Two plays, one Burqa and what this says about our future

The Burqa is a piece of clothing that has made individuals unfamiliar to its significance fear, fascinate and obsessed over it. The burqa has been heavily viewed as an oppressor of women's rights and sexuality ever since the Taliban extremist group in Afghanistan forced women all over the country to wear it when they were in public. The ones who did not wear it would face public death because it would be seen as an anti- islamic statement. The burqa has also become a political symbol for middle eastern culture in general, usually associated with backwardness and primitive societies. As a woman, I understand how this would be seen as an act of repression against women's will and sexuality, however, do we ever wonder whether it is actually a personal choice from these women? The Burqa can be a symbol for women's liberation from sexualized standards of beauty as well as respect and appreciation for cultural traditions and identity. Islamic women face even more unfair treatments from their societies than just the choice of their clothes. the journalist and feminist Naomi Wolf explains that "when you actually listen to Muslim feminist or women’s leaders, many of them wish the West, with all its resources and potential for positive dialogue with the Muslim world, would focus its attention more on the life-and-death or survival-level challenges women and girls often face in Muslim countries - and in the developing world generally — from bride killings to legal subjugation to lack of access to clean water and safety for their kids – than on what women are wearing, as if that is the only possible measure of their wellbeing. I don’t support women being forced to wear anything they do not wish to, of course — in any society, in the Muslim world or in ours."




I belong to generation Y, the first one who learned how to incorporate the internet and networking sites into their lives and education. On a general level, we were the bridge to the 21st century, and most recently, we have started the Occupy Wall Street movement consciousness that is happening all over the nation. However, on the individual level, I have often wondered what are the contributions my generation and I will make to history and I think I have found some great examples though these contributions are definitely not limited to these examples.
I am firm believer that when we write we speak up our minds, its the time when we are the most honest and critical with ourselves and the society we live in. Stephanie Ogeleza and Monet Hurts- Mendoza are two rising young playwrights who are changing the way the Burqa, like many other cultural practices unfamiliar to us, is interpret by the younger generations. What does this say of our future society in our current interconnected and globalized world?


Stephanie Ogeleza's Bonafide Women is a play about a group of women who meet at a facility center to talk about what makes them a "Bonafide women". Each women tells her own story dealing with struggles, self-enlightenment and combatant resolutions. The play touches upon many critical yet contemporary issues affecting women such as domestic violence, misogynistic cultural rituals, sexuality, gender double standards, cancer and the old age. One of her characters, Sabat, is an Afghan woman whose husband disfigured her face when she tried to run away from home. The most interesting part about Sabat is that she wears a Burqa to hide the disfigured face her husband has left her. The Burqa became her protector instead of her oppressor as many stereotypes portray it in the west. It was a choice that she made (though the means are definitely not justifiable).
Monet Hurst-Mendoza in her work Veil'd brings to life Dima, an Afghan- American teenager who suffers from a major skin problem and can't be exposed to light or even human touch and hides under her mother's former burqa.
Both playwrights are responding to the culture we are surrounded by. Its a culture that chooses to ostracize what it doesn't understand, the other. These two young ladies are saying that we need to reevaluate and reimagine our understanding of the other, in this case the burqa, and challenge ourselves by stepping into their shoes to comprehend their everyday lives. Ogeleza a Nigerian- American and Hurts- Mendoza, a Mexican- American are both trying to offer their readers a different side of being Human when other have chosen to ignore it. As a student of Cultural Anthropology I study the good the bad and the ugly side of being Human, as well as the socio-political and cultural interactions we have everyday with each other. In an increasingly globalized world, in which my generation leads the way, it is important to approach what is new to us tactfully. I can only hope that Ogeleza and Hurts-Mendoza's writing can reach millions of other minds and offer a more sympathetic side of being human.
I also want to clarify that I wrote this review to show that not every woman who wears a Burqa has been forced to wear it but instead some of them choose to and are very proud to do so. I know in many parts of the world, its not the case but that's why I believe we need to understand its significance ( the burqa in this case )from many different points of view before we jump to conclusions.






Naomi Wolf's articles on Veiling
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/behind-the-veil-lives-a-thriving-muslim-sexuality/2008/08/29/1219516734637.html

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