Dynamist Blog

THE BELLY DANCER MISSES HER FRIENDS

This Reuters story, ominously titled "Iraqi belly dancer loses her freedom," suggests that Islamic fundamentalism is on the march in Baghdad, oppressing women in general and belly dancers in particular. Since attacks on belly dancers have in fact been a sign of rising fundamentalism in Egypt, I at first found the story worrisome:

"Before the war I was practicing my work freely. It was quite normal for me to stay out late after midnight but now I have to be at home before 6 in the evening," said 27-year-old Siri, who lives in a small apartment in a poor Baghdad suburb....

For women, the streets of Baghdad are a more dangerous place, and an upsurge in religious fervor means they must stick to Islamic dress if they want to be left alone.

"It is difficult for me now to walk on the streets wearing jeans. There is no security on the streets and especially for someone who was known as a dancer," said Siri, a chain smoker.

"I do not like the abaya and the head cover. I usually wear them when I visit holy shrines but now I am obliged to wear them all the time. They restrict my freedom," she said.

Sounds bad, right? But if you read down the article, way, way down the article, you finally get to this:

Siri misses dancing for one of her best customers, Saddam Hussein's son Uday.

She said that she used to get 500,000 dinars for one hour dancing at public parties but more when she danced at events organized by Uday, known as a womanizer who threw wild parties

"I danced many times in parties hosted by Uday at his Hunting Club, and I danced once in a party of his brother Qusay," she said.

Sometimes I stayed to chat with Uday after I ended my dance. He had an easy manner. He never did anything to offend me," she said.

Now there's a reason to cover yourself on the street--to avoid being recognized as a friend of brutal torturers. No mullahs needed, just good old post-totalitarian anti-collaboration sentiment.

For a more balanced look at the situation of women in postwar Iraq, see this article by Sharon Waxman of The Washington Post. An excerpt, which directly contradicts the Reuters version of life in Baghdad:

It was just over a week ago that Jalil, 46, made the decision--as she puts it--"to liberate myself from the veil."

"I should have freedom to wear or not to wear the veil," she says. "I don't want to let these people dictate my thoughts. I am an educated woman. I am a religious woman. I know my duties to God. I fast in Ramadan."

Jalil is sitting with friends in an otherwise empty ice cream parlor in central Baghdad. It is one of the few times she has dared to leave her house since the end of the war. Now security seems to have improved and she is willing to take the risk.

But not, as before, with her head and neck covered by the traditional hijab. Jalil says there is no need for her to prove her modesty or her decency to strangers. "A woman is purer, higher than these low things, in her thoughts, in her good works, in her beliefs." She smiles, but the expression beneath it is worn. The hollows around her eyes are deep and dark.

The article is fairly long and quite interesting. Read it all here.

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