Well, I'm a father with two daughters, both of them trained as journalists at the University of North Carolina. I encouraged them in the pursuit of that adventuresome profession; I did not hold them back in any way from attaining education and proficiency.
This morning, I found myself comparing my two young ladies to a female personage of a different sort. It was the mental image of a Muslim woman with face half-covered and typical Muslim female garb.
This visage had entered my mind while reading MJ Rosenberg's post. I had checked out his link to Rabbi Pomerantz's statements, which had been provoked by our honorable President's recent speech in Cairo. Dr. Pomerantz mentioned the Muslim practice of requiring women to wear the hijab, or face veil.
I'm glad my daughters are not required to wear that getup, and I'm sure they were, are, pleased that it was not part of their growing-up restrictions. (There were some restrictions.)
But you know how the mind skips around a bit. The next thing you know, while making this mental comparison between my girls and the sharia-clad gals, I'm thinking about Britney Spears. She was prancing in some video that I saw online way back whenever, a year or so ago, I don't know.
Anyway, here's something to think about: a comparison of three female images: 1.) a Muslim woman in traditional clothing. 2.) a typically modern, relaxed American girl in a dress or pansuit, and 3.) Britney Spears in...
Then I'm thinking about the difference between these three. And so I raised a few analytical questions about them, to whit:
1.) The image of the Muslim woman in traditional garb is a standard that is set forth by much of the Muslim culture. (T or F?)
2.) The image of the typical American gal is...she is what she is, free to be what she wants to be. (T or F?)
3.) The image of Britney scantily clad and writhing while millions watch is a standard set forth by: a.) American culture? b.) MSM? c.) her promoters? d.) right wing extremists? e.) left-wing libertines? f.) American foreign policy (de facto)?
Another image I encountered during this imaginative tour was: Barbra Streisand as Yentl serving tea and/or gefilte fish to a yeshiva student... neither here nor there
The culmination of this subliminal slide show is this: If you compare these three images of a womanhood, perhaps you'll understand why many in the Muslim world hate us and our exported American anything-goes attitudes.
Finally, one little question, food for thought. Dr. Suess might ask it this way: What would you do if your mother asked you?
Carey Rowlnd, author of Glass half-Full
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