Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Self-Portrait Challenge - 11.28

My Self-Portrait Challenge is a little different today. I consider personal freedoms a very glamorous asset of any society and have been interested, worried and frankly shocked that the burqa and veils, traditional for Muslim women to wear in public are in consideration for being banned and are a hotly-debated subject in a range of European countries. I guess I am asking, if they ban burqas now, will they ban crosses worn around someone's neck? I am not overly religious, I am not Muslim, but I do respect their choice to wear or not wear a veil or burka. If people think this is going to make Muslims assimilate into Western society, I think they are wrong. I fear this will make an enormous chunk of society feel even more isolated and excluded. And I agree with someone who said, wearing a veil does not make you a terrorist. (A discussion on KUOW a couple of weeks ago, but I can't find the link in their archives).

I wonder how we can get along in here, in the United States, with all the cultural differences. and still remain a cohesive nation. I see women all the time in veils and I don't think they are the mall to blow themselves up. It is the time we live in, but freedom, regardless of crazy, destructive-bent terrorist should NOT change our respect we should have for each other.

The Seattle Times ran an excellent explanation about veils and turbans.



For more glamorous entries here.

{later} I had this idea last week but did not have time for it. This is what would happen to me if I walked into some random clinic and ask them to make me glamorous.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have such beautiful blue eyes! Don't change those!

Anonymous said...

Your makeover is too funny. ruth

Anonymous said...

Kim, what a point-on combination of these two issues -- the freedom to choose to wear a veil or burqua for whatever reason ... and our societal obsession with youth, exterior "beauty/looks" taken to it's nth-degree by the practice of lifting, cutting, enhancing, injecting, plucking our natural beauty to extremes. Your tongue-in-chic makeover SP is perfectly relevant to the issues of modesty, being seen or unseen, having the freedom to be exactly who you are, no matter what someone else wants you to be ... or even legislates that you be.

sorry about the incoherent flow of that (above) -- i haven't had my coffee yet today.

I did not laugh when i looked carefully at your makeover self portrait. I get your point. To me, you are beautiful just the way you are. I know you know that. So your SP, for me, is more of an indicment of our culture ... and for this reason, it also makes me sad.

Meg said...

Kim, your eyes are stunning.

Georgia said...

I can't believe they want to ban veils . CRAZY PEOPLE!!!!!

I always love love love your posts.

xoxo
Georgia

Anonymous said...

You look so freakin glam in both of these photos. I am impressed with the tow topics you touched on here. I feel the same as you about veils and wish we didn't come from fear so often.