A young Muslim-American singer-songwriter, Omnia Hegazy uses her music to speak out about women’s rights within her Muslim community and beyond.
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Despite receiving threats and insults, Omnia continues to empower women who would otherwise be afraid to speak up. She also has a message for men:
“Instead of strengthening the will of men, teaching self-control, we teach women that we need to cover up and protect ourselves. There’s the wrong emphasis here!”
Do you agree with her? Check out the clip here and leave a comment.
My babysitter told me story about her acquaintance, a Filipino nurse, who worked in a Saudi Arabia hospital covered head to toe and she still received rape threats…if you read “In the Land Of Invisible Women” (about a Pakistani doctor’s account of working in Saudi Arabia), you will see what sick psyches are trapped over there in that society…there is so much repression, hypocrisy, and oppression…women and girls who are covered head to toe are still assaulted…
@ Leia
Foreign workers from Asia and Africa are treated like crap over there.
Well first, what this young Muslim-American woman experiences in her Muslim-American culture is a bit of different battle then what the average American woman faces. Muslim culture is especially harsh on a woman. It’s a culture where a woman is stoned to death because a man raped her. They got some strides to make within there that the average American woman isn’t experiencing. As for a more general position on men looking, and women feeling objectified and not dealing with a Muslim-American culture, it isn’t that being sexually attracted to someone is ‘bad”. I just think the problem for a… Read more »
There needs to be change on both sides. Looking is not a license, and it’s not a crime either. The way a woman dresses is no excuse for any form of aggression. It is not a license in any way, shape or form. It is not a communication or a message that signals consent. Duh. Meanwhile, feeling attracted to someone, even feeling lust (oh no!) for someone else is not a sin. Looking at another person because that person is physically attractive is not a crime. A look is not an assault, just as a look is not an excuse… Read more »
One way to reduce staring is to provide free porn to all men and women – we’ve heard often how porn desensitizes the receptors, requiring more and more dopamine injection to get the same sexual high. There is an upside to commodification of sex, and it is often overlooked and replaced by its poor cousin puritanism. The Danish figured this out long ago and by most standards, have one of the best sexually adjusted societies.
We women have a lot of ground to catch up – 50 Shades and Sporno is simply not good enough.
Elissa, first of all, the idea that people should be entitled to “free” porn is a recent onset and a strange one at that. There is no other entertainment that we feel we deserve for free as we seem to culturally believe we deserve when it comes to porn. We pay for music (hopefully since we want to suppor the artists that make it right?), we pay for books, we pay for movies, we pay for cable. But for some reason, people expect professionals to make free sexual content for them to enjoy. If you’re someone who likes porn, why… Read more »
“The way a woman dresses is no excuse for any form of aggression. It is not a license in any way, shape or form. It is not a communication or a message that signals consent.” Well said! When you say “There is no need for men to use self-control when it comes to noticing an attraction to another person,” that makes sense as well. But there’s a difference between glancing at someone and leering, which – while not a crime – shouldn’t be blamed on the woman because she wasn’t covered up.
I take it you are able to distinguish between a glance and a leer?
I think that I personally can, but I don’t know if everyone would agree with my distinguish-ment.
What’s wrong with guys looking?
The issue she’s raising here is that women are being told to cover up to prevent men from losing control.
Wonderful.