Veiling the Power of Tits & Ass

“Tell the faithful women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not display their beauty except what is apparent of it, and to extend their scarf to cover their bosom.”- Koran, 24:31 A woman walked into Commons leader Jack Straw’s office. The woman greeted him saying, “It is so good to finally meet you face to face.” She wore a niqab – a full Islamic veil complete with gloves and a veil for the face. Only her eyes could be seen. Perhaps meeting him face to fabric would have been a more appropriate statement. Straw said that he felt uncomfortable about talking ‘face to face’ with someone he could not see. So he decided he would say something : "Now, I always ensure that a female member of my staff is with me. I explain that this is a country built on freedoms. I defend absolutely the right of any woman to wear a headscarf. As for the full veil, wearing it breaks no laws. I go on to say that I think, however, that the conversation would be of greater value if the lady took the covering from her face. Indeed, the value of a meeting, as opposed to a letter or phone call, is so that you can - almost literally - see what the other person means, and not just hear what they say. However, I can't recall a single occasion when a lady has refused to lift her veil; most seem relieved I have asked." Straw’s comments have sparked another debate on multiculturalism in Britain, but perhaps the issue of headscarves has more to do with objection to the female form than it has to do with Islam and religion. A truly shapely woman can clothe herself in a boxy suit and still give a man an erection. A swinging ponytail on an 8 year- old girl can sometimes stir inappropriate thoughts in older men. A teenage daughter dressed inappropriately around the house can cause much embarrassment to her father. Pre-pubescent schoolgirls who show too much leg can cause a male teacher much discomfort in the classroom. And I’m sure provocative dressing has caused many minor accidents among construction workers on the city roads. The bottom line is this – a woman’s bottom will still get more attention than the most brilliant speech by a man. There is something about the female form…lips, cheekbones, neck, breast, waist, hips, wrists and ankles that the human eye (male or female) can’t help but focus on. More than aesthetically appealing, the image of the female body is capable of arousing the most devilish passions. Full of curves, like an apparatus begging for a grasp and squeeze from the human hand…flesh soft or bony like the pulp or stem from luscious fruit…the female form awaken hungers that if left alone would be far more beneficial to society. I believe that the most tenacious, pervasive and least acknowledged of the seven deadly sins in lust. Lust is the egg from which all the others are conceived. It is from lust that human life is created. Everything that we do - career, hobbies, raising a family - these activities can be done successfully only because we have re-channeled our desire to have sex. Underneath everything we do is the desire to have sex. And under the desire to have sex is the image of a supple, welcoming, anonymous female body. I believe, that like the concept of God, the innate love and attachment to the naked female body is inherent in all of us. After all, it was through the sight of our mother’s nipples that we learnt survival. Most heterosexual women profess that they do not think of a male body when they masturbate, they think of a woman’s. Perhaps women who wear burgas and niqabs are wise enough to know that the female body, if not publicly subdued can exact almost godlike powers over men…resulting in a society of latent rapists or aggressive, frustrated, confused creatures unable to function or govern well due to a pre-occupation with sex. (Clinton and Prescott know!) Or perhaps by hiding their female forms they can increase that power, like forbidden fruit? Whatever the case may be, in an age where tits and ass pop up on every website, newspaper and street corner, the niqab is a reminder to women of all races and religions that their bodies are sacred and one of the most potent weapons of mass destruction! copyright 2006, Michele Koh