Rowena

[TouchandFeel]

I spoke of a geographic region where the GOVERNMENTS have decided that showing skin is a crime that is punishable in some cases all the way up to death. That's not racist. I said nothing of race anywhere. I said nothing of any type of people. I said something about a geographic area where a certain standard of dress is endemic to that area as opposed to almost any other area of the world.

I was born and grew up in the Middle East and that statement is not really true.

There are a number of Middle Eastern countries where that is not the case, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Dubai and Baharain to name some. While in some countries certain ways of dressing may be considered inappropriate in many settings, often times it is not against the law.

Also, enforced ways of dress for women, and men, is not isolated to the Middle East. You can find it amongst many cultural groups in many different countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, many ex-Soviet Union countries, many countries in Africa, and even amongst certain groups withing the US, just head down to Williamsburg in Brooklyn and see what the predominantly Hestetic Jewish community is wearing.

Point being, making blanket statements about any group of people, whether you define them by race, religion or geographic region, is something that should be avoided as it often leads to misinformation and stereotyping.

P.S. I am not defending all Middle Eastern countries or groups as I will be the first to admit that there are definitely people and places there that are utterly bassackwards, but then again that rings true for a lot of the world.