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The
subject of women in cultures that are forced to veil
is not to be confused with the issue of veiling by choice.
To some Middle-Eastern women, the veil is viewed as
a symbol that marks the passage from childhood into
adulthood and represents a source of respect and pride.
Many Muslim women hold fast to the belief, according
to the Koran, that women should cover themselves modestly.
However, there is always the potential for a point of
contention among sects to different interpretations
to the meaning of Islamic Religion. When this occurs,
the issue for many women today is that the decision
to veil is no longer a choice. Under these repressive
regimes, the veil is used as a means of domination,
submission, restraint
and segregation.
No
other symbol can reconstruct a sense of "otherness"
of Islam to the West. Veils might be viewed as a customary
tradition rendering us unaware to the darker implications
this garment can represent. It is interesting to note
that when one researches ancient belief, we discover
the Goddess wore the face veil, particularly in her
Crone years. It was believed that a peek behind the
veil often meant to view one's own death. We can even
look behind Western traditions and find remnants of
the veil as in the black veil worn by the widow and
the white veil of the bride.
I
wish to convey in this series a focus on the idea of
identity and women's emancipation. There is a war currently
being waged against many Middle-Eastern women, specifically
in countries like Afghanistan. These women are very
quickly being annihilated by a radical position of Islamic
Religious dogma. Here, the veil is a sinister symbol
of a silent holocaust being waged upon mothers, grandmothers,
sisters and daughters. These particular countries drape
these women, head to toe, in restraining garments rendering
them collectively featureless, mute, and thus invisible
to the outside world. This new series is dedicated to
revealing this silent plight and an attempt to render
it visible.
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