A few weeks ago, the Matron spent some time with an acquaintance wearing a burqa. Much to her discomfort, the Matron could not get beyond the veil. She wanted not only to respect the woman's right to the burqa -- no, the Matron wanted to embrace that right!
Remember when the Matron wagged her finger at the nation, noting the deep-seated and blithely ignored prejudice we still hold to Muslims? So she just does not want to repeat that tired practice. But try as she might, she could not embrace the burqa.
Whenever she sees a woman wearing one, she wonders about that woman's story and how she feels in her own skin. Not that the Matron feels good in hers, necessarily, either. It just seems so different.
Today, she stumbled across this in Salon.
Of course, the side Take Away from this article is: OMIGOD the book's editor is an 18 year old having a gap year before she goes to Yale AND she's giving away all the proceeds from this book!!!!!
The Matron is off the floor and the weeping is over, although her skin tone remains a little lime green. Later, she will remember to count her own blessings but right now she's still wearing that comparison stain like a battle wound.
Anyway, the Matron's initial reaction to the piece in Salon was a little like, "Eowie. Ugh." She wasn't quite sure she wanted Detail, Such Extent.
And she was reminded of her battle with the burqa and was staggered by the distance between these two political and cultural landscapes--one where women let it all hang out and the other where that's not so easy.
Here's a nice Arab voice on the burqa, reminding the rest of us that facts and knowledge go best with heated opinion.
