Islam,Women,and body Images

Islam, Women, and Body Images
Name
Institution
Islam, Women, and Body Images
Within the Islamic culture, the female body is respected and despised in equal measure. Islamic cultural norms glorify the female body as “The site of love, desire, sexual fulfillment and physical procreation; at the same time, it is regarded as the site of shame, confinement, anxiety, and compulsion” (Moghissi, 1999, 20). As a result of these conflicting images of the female body, on the one hand it is respected and regarded as sacred for being the symbol of love, adoration, sexual fulfillment in marriage and procreation, which ensures continuity. On the other hand, the cultural values that promote polygamy and patriarchy portray the female body as a symbol of submission to male authority and sexual exploitation.
The female dress code among Muslim women is one way through which the female body is portrayed as a symbol of respect and submission. The wearing of the abayah, a female clothe that covers the whole body, signifies privacy and respect (Fernea, 1969). As a site of love, sexual fulfillment and procreation, covering the female body symbolizes sacredness, to be revealed only during sexual intercourse as a way of consummating love ad procreating. It is a custom, therefore, for Muslim women to wear the abyah as a way of avoidi...