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I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

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Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#81

Post by grecy »

flyinglizard wrote: post #42

Some Muslims wanted us to fear Islam. I guess that worked.

I honestly believe America is captivated right now by fear itself.

It could be nuclear fallout from Japan, or Islam, or H1N1, or drug cartels in Mexico, or Canadian healthcare, or communists, or the Arab Spring, or any number of other things that for all intents are purposes are almost entirely non-threatening to the average citizen on the street.

The focus of the fear is completely irrelevant. The primary goal is perpetual fear itself.

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#82

Post by wpietri »

guylhem wrote: post #65
wpietri wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Terrible analogy. People aren't discriminating because they think hijabs are unfashionable. They're discriminating because they correctly interpret the hijab as a religious marker. Did you notice that your advice basically amounts to "do your best to look like a straight, white, middle-class Christian"? And that you are basically blaming the victim? Both strike me as terrible advice.

Sorry if this is rude, but this post feels like a bleeding hart white liberal voluntary experiencing with discrimination caused by obvious self sabotage - and then discovering that discrimination exists indeed, and blogging about her discovery. The obvious next step is converting to some religion or faith which requires unusual clothing or body painting, to "make a statement"/ taunt/provoke and then complain about ho…

It's rude, and also poorly thought through. You're spinning imaginary scenarios and then getting your balls in an uproar about them. Relax.

Ela did not "play the victim"; she is not asking for sympathy. She did not sabotage herself; she is whole and unharmed.

I also am dumbfounded that you think it's offensive to victims of discrimination to try to understand them by experiencing discrimination.

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#83

Post by jh3 »

lucb1e wrote: post #16
guylhem wrote: post #9

If wearing a hijab cause people to call you names, throw bad looks or more generally makes you feel discriminated against, what about trying not to wear an hijab?? Maybe I'm clueless and prejudiced and all that but it seems to me that religion was a perfectly "open" choice, ie something you can change at any time. Comparing that in any way to racism is insulting. People do not chose their ethnicity. People can chose…

People don't believe in a religion because it's convenient. If it were simple like that, everybody'd be atheist, there are no rules attached to that whatsoever. People have a belief because they believe. Or perhaps because they think a certain lifestyle is a good one (isn't that what bhuddism is? I know too little about this...).

> People don't believe in a religion because it's convenient.

How is it convenient _not_ believing in a religion?

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#84

Post by ignignokt »

mgkimsal wrote: post #64
ceejayoz wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you be sure they're not part of a fringe cult that doesn't require head coverings but still kills people for making eye contact?

30+ years of experience has given me enough confidence that the chance of that happening is pretty low. Honor killings and female mutilation is statistically higher than non-head-covering eye-contact-killings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing_in_the_United_Sta...

I'd be astounded to actually see a case of an honour killing which was caused by fleeting eye contact, none of the ones in that article are, why not just treat them the same as you would anyone else?

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#85

Post by icebraining »

guylhem wrote: post #54
antoko wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wearing a hijab doesn't cause anything. People having prejudice is the cause. The hijab just allows this white girl to experience it. People CAN choose their religion, but should they based off of how other people make them feel about it? You're missing a step... "Your religion makes you feel bad" NO! Other people make me feel bad about my religion. That's pretty obviously prejudice. Also for most groups of people th…

This "white girl trying to wear an hijab" screams to me as a kind of self sabotage. She won at the genetic lottery : she conforms to the usual expectations about "looking good" in the country she lives in - did she never realized that privilege/advantage before??

There's a big difference between knowing that you have an advantage and actually experience what's like not to have it. It's extremely easy to take things for granted, even if you once didn't have them; it's much easier if you had them all along.

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#86

Post by ktizo »

ftwinnovations wrote: post #37
ceejayoz wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting that you think "look at you funny" and "called me a terrorist" are equivalent.

I wonder what they would do in one of those countries that attacks and kills people at embassies or sends jihadists off to crash planes into buildings. Probably a little worse than look at you funny or call you a name.

The USA with the UK blew up the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and George Bush called the Iraq and Afghanistan wars a crusade, which is the Christian form of the term jihad. I suspect that the high-horse you have climbed onto here is actually more of a shetland pony.

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#87

Post by ixacto »

Imagine if a 17 year-old Saudi/Persian/Pakistani girl decided to wear a tube-top and skinny jeans and no hair-covering out on the town in Mecca or Qom or Islamabad.

I am sure the only response would be remarks from children who are not yet attuned to social norms, e.g. not commenting on peoples appearances. After all, we do live in a globalized society.

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#88

Post by icebraining »

coopdog wrote: post #43
mgkimsal wrote: post #15

Total western white-male stereotype-infused ignorance here but... Perhaps people avoid muslim women because we don't want them to get in to trouble. I'm surprised to see women dressed like that out in public on their own, because I've been led to believe they need male escorts, and assume that one might be around. if I make eye-contact, I might be contributing to an honor-killing, or perhaps some acid-splashed on her…

It's true. Is it so strange that people would be nervous around a culture where even drawing a picture can get you in trouble? People who know that they don't know enough about the culture are probably right to be cautious until they can learn more

Yes, I'm thankful I don't live in such culture: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/02/obscene-us-manga-co...

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#89

Post by dgesang »

icebraining wrote: post #61
dgesang wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The latter was said by a child, so it's not even worth talking about. The mother acted wrongly, not the child. But lets twist it, only without the masquerade: Imagine 'Ela' is on holiday in the Near East and wears a tank top. Don't you think that people would 'look funny at her'? She also might get molested for not being dressed properly. Local women even get stoned for that.

So what? Is being "not as bad as fundamentalist states" enough?

No it is not enough, but it could be worse. And for most regions in the world IT IS worse.

Stop implying such bullshit into others statement. All I said was that in those countries people treat foreigners much worse. I didn't justify or judge either side.

Re: I went to the mall, and a little girl called me a terrorist.

#90

Post by ignignokt »

ixacto wrote: post #87

Imagine if a 17 year-old Saudi/Persian/Pakistani girl decided to wear a tube-top and skinny jeans and no hair-covering out on the town in Mecca or Qom or Islamabad. I am sure the only response would be remarks from children who are not yet attuned to social norms, e.g. not commenting on peoples appearances. After all, we do live in a globalized society.

So the fact that there's discrimination in other countries makes it OK?
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