Monday, November 27, 2017

Hijab Barbie

Michael Lumish

There is a lot of recent hoopla concerning the Hijab Barbie.

I honestly do not know what to make of it beyond the fact that Mattel wants Muslim customers for their Barbie collection.

Many would argue - and I definitely agree - that the hijab is a symbol of women's submission to men, particularly within an Arab-Muslim context, and is, therefore, an anti-feminist, anti-liberal, anti-progressive, symbol of injustice.

Others would argue it is simply about accepting ethnic diversity.

Still, others would suggest that it is a matter of creeping jihadism. The argument here would be that the purpose of jihad, including the non-violent kind, is the advancement of Sharia Law and that the hijab is a symbol of precisely that.

This is something that should be taken into consideration.

But, the truth is, Barbie is Jewish!

{She is still allowed Muslim friends, tho.}

Peter Coyote lays it out.

12 comments:

  1. That was some unexpected entertainment for an otherwise dreary Monday evening. Thanks, Mike!

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  2. BTW, that video is all zionist propaganda. I happen to know that Barbie is really a Palestinian dish. (nod, nod, wink, wink, say no more)

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  3. It makes sense since a statistically significant # of Muslim brides do themselves still play with dolls.

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  4. This was the fair response that I received from Nadiya Al-Noor who is a Fellow at Camera on Campus:

    The hijab Barbie is a figure of a real person who wears the hijab. It's not really a hijab Barbie as much as it is an Olympic fencer Barbie.

    As for the other points, I personally love my hijab and do not see it as a symbol of submission to men, but submission to God. Hijab should never be forced on women, but a woman should be free to wear it.

    Creeping jihadism is such nonsense. The acknowledgement and inclusion of Muslims in the public sphere is not a sign that we are taking over. It just means we exist. An Olympic athlete making a deal with a toy maker is nothing special. A piece of cloth on her head doesn't suddenly make it sinister.


    This was my response to hers:

    Well, you live in the US, yes?

    So, as someone living in a free country, the hijab is likely to be your choice. My understanding - and correct me if I am wrong - is that the hijab, if not the burka, are mandatory for women in much of the Muslim world.

    This mandatory status is enforced by the men, thus it is clearly a symbol of submission to men.

    It is thus anti-feminist, anti-liberal, and anti-progressive.

    But you would, I assume, know better than me.

    So, tell me, do women in Pakistan have the right to dress as they will?


    I am not trying to give that woman a hard time, but it's the obvious question.

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  5. Yes women in Pakistan have the right to dress/comply however they want however this toy is unlikely to be sold in Pakistan. I'm unclear on what relevant point that might be.

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    Replies
    1. It is unclear to me what you mean.

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    2. It's silly point for them to make in the first place. A toy sold in the US has nothing to do with the toys that little girls buy in Pakistan. They're not 'making a statement' and they know this

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  6. *** ISLAMIC QUOTES ABOUT WOMEN ***

    Koran, chapter 4, verse 34:
    “If you fear high-handedness from your wives, remind them [of the teachings of Allah], then ignore them when you go to bed, then hit them.”

    Tabari, chapter IX, paragraph 113:
    “Allah permits you to shut them [women] in separate rooms and to beat them, but not severely. If they abstain, they have the right to food and clothing. Treat women well because they are like domestic animals and they possess nothing themselves. Allah has made the enjoyment of their bodies lawful in this.”

    Hadith, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 124:
    The Prophet said:
    "…Then I stood at the gate of Hell [the Fire] and saw that the majority of those who entered it were women."

    TRANSLATION NOTE:
    The Arabic word used for "the majority" here is 'Aammah, and it indicates beyond any shred of a doubt (in Arabic) the *AST MAJORITY.

    from Brigitte Gabriel:

    Wife-beating in Islamic nations is more prevalent than one can imagine.

    In Pakistan, is has been reported by the Institute of Medical Sciences that 90% of the female population has been beaten for such wrongdoings as giving birth to a daughter or cooking an unsatisfactory meal.

    After the African country of Chad attempted to outlaw wife-beating, Islamic clerics in that nation deemed the bill “un-Islamic”.

    SOURCE: They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It (Chapter 9, page 173) by Brigitte Gabriel, year 2008, year 2010, St. Martin’s Press, 288 pages, ISBN 0312571283, ISBN 9780312571283.

    MICROBIOGRAPHY: Brigitte Gabriel, the author of They Must Be Stopped, is a Christian Arab, born in Lebanon. Arabic is her native language.

    Why Muslims Hate Jews:

    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/guest-post-why-muslims-hate-jews.html

    http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/03/guest-post-famous-last-words.html

    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-forgotten-oppression.html

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  7. Of course women should be able to wear a Hijab if they wish but must face whatever consequences arise from that in a free society and there could be many.

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    1. It's a sticky one. There are any number of western Muslim women who wear the hijab out of choice. The problem is that most women throughout the Arab-Muslim world do not have that choice. Thus the hijab becomes a symbol that is anti-feminist, anti-liberal, and anti-progressive.

      They cannot have it both ways.

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    2. What we've lost in the west is a meaningful difference between tolerance and force. I tolerate anyone wearing whatever they want. I resist being told that their choices are BETTER than mine and I must celebrate them. Today we're hearing about the Kate Steinle case and at its core, the objection that people have is not that a guy claims to pick up a gun and it accidentally went off. It's that we've mutated 'tolerance' of illegal aliens into elevating them above ourselves.

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  8. Abaya and amanis is obliged to be worn by women especially if they want people to see them as devout Muslim women that are being protected and preserved in terms of purity.

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