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Saudi women with tempting eyes

I suppose this is what you might call the thick end of the wedge - first insist that women cover their hair and chest, then the whole body, then the face. Now, it seems, the guardians of 'virtue and morality' in Saudi Arabia are considering forcing women to keep their tempting eyes covered up.

"Riyadh (AsiaNews) – Saudi women with attractive eyes may be forced to cover them up, said Sheikh Motlab al Nabet, a spokesman for Saudi Arabia's Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), better known as the religious police or Mutaween.

"The report appeared on the news website Bikya Masr. In it, al Nabet is quoted as saying the committee had the right to stop women revealing 'tempting' eyes in public.

"The decision was taken after a man was reportedly hospitalised after a fight with a committee member who told his wife to cover her eyes."

Here's the full story.

Tags: Saudi Arabia, abaya, burqa, muslim women, niqab, tempting eyes, veil

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 19, 2011 at 9:44pm

Hmph ... how far away is Saudi Arabia from mandating burqas? Judging from this article, NOT BLOODY FAR!

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on November 19, 2011 at 9:49pm

Yeah -- it looks like that will happen any day now. Depressing news.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on November 19, 2011 at 10:08pm

This kind of mysogeny drives me insane! I keep having fantasies of role reversal alternate universes, where the perpetrators have to undergo the entire package of oppression, from birth, every time they squeeze women into a yet more microscopic box. They need comprehension, they need guilt and shame, they need to be stopped!

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on November 19, 2011 at 10:29pm

I wish I could stop them.

Star Trek NG had some episodes that dealt with other worlds and role reversals.

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 20, 2011 at 6:12am

Indeed it did, Steph. I'm reminded of Code of Honor and Angel One from TNG, back in their first year. TNG was still ill-focused back in those days, but it could still make a point here and there.

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 20, 2011 at 6:16am

Ruth, what they need more than anything else is EMPATHY ... a quality I am not certain that men in their position can imagine, much less adopt.

Permalink Reply by John Loq on November 27, 2011 at 10:54am

It would be wonderful if the roles were reversed. I would love to see that. It is fun to dream

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 27, 2011 at 11:20am

How about this for a concept: Let's get all the ruling party of the House of Saud tickets to a vacation in the Other World Kingdom! Ohhhhh, would THAT be a HOOT!

Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on November 19, 2011 at 10:43pm

I wonder what it must be like to be covered head to toe with black, heat-absorbing fabric in the desert... seems awful. I would be miserable.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on November 19, 2011 at 10:50pm

I bet they are miserable.

Permalink Reply by Timothy Riches on November 20, 2011 at 7:07pm

The Saudis must be completely oblivious to how the rest of the world sees them. Imagine an economy based on this same logic, where stores are forbidden from having window displays. The Saudi males are literally shouting that they cannot be held responsible for their urges. What a bunch of babies, no internal fortitude whatsoever, unable to refrain from grabbing at whatever strikes their fancies. Lazy and weak-willed. Pushovers. The most childish response is to make sure there isn't a cookie jar anywhere in the house - a challenge avoided is an opportunity for growth wasted.

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on November 20, 2011 at 7:29pm

Timothy, so long as they have money and oil and the power that both carry with them, they don't have to care, and I suspect they know as much and very well. Interestingly, this gives me all the more reason to look forward to a hydrogen- and renewable-fuels economy where oil isn't the pivot point it is now. Yeah, I know that's 50 to 100 years from now, but it's worth considering.

Here's a poser for you: what will the Saudi culture look like when they can no longer get away with the BS they do now, because they no longer have the wealth to excuse it?