Joshua Rhoads

Tuesday at 12:00
Response to A Look behind the Veil
Today I will talk to you about some of the pros and cons veiling and purdah. Now veiling and
purdah are both good together because both Veiling and purdah not only indicate status and
wealth, they also have some religious sanction and protect women from the world outside the
home. (Elizabeth W. & Robert A. Fernea pg. 269 paragraph 12). Purdah is good because
Purdah delineates private space, distinguishes between the public and private sectors of society,
as does the traditional architecture of the area. (Elizabeth W. & Robert Fernea Pg. 269
paragraph 12). Now veiling is good because The veil does more than protect its wearers from
known and unknown intruders; it can also be used to conceal identity. (Elizabeth W. & Robert
Fernea pg. 269 paragraph 14). Veiling is really great that it can be used for many different things
a disguise The veil is such an effective disguise that Nouri Al-Said, the late prime minister of
Iraq, attempted to escape death by wearing the abbayah and veil of a woman; only his shoe gave
him away. (Elizabeth W. & Robert Fernea pg. 269 paragraph 14). These are the pros of veiling
and purdah as explained in the book.
Now the cons are going to be much different as now we take a look at what made these two
things veiling and purdah bad. One thing that made veiling bad is that they were used to carry
stuff illegally Algerian women also used the protection of the veil to carry bombs through
French army checkpoints during the Algerian revolution. (Elizabeth W. & Robert Fernea pg.
269 paragraph 15). The protection of the veil was good until the French discovered it and then
the women dressed up like something else to move around gracefully. Nobody understands how
purdah and veil got so deeply embedded in Mediterranean society. (Elizabeth W. & Robert
Fernea pg.269 paragraph 15). Veiling was not used everywhere because In the village, no one
veils, because everyone is considered a member of the same large family, explained Aisha bint
Mohammed, a working-class wife of Marrakech. (Elizabeth W. & Robert Fernea pg.269
paragraph 11). But in the city, veiling is sunnah, required by our religion. (Elizabeth W. &
Robert Fernea pg. 269 paragraph 11). Purdah is bad because it delineates private space,
distinguishes the public and private sectors of society. (Elizabeth W. & Robert Fernea pg. 269
paragraph 12).
Veiling and purdah are both good and bad in their own unique ways. As mostly explained in the
first paragraph is the reasons why the two things are good. And then the second paragraph is
mostly about the cons or why they are bad. They are both good because they both indicate the
same two things as I talked about in paragraph 1. Purdah is bad because as explained in
paragraph 2 it distinguishes between two different societies. Veiling is bad because as also
explained in paragraph 2 it was used to carry stuff like bombs to other places so that nobody
would detect it.