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Of this World, On Her Own Terms

Ugar Akinci writes @ Living on the Planet - Of this World, On Her Own Terms

The Washington Post caption: "In a nearly empty Olympic Stadium Friday morning, a woman wearing a track singlet over a traditional Muslim hijab, its white hood imprinted with the flag of Bahrain, set a national record in the 100-meter qualifying heats. So did a woman from Afghanistan, the first to represent her nation in the Olympics, who ran in loose-fitting pants and a T-shirt and finished 62nd out of 63 competitors."

When I first saw this front page photo I took a hard double-take because I've never before seen a woman in hijab running the 100-meters in an olympic competition.

Then I thought to myself, would I have the same reaction if, let's say, an Israeli athlete was running men's 100-meter with a yarmulka on his head? Probably not.

This lady is clearly not an Islamist because a true Wahhabi-style Islamist would not even appear on the same track with "naked" women from "infidel" nations.

This Bahrainian (correct?) woman (what a brave soul!) definitely wanted to be a part of this international event. She obviously did not want to miss out on being "a part of the action." Athens was the "place to be." So, there is no rejection or renunciation there.

But there is also this personal accounting, this struggle for personal dignity and identity. Perhaps it was out of her own free will, or perhaps it was due to a jealous husband, a disciplinarian father/brother/family, whatever. But for one reason or another, she was compelled to wear the hijab.

She probably said, "OK, fine, where's my hijab?" because she was intent on "taking care of business." The business of the Olympics and competing at a top-notch international level, that is.

And then a time will probably come when the Muslim ladies, handicapped due to the weight and non-aerodynamic qualities of the fabric they are wrapped in, will realize that they cannot become the fastest as long as they train and run covered with fabric from head to toe. That's my personal guess.

It's not politics. It's not religion. It's physics.

Then there will be a second round of reckoning for them -- would they continue to be "also ran"s?

Or would they realy want to go for it, even if it means wearing modern running gear, like all their competitors do? That's a choice they will have to make, not today, not immediately, but sometime in the future, eventually. It's waiting for them.

Sometimes form follows the function, and not the politics.

The non-hijab form that the Western politics could not dictate to the Muslims, could cut inroads into Islam through the functionality and physical dictates of top-level Olympic competition. (Chalk up another one for Fukuyama.)

Posted by Ramdhan Yadav at September 22, 2004 06:26 PM Perma Link