Living Behind the Veil

The Los Angeles Times has a very interesting article about American women who married Saudi men and must now obey strict Islamic laws. Or at least on the face of it. Apparently, it's not all negative:

Most non-Muslim women convert to Islam as a prerequisite for marrying a Saudi and living in the kingdom. Many American women, including those who converted before they arrived, have embraced the Koran; for others, the adoption of Islam is a pantomime act, the disguise of a second self to hold them over until they peel off their head scarves and travel to the U.S. for summer vacations.

For both kinds of women, it is a life of sacrifices and measured victories: Women can't drive or vote in Saudi Arabia, but their children are largely safe from street crime and drugs; a wife can't leave the country without her husband's written permission, but tribal and religious codes instill a strong sense of family.

Freedom lies behind courtyard walls, where private swimming pools glimmer and the eyes of the religious police, known as the mutaween, do not venture. Rock 'n' roll (haram) is played, smuggled whiskey (haram) is sipped, and Christianity (haram) sometimes is practiced. This sequestered, contradictory experience, a number of American wives noted, can turn an expat into an alcoholic or a born-again Christian, and sometimes both.

"American women get together and we talk," said Lori Baker, a mother of two who met her Saudi husband at Ohio State University in 1982. "We ask one another, 'Where are you on your curve now? Have you hit bottom yet?' We all go through the highs and lows when it comes to moods and tolerance. . . . When I first got here, I felt naked without my head scarf.

"Then after the terrorist bombings in 2003, I even covered my face. Foreigners were a target then. I became very comfortable with my face covered. I felt safe. Nobody knows me. They can't see me, and if you're covered, they respect you. Sometimes without a covered face it's like walking down Main Street wearing a bikini."

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Carruthers, I think you may be onto something. He's accused me of name-calling now. He doesn't have to be a charmer with the ladies, though - I think he gets off on arguing with us.

He really can't see how flawed and outdated his ideas are. I'd feel sorry for him if I didn't think he was trolling.
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Carruthers, you've already demonstrated that you can't argue without invoking commands that a fourth-grader would use.

So "go and live on a different planet. Preferably one without oxygen" - and preferably without internet service as well.
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Is this Jerse thing some sort of troll robot, programmed with the ability to argue in the most annoying way possible while being wrong in everything it says? It's almost starting to get fun. Almost - but not quite. If it's a real person then I bet he's a real charmer with the ladies...
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@Carruthers

Uh...I think I'll go do that?

@ted

Go ahead and try to rip apart my argument. You can't.

Your comment was tongue-in-cheek, yet you get angry when I poke fun at it.

And then on top of it all you resort to name-calling after you cried about that as well.

So stop. Admit defeat.

And obviously, from the article above - women do dream and talk about freedoms and ideals ALL THE TIME - LOL

You are such a horrible debater!
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