The Islamic culture and the way it affects on the mental and physical development of women

Soheila Sharifi

I was only ten and playing joyfully a volleyball game with my brother and my cousin, when one of our neighbours came into our garden and seeing me jumping up and down, she fixed me with a glaring look and told me not to jump up like that, “you are a big girl now, I can see your
breasts under your dress. You should not jump up and down. People might see them.” she told me reproachable tone. She left me terribly embarrassed. After that I watched my growing bosoms with horror every day and tried to bend my shoulders forward as much as possible in order to hide them. Now after 25 years I am reminding myself everyday (as advised by my
physiotherapist) to keep my shoulders and my back straight. But it is too late, an abnormal poster and constant neck and back pains are what I and many other women have inherited from the Islamic culture.

Girls in Islamic communities are brought up in a way that they would clearly know their place in the family and in society. They must be taught from the very young age that they are inferior; that they must obey their male guardians and that they must keep their beauties hidden behind the veil until a man buys the license to use them. The most effective
and visual way of doing this is by forcing young girls to wear the Islamic Hijab (veil) which is not only conveying the required message, but also hinders physical movements and naturally calms the young girl down and teaches them to behave like proper Muslim women.

Veil is not just a sort of dress, it is not only a different kind of clothing, it is not a strange and ugly fashion, and it is not even an issue concerning only women. Veil is a social issue that affects both women and men. It is part of a culture that illustrates and reinforces values and measures desired by the Islamic teachings in the society.

The veil is a way of life, a specific kind of behaviour, an expression of what society expects from a woman and her sexuality. In short veiling a woman determines her psychological, social and physical developments. It will determine the way she speaks, walks, looks, and even mixes with other people.

For those living in multi-cultural, western societies it is easy to compare the differences between ordinary young girls and those brought up among Islamist families. In comparison with girls who have grown in a free environment and have never worn veil, those coming from the Islamic culture, are more modest, soft spoken, and quieter and have less confidence and self-esteem. They avoid eye contact with men, sit shrivelled in a far corner of the trains and public areas looking out of the window or watching their own feet. They try to walk in groups, are constantly worried and scared of their surroundings. They are encouraged to stay
indoors as much as possible and so are less experienced in the social life and will remain dependant on men to do the tough outdoor business for them.

The physical affects

Physically the cover and the long Islamic dresses are hindering the girls from playing, jumping, running and most activities. A girl who is wearing long dresses will not be able to do what is essential for a growing child to do in order to build his/her body structure. This will
result in premature weariness and aging. No wonder the life expectancy is very low among women in the Islam-Stricken countries.

The long dresses and scarves deprive the skin and hair from the sun and air and will cause skin problems and hair damage. Alopecia and skull itch is very common among women and girls who have to wear veil for long hours. Wearing scarf is particularly uncomfortable for young girls as the scarf pulls the hair with each movement of the head and irritates the child. In the hot summer days wearing a scarf means loads of sweating and uneasiness. Children will loose their interest in playing after a wile as it is not fun running around in heavy long clothing and sweating under a scarf. Grown women under the pressure of being caged inside a moving prison day after day, will grow depressed and unnerved. In addition to the above is the fact that the Islamic teaching discourages girls and women to laugh loudly and to dance in public and listen to music and to sing. A girls giggle or laugh may arouse a man and make him commit a sin. So a proper Muslim girl is taught to laugh covering her mouth and trying hard not to be heard. Laughing and playing and music and dancing are all the elements of a happy, cheerful life and without them or with such restrictions for having them, life would be a dull,
depressing and gloomy thing. Depression is a deniable fact in the lives of many young girls, who live under such restrictions. In Iran the percentage of suicides among young girls is very high. Many teenage girls, who don’t see a way out of their prison, are burning themselves every year. Those who do not kill themselves and grow to a middle aged life will usually turn bitter and unhappy. Mourning ceremonies are full of women who are looking for a place to gather around and cry their problems out.

The Islamic culture and women’s sex life

As far as Islamic culture is concerned, sex has always been considered a men thing. Something that men are terribly, badly after and women are terribly, badly avoiding. It is a monster that might get you if you are not careful. A young girl is brought up dreading sex. They put veil on her to (in their own view) save her from rape and sexual harassment.
They tell her to be careful, to cover herself and not to do anything to attract men’s attention. Sex is considered a sin and women are usually taken responsible in rape cases, if a woman dares to speak out against it. Women’s feelings in this respect are completely ignored, they are not allowed to talk about their feelings, and they are not asked if they want to have sex or not, they are not told in many cases what is sex and how a human’s sexual system works. Purity and modesty discourages young women to talk about it.
According to Islamic culture man is the one who seeks and gets pleasure from sex. Women are told by Qoran and the Islamic Hadith to obey their husbands and go to him whenever he wishes so. There are several verses in Qoran about women being only a filed for men and that they will go to hell if they did not fulfil their husband’s sexual needs. Young women, who have hardly experienced any pleasure from their sexual intercourse, do grow weary, disappointed, bitter and unhappy about it. They get frequent lower abdomen pain after none pleasurable sexual intercourse, and develop constant back problems. They will soon loos any interest in sex and try to retire from a very young age. They find excuses like, children and house work to get away with sex. One of the main reasons given by the Islamic writers in favour of men polygamy in Islam is that women grow old much sooner than men and they loose their sexual
interest because of child rearing, and will not be able to provide for their husbands sexual needs. This is a reactionary and anti-women argument, yet it reflects one true fact ant that is women’s active sexual life period in the Islamist communities is much shorter than women in any other community.

This must end

Despite the Islamic government’s attempts and despite the strict Islamic rules and traditions it is worth noticing that there has always been a strong resistance against these rules and traditions. People and in particular women have always been forced to wear the veil and to behave in the way Islamic tradition requires. Women have worn the Islamic veil either due to traditional restrictions or laws or patriarchal believes. Hardly any young girl if left alone would voluntarily go for wearing Hejab. Maybe it’s the force of nature; maybe it is the natural need of
human being for happiness, music, dance, beauty and laughter that rejects the Islamic rules. Whatever the reason there is and always have been a natural power that resists the inhuman, degrading and unhealthy traditions of the veiling and sexual apartheid.
Iranian society in the past 24 years is a typical example of this resistance. In the course of 24 years, there had every day been arrests, floggings, fines, harassments for not wearing ‘proper’ Islamic veil and wearing make up and women have rejected to obey again and again. Every
day milliards of Tomans are spend on the moral squads and Hezbollah forces to keep women indoors or properly dressed in public and they have never been able to have a society they did advocate for. Only last year on the international women’s day, women set fire to their scarves to show their strong protest against compulsory Islamic veiling.
The only way out of this dark prison for women is the withdrawal of the Islamic laws, the end of the Islamic rules and fighting against any sexual apartheid. Stopping the political Islam worldwide is the first step towards equality for millions of women across the world.