Chapter 4 of Veiled Sentiments Essay Example

men and women dress.Married women are to wear a black veil and a red belt. The red belt symbolizes fertility and the black veil with the shameful act of incest. It is not necessary for women to wear a red belt before menarche, but shameful if not worn after this period of time.

The book went into great detail on why the veils are black and it was because of what Muhammad’s mother had done in the story. Muhammad lived with his mother and his wife. While he was away he gave orders to his wife to obey his mother and she did.His mother made his beautiful wife take out her eyes and kicked her out.

His mother than buried a ram as her so that when Muhammad came home he would think his mother was dead and buried and the woman left at the house was his wife who just aged very quickly, when in reality it was his mother who was still there not his wife. His mother was eventually caught of her wrong doing and thrown into a fire while Muhammad and his wife were reunited. This act of incest is now the reason for the black veil.A girl begins veiling when she becomes sexually active which should be at the time of marriage. The reason behind veiling is to show respect for the social order and the people who represent it.

This is an act that is voluntary and situation, veil to fathers, elders, and those with authority. A woman may gain equality with men by not veiling in certain situations. The next topic the chapter went onto was sexuality. Marriage

and sexuality intimidates control of elders and because of this it is made a point to down play the significance of marriage as much as possible.

A woman gains honor the more she can deny sexuality and even married women must deny interest in her husband. She must show no interest in men and disguise any indication of attachment, if not she will be considered a “slut”. Also, young teens will be criticized if they show any interest that they would like to marry. Women may show some interest in front of peers, just not any superiors. It was said by older women that young girls are as modest as they used to be because they do not act correctly. After reading all this, I had to forget about it for a day to let it all soak in.

I personally do not agree with the fact that woman cannot show any form of sexual desire as a man can. I know things are different now than they were, but women should look forward to their wedding day and be able to express their happiness with a man, not get criticized for it. I do not feel as though women should have to hide so much. Don’t get me wrong, they should not flaunt their sexuality but I just feel as though they should be able to be a little more expressive and not be considered a “slut” for it.