Sydney Morning Herald, August, 2007
James Button (the Herald's European correspondent, based in London)
"Change will come, even if Turkey shows that not all cultures modernise in the Western way. This vibrant country also shows the world that while militant Islam is a great force, the rise of women is greater. There are good reasons to believe the latter will prevail."I looked for those reasons, but all I could find was:
"You see all kinds of veil, or headscarf, in Turkey. Last week I saw a woman in a black veil and tight jeans, another in a wildly multi-coloured veil and high heels and another wearing pink veil and make-up to match ...So Turkey is not suffering Islamification at all, they're simply taking a different route to modernisation. Uhuh, sure ... spin, spin, spin ... deny, deny, deny ... keep smiling James ...
Yes, there are also women in black, wearing a shapeless overgarment with only a small part of the face showing. But the kaleidoscope I saw challenged all my preconceptions. ...
Although almost entirely Muslim, Turkey is the fiercest opponent of Muslim symbols such as the scarf. The paradox goes back to the determination of Ataturk ...
But here is another paradox: among these apparently religious Muslims are some of the strongest feminists. They are young women whose parents moved to the cities in Turkey's huge postwar urbanisation ...
Mahcupyan, whose foundation has studied the "scarf girls", says it is their "passport out of the family". It allows them to stay out late and tell parents they cannot be misbehaving: they are religious, after all. It also frees them from male harassment.
"It's a very modern garment, even a feminist statement," Mahcupyan says. The wearer "is trying to differentiate herself, first from her family, then from society. She is saying, 'I'm a person, I have my own career, and this is my choice."'
Q: How many paradoxes does it take to change a light bulb?
A: As many as it takes for the light bulb to implode with confusion.
Keep pumpin out those paradoxes James. After all, the alliance of liberals and Islam is the mother-of-all paradoxes. But keep stirring Dr Jekyll and the chemistry will start to become crystal clear: "oops, all the liberalism dissolved, and I'm just left with Islam".
Personally, I look forward to the day when Turkish women are beating their husbands into submission. Then you should send Germaine Greer over for some lessons to take back to the UK to give those honour killing males a good whuppin.
Newsflash: London is now the centre for short-sightedness!
Oh, and so is the Sydney Morning Herald.
More: SMH
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