Why do Muslim women have no respect for themselves

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   RealityTalkposted 11 years ago

   Why do Muslim women have no respect for themselves
   
   Now, I'm positive I will receive angry comments from Muslim men - & Muslim women in response to this question.  Most likely replying they do have respect for themselves.  I mean no disrespect, but to a man raised in a society where women have so many more rights than traditional Muslim women, I do not see Muslim women as having respect for themselves.  And frankly, I do not want my daughters to marry in to subjugation to a man. A partner, yes.  A subordinate, no.  So please do not respond angrily.  Calmly & politely tell me why I am wrong - or if right, answer the question as posed.

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   Alphadogg16posted 11 years ago

   You cant say they don't have respect for themselves, the way they are is the way of their culture, beliefs, and were raised that way. So from there perspective they are being respectful. Other countries/religions may think you/Americans don't have respect for themselves for one reason or another.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Question: If a Muslim woman & her Muslim husband disagree, who wins? Is not respect give & take. Win & lose. Give in & don't give in. One can be raised in a culture of no respect based on sex.  Does that make it something to be proud

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      Alphadogg16posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Nothing to be proud of, I agree with you,women should think for themselves,everyone should think for themselves for that matter. However,if thats what you are raised to believe, and you haven't been taught any other way,how can you know any better

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I understand what you r saying.  But we all grow up taught to act/believe a certain way. If historically we never respected ourselves or sought change, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been ignored & we would still have slaves in the U.S.A.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Uh huh, in some religious homes, regardless of religion, the male is the dominant one and the woman blindly & stupidly accept this mandate as preordained.Before we castigate Muslim women,Southern Baptists say women should submit to their husbands

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      gmwilliams, u seem fixated on defending Muslim men & Islam's treatment of Muslim women by making unfair comparisons. U compare the few against the many.  U compare bad people against religious dogma. Do u want your daughters to live as Muslims?

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   sheilamyersposted 11 years ago

   I agree with Alphadogg. It all has to do with the culture and the way they were raised. Just because we don't understand all of the reasons for the way they live, it doesn't mean they're wrong - which is basically the stance a person takes when they make ask this type of question. Let's say, hypothetically, you're correct and the women don't respect themselves. There are women in other cultures and religions who live the same way and some of them freely make that choice. I know some Christians who believe the man is the head of the family and it's "Do as I say". If it's a free will choice, is it fair or unfair to say the Christian woman has no respect for herself? I'm not saying either you or I have the only correct answer. I'm presenting my view for your consideration.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I understand your pt. & believe it valid & yes "choices" r made as well as forced upon us.  I'm not stating "right" or "wrong."  But historically -men have forced their will & control upon women. Respect demands equal value.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      To Sheila, HEEEEY, with you there. Many woman in Christian families are indeed stifled.They meekly follow the male authority in their respective families and their ministers or priests. Whatever the MALE says, it's all right by them.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      gmwilliams, you r not looking at the average Christian.  I'm looking at common averages. There is a big difference between the lives of most Christian women & most Muslim women.  To argue otherwise is either naive or uninformed. Reality.

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   JThomp42posted 11 years ago

   Because they are taught from birth that they are less than human and are only here to serve men and Allah. They are taught they are not worthy of any respect and their only purpose in life is to make a man's life better. Sickening!! Good question Reality.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you JThomp42.  I mean no ill will or disrespect toward anyone w/my question as u understand.  It does seem an uphill battle for respect 4 some groups in this world; women being probably the no.1 disrespected historically.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Girls and women in other religions are inculcated with the premise that they are lesser than men. In many Christian religions, women are still viewed as inferior to men.Roman Catholicism is very ANTI-woman in its reproductive &religious ideology.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      gmwilliams, I grew up in a Catholic family & neighborhood.  U must not know many Catholics. There is no comparison between Catholic & Muslim women. Catholics will & can express themselves - by law & culture.  Muslim women - I don't th

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I attended Catholic school,being inculated in this ideology. I eventually left Roman Catholicism because of its atavistic anti-woman ideology.There are Catholic women who feel that they,as women,are inferior to men; their only role is to serve.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      gmwilliams, u must have had a bad life. Hard 2 believe u a man left because of treatment of women. I can't believe your educational background is blind to Islam's treatment of women. I do not advocate any religion, but Islam is worst for women.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      No, I did not have a bad life. Correction,I am a woman. I do not believe in any religion at all.However, Roman Catholicism is one of the MOST ANTI-WOMAN religions. I,as an intelligent, modern, and self-respecting woman don't believe in Catholicism.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry gmwilliams, I don't know why, but I thought u a man. My apologies. We r on same page w/religion. I don't believe in any myself. I believe respect comes within, not from without & most religions do not treat women equal 2 men.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      No need to apologize at all.

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   dashingscorpioposted 11 years ago

   I suppose only an Muslim woman could truly answer your question. However I suspect they would say they (do) respect themselves. In fact many of them might look at our American women  wearing thong bikinis, short-shorts, push up bras, pursuing men on TV shows such as "The Bachelor", being groupies at concerts, being drunk and disorderly in public, hiring male strippers for parties...etc And they too might ask "Why do American women have no respect for themselves?"
   Now the reality is we know there is more to American women than that which is presented in the media and every individual is unique in their thoughts. We pride ourselves on having separation of church and state. No religious state has ever supported complete equality between the sexes. People conform to the customs and laws of their land. It's all black and white with  no gray.
   Our nation is still a baby compared to Middle Eastern nations. We were built on revolution, civil disobedience, protest, and demanding change. Those countries that are driven by their religion tend to believe men by default of their sex are to be the leader of the household no questions asked. There was a time in some of these nations where girls were not allowed to go to school!
   Of the recent events taking place in Egypt we can see that their future generations are demanding change. I believe within the next 100 years there will be major cultural changes in the lives of Muslim women as it is impossible to remain isolated from some of the advantages of life they observe western women have.
   Having said that although America prides itself on equality for women (on paper) but in reality it is not always the case. Approximately 30% of women in the military are sexually harassed or raped. Men are attempting to stop a woman's right to choose even in circumstances of rape and incest. The class ceiling still exists along with numerous "double standards" that keep women from being looked at as (true) equals to men in our own country. One man's opinion! :-)

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      U make valid pts.!  Not the least there r many western women who whore themselves in many ways disrespectfully.  & yes, women world-wide still lack respect more than any other group. But choice & opportunity is a start; Muslim's -no choice.

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   junksellerposted 11 years ago

   Your daughters wake up in the morning, shower, shave their legs and probably their bikini lines, shave their armpits, then do their hair, pile on makeup, perfume, moisturizers, pluck their eyebrows, put on thongs, push-up or padded bras, skin-tight jeans and whatever else is the latest fashion, then walk out the door under the illusion that their appearance is freely chosen.
   
   It isn't, or probably no more so than is a Muslim women's. Both are carefully crafted, just for different effects. Muslim women tent to craft their appearance in a way so that their skin is known only to her husband. We tend to do the opposite. We craft our image to be sexually provocative.
   
   Do you really think we are so much more enlightened? Seen the latest rape statistics? Or violence by intimate partners? I think the chance of being beaten for a woman in her lifetime is now 1 in 4, which means there is a 50/50 chance that will include one of your daughters, so flip a coin...If that does happen, perhaps you can comfort her by telling her how wonderful it is that we live in such a glorious culture where women aren't subordinate to men.
   
   For further evidence of our enlightenment I suggest you take a look at statistics for suicide, depression, and eating disorders. Or want a fun game to play. Find a famous actress who hasn't posed nude or half-nude for a magazine at some point in her life. Not that I'm saying it's wrong, but to suggest that we don't have our own issues with proper attire is naive. We just have a different notion of proper attire.
   
   I wouldn't call this an angry response, but for the record, I am not a Muslim, and I'm really not sure why you'd except to only get harsh replies from them. I'm also not really sure how you can be so brazen as to say "I mean no disrespect" immediately after denigrating a half billion people or so. At any rate, I suspect you'll get a number of angry responses, which I think is entirely deserved.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      No push-ups 4 my daughters.lol. It is a matter of choice. Women historically still r most disrespected. But Muslims have no choice. Bodies born with male genitalia can rule & end their lives. My daughters can divorce abuse; it's easier 4 them.

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   fpherj48posted 11 years ago

   RT...I am not a Muslim. In fact, I adhere to NO form of Organized Religion, nor will I ever.
   To my knowledge, I have never met, nor spoken to, a Radical Islamist woman.  However, I have surely interacted with women of the Islam Faith, a.k.a. "Muslims," here, in our country. HUGE difference.
   In terms of Muslim women, born, raised, taught & living in hard-core staunch Islamic Countries, under the total control of Muslim men, we can hardly hold the women responsible for their self-image.  From birth, on, they live solely and strictly by the interpretations of their Holy Book, the Koran, as radical Islamist MEN translate it.  Shariah Law commands and demands what Muslim women MUST do and NOT do, in every aspect of life.  There is no need for us to try to understand the Koran. No need to understand Sharia Law
   To simplify the basic & hard-core facts, we need only understand that in the world of "Radical Islam:" "women" are less than dogs, horrifying as this may be to us. It is what it is. These particular Muslim women, have no time, nor opportunity to learn "self-respect."   They are consumed with worship & praise & unwavering OBEDIENCE and subservience to ALLAH, via the total control of Muslim men.  When you live under constant threat of being, stoned to death, beheaded, or otherwise beaten, tortured and maimed, you tend to follow the rules and do what you are told.  Period. no questions, no options.  These women clearly and simply KNOW NO BETTER.  How could they and which of them would dare try to?  THIS is reality.
   On the other hand, Muslim women (families), here in America, whom I have been acquainted with, on a subtle, personal level, are a mixture of quite different lifestyles and behavior.  Make no mistake, Islam and ALLAH, IS at their basic core.  However, the women and family structure is far less radical/ INSANE.  My grandson had a Muslim teacher in Nursery School....a sweet, loving & intelligent young lady.  There is a young Muslim college student who works behind the Deli counter at a local supermarket, who is friendly, talkative and always smiling.... very self-confident.  The sole difference between this young woman and her co-workers, is the colorful silk scarf she wears, to cover her head.  I worked with a Muslim Pre-med student, who wore jeans and T-shirts & partied with her friends...all things, that in her country would insure her death.
   My point?  We must never judge anyone by the INSANITY of some.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      fpherj48, not only some Muslim, there are women of many religious demonimations who DON'T respect themselves.Such women are just mere automatons, not choosing to be accountable for their particular lives. Some Christian women are FAR WORSE!

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      gmwilliams, no comparison between Christian & Muslim women - on average. The few Christian women u mention are outnumbered 1000 to 1 by Muslim women.  U don't think there r Muslim women who r today fighting to have the same rights? I hope 4 them.

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   gmwilliamsposted 11 years ago

   
   
   Reality Talk, you are a very educated, intelligent, and enlightened man. However, you are making sweeping generalizations regarding Muslim women.  Some Muslim women are that way as with many Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and even some women are not traditionally religious, even atheist.   Many traditionally religious women REFUSE to view themselves as inferior to men.  Although they are in their respective religions, they elect permit their religion to rule and determine their lives, they have minds of their own. 
   
   However, there are some women, regardless or not of creed, who have no respect for themselves. They feel as if they are nothing. It can be religious, familial, or societal conditioning which makes them feel that they are lesser to men.  There are some cultures, separate from religion, which inculcate the premise that men are THE ALMIGHTY while women are mere servants.   To get back to religion, there are many Christian women who have absolutely NO respect for themselves, they subordinate their wishes and desires to men, doing blindly as THEY are told.

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      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Correction, computer glitch-the statement should read as follows:Although they are in their respective religions, they elect NOT to permit their religion to rule and determine their lives, they have minds of their own.

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      True regarding women "in general."  But it seems to be the "politically correct" thing to not criticize other cultures & religions. If I am 2 hold true 2 that, I should honor slavery, man's right to control women, etc. There r differences ...

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