Comments on: Saudi graduate student asks non-Muslim women – and portrait viewers – to move past the veil

By: Paul Miller

Paul Miller — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 10:49:52 +0000

OK, now how about the Anabaptist “sister” in the Valley wearing a white covering and cape dress? Do we offer the same generous embrace of the diversity?

By: Alix

Alix — Sat, 16 Sep 2017 00:24:08 +0000

Wrapping up in a veil and then unwrapping again is a (self)-revelatory process, no doubt. However much one likes to employ or indulge veiling and unveiling, in the end there is always the residual issue of the fundamental importance of Face-to-Face relationships in a society in which we are dependent upon each others as citizens. If modesty is adequate grounds for refusing face-to-face relationships, one must then inquire as to the motivation for such modesty. Gender hierarchy and the segregation of women, and in more extreme situations gender apartheid, inevitably arise as a chief motivating force.

No doubt, veils can be beautiful and veils can command authority. But they prevent face-to-face relationships, especially between the sexes. Gender segregation puts unfair burdens on women, and also physically represents the broader inequality of rights between men and women.

By: D. J. Mitchell

D. J. Mitchell — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 12:23:04 +0000

In one documentary I heard a teenaged Muslim woman, raised here in the U.S., talk about how freeing the hijab is from commodification. Meanwhile, many American girls of the same age wear clothing bearing obscene slogans indicating that their primary purpose is as a sex partner. I find it ironic that commodification is an accepted norm in our culture– women choose to (and/or are taught to) portray themselves as primarily sexual objects– and any variation is viewed as threatening. The hijab, the bonnet, and the homespun dress are all vilified as outmoded religious bondage. But who is really in bondage?

By: Deb Snarr

Deb Snarr — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 19:20:22 +0000

Loved the article, loved the work and the discovery. Proud of my sister Nourah.

By: Grace Byerly

Grace Byerly — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 02:51:26 +0000

I was honored to be a participant in this project. I find it ridiculous that so many who are not offended by the lack of clothing on women in our culture, which I think can often be very provocative, are so upset about a veil-covered face. It definitely, in my opinion, comes from people choosing to remain in their ignorance of “the other” caused by the villification of a whole group of people because of a small group who have hijacked a religion for their own evil purposes. Thus we live in a vicious equation: chosen ignorance equals fear equals hate equals refusal of acceptance of the other to dare to be different. Different doesn’t mean right or wrong, it simply means different. Why is it so difficult to comprehend this fact? Because all too many get great satisfaction from thinking they are superior to “the other.”