In so many journal entries and articles and books that I've read recently, Muslims seem to make out all "Westerners" (especially Americans) as being Godless heathens with no regard for family or modesty.
Frankly, this bothers me. A LOT. Mainly because I come from good, faithful, honest, hard-working Christian roots (on my mother's side - we aren't EVEN gonna talk about my dad's hypocritical family).
I never wore skimpy clothes (my mother would have fixed that immediately if I'd ever tried - which I didn't). I was never wild, even in high school or college, where every kid under-age is supposedly drinking and doing drugs and sleeping around. I've always preferred a quiet evening at home with a good book or watching t.v. to running around all crazy like that, and no man has ever touched me. That's a right reserved for my future husband, and I'm very happy to keep it that way. My faith in God has always been rock solid, even if my certainty about the surrounding details hasn't.
How can these people say "Western women are all whores, they all walk around naked and sleep with anyone who asks, Westerners don't have family values, they're always getting divorced, they lie and cheat and steal, they're greedy, they don't believe in God...", but get defensive when all Muslims are stereotyped as terrorists, or, if not terrorists, then supportive of those who are?
So many Muslims in the Middle East (and in Latin America -Thanks for that note, Tuttie) have, in all likelihood, never actually met anyone from the West. Their opinions either come from movies (which we all know are ALWAYS accurate *eye roll*), or they are parroting what other people have said.
Prejudice works both ways, folks. Let's try not to add to the bumbling mass of ignorance, shall we?
*end of rant*
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AGREED. I made a post about this as well as it bothered me a great deal. However, its not just Muslims I come from a Central America and the views were the same. I think it has a lot to do with USA's main export...Hollywood. People sometimes can't separate the two UNTIL they are the ones being portrayed funny. Then its not funny anymore.
ReplyDeleteSad we aren't all like that in America. I mean yes we are encouraged to have boyfriends and dress "sexy" (my mom always encouraged it) but that doesn't mean we all do it to the extent of hollywood. Yes there are a lot of loose women in America but many still have morals and boundries.
ReplyDeleteBut I do see what they are saying. So much emphasis on beauty and picking up men. It makes me sad. When did our self worth get defined by how hot we are?
YAY for you Heather you stick to your morals!
Idiocy exists on both sides of the spectrum, that's for sure. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's irritating, and then when you point out that you're not like that, never have been, they either think that you're lying, or that you're the exception to the rule.
The problem is that both Westerners and Muslims take their information from TV, movies and websites. So the Westerners think Muslims are terrorists that oppress women, and the Muslims think that Westerners have no moral values.
ReplyDeleteIt is foolish for Muslims to blame Westerners and for Westerners to blame Muslims when the real enemy is the media.
Ikram Kurdi: YES! You are so right. Too bad most of the world doesn't seem to have really figured that out yet.
ReplyDeleteSo true. I hate that too because really, most of my friends are modest and self-respecting people. My parents - I could not have had better parents and a better family overall!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's not seen as a bad thing to dress up sexy and have boyfriends as teenagers... But it doesn't mean that's the whole of the population. And even if it did mean that, Muslims should assume responsability for their own problems. It's fun to blame others, but it's wrong.
I think I'm having way too many personal issues with *someone* close to me blaming everyone else but himself...
This reminds me of a blog I visit. A Muslim lady from the US lived in the Middle East for over 25 years. She said several times the native Muslim women would ask her about about her sex life thinking she was western so surely she could give them information on whether Arabs, black men or white men performed better in bed. *ahem!*
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I totally agree. We aren't all shameless sluts in these parts! ;)