Islam, Hollywood and Choice
by Derya Little, Crisis Magazine:
Once in a while there is an article that defends the practice of Muslim women covering her hair. If they really want to be insulting, there is a picture of a nun in a habit right next to a beautiful woman in hijab. “What is the difference?” they ask. “It is the choice,” I answer. One would think the movement that donned the adjective “pro-choice” would appreciate the nuance. Despite the endless word games, an honest look at today’s world will reveal that women have true choice in one place only: the Church, where Christ reigns.
I have been watching the happenings of Hollywood with a somewhat detached manner. There is no shock or surprise involved. There is money, there are powerful men, and there are women who are either willing to do anything it takes to advance their careers or who feel too trapped and alone to resist. Either way, this is a formula for female objectification and abuse. Not the first time. Not the last time.
The attitude of men towards women, and women’s lack of choice in Islam and Hollywood is remarkable. On the one end of the spectrum, there is the overwhelming appearance of guarding women’s virtue. Muslim women are responsible for concealing their own bodies. Even in the secular Muslim country I grew up in, from an early age girls are taught how even the smallest immodesty could cause men to sin, and that sin would be on our heads.
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