what you believe most of the Islamic world is. Afghanistan and Pakistan? Vast swathes of the Islamic world do NOT, in fact, wear burqas.

There is a very, very large difference in the practices of the western Islamic nations compared to the east. A woman in Jordan lives in a society more modern and open than a woman in Pakistan or Afghanistan (two of the most strict of the Islamic countries when it comes to women). A woman in the UAE is able to wear what she wants. A woman in Saudi Arabia is much more limited, but did you know women in Saudi Arabia DON'T wear burqas?

I find it strange that you assume the only Muslim women we know of live in this country. Do you assume the people we know are all Canadians? Do you have a pre-conceived conception that only Canadian Muslims choose to wear burqas? My girlfriend is an immigrant from Pakistan. I've known of and spoken to women from not only our country, but from the one that is probably the worst when it comes to women's rights. Thanks, though.

I still want to know what you mean when you say 'most' in all capitals. Those the least educated and most in poverty are the most supportive of their subjugation is not an irony of the Islamic world, it's an irony of all people the world over.

Anyways, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum on this message board... No one will sway anyone elses opinion on how this should be handled in the long run.