Men in Tajikistan ban women from wearing hijab. Man in US protests.

[DrNickedMaCorpus]

https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-condemns-ban-on-hijab-islamic-clothing-in-tajikistan/

'CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor. “We condemn this draconian, repressive law and urge the Tajik government to reverse this decision.”'

The clothing ban is an interesting issue, but this morning it was the absurdity of men across the world arguing about how women should or shouldn't dress that really struck me when reading this article.

I wonder what the women of Tajikistan think?

A short film on women in Tajikistan.

Given there is a growing number of female leaders, why is it assumed its men who have banned the hijab

Yes, this did occur to me after I posted! Which is why I went digging. The sex balance in government is better than I'd assumed, although the President and Prime Minister and majority of the government are male, and from what I read the society is extremely patriarchal in nature.

https://data.ipu.org/parliament/TJ/TJ-LC01/

Women make up 27.0% of the lower assembly.

Unfortunately, the Tajikistan internet seems to be down, which is hampering my research. I was going to try and find out more about the vote.

https://www.dw.com/en/tajik-women-turn-to-polygamy-for-survival/a-66579235

https://akipress.com/news:596251:UN_condemns_ban_on_marriage_of_Tajik_women_with_foreigners/

Or that women don't support the ban?

Men have developed AI programmes that will artificially remove the clothes from images of women effectively producing porn from perfectly innocent photos (against thesubjects consent)
Simultaneously, men have also developed AI programmes that will ADD clothes to women to make them look more modest/trad. This is being used by men on photos of porn stars in particular.

Both very popular. As far as I know no-one has developed AI based programmes to do the same to men.

Of course, you can't extrapolate to all men from this. But it is nonetheless a fascinating insight into the way (at least some of) the male mind works. Absolutely fascinating.

As I said, the ban itself is an interesting issue. I can't find much info on the vote, but it seems the law was largely the will of the president.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/tajikistan-muslim-hijab-ban-9410457/

'In 2017, the government embarked on a campaign using automated phone calls urging women to wear Tajiki dresses. A year later, it released a 376-page handbook on appropriate clothing for women, titled ‘The Guidebook Of Recommended Outfits In Tajikistan’. The guide lists acceptable garment materials, lengths, colours and shapes, and allows for a coloured head-scarf to be used only in the traditional Tajik sense — tied behind the head without covering the face and neck. It bans black garments at funerals, recommending a blue outfit with a white headscarf.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-43488511

Muslim women have very little power to do ,dress as they want to! Men have all the power and women and girls shoulder all the honour. You may have a few Muslim women who say it is their choice to wear the hijab or burka. However choice is only a real choice when there are alternatives available but if the men in their household dictate that THEIR women wear a hijab ,a woman in the family not following this is implausible ,she risks not having a family , being thrown out in an environment were she would be seen as the lowest of creatures and with no route to support herself . She would also lose any children she has, she could even lose her life ( honour killings ). So where's the choice ? I was brought up in a Muslim household, the same happened to me but luckily I was able to support myself ,I was brought up in England but I was and am still regarded as scandalous within the Muslim community I was brought up in.

It'd be nice if there was a global ban on men telling women how they should dress, wouldn't it.

Absolutely!!! ,😃

A form of dress should not be banned , choices , voice and empowering women is the way the go !

Wouldn't it?

I'm fascinated with Central Asia and want to go to Tajikistan (and the rest of the Stans). Mongolia has really interesting gender roles. Women get power and learning and finances because a lot of the men are still herders and physically working outdoors. Also, religion didn't take a good hold. It's a true mixture with Buddhism and animism ahead of all the others but with everyone basically respecting and getting along with each other. The only clothing directive I heard from a Mongolian friend was 'Mongolian women ALL wear hoodies' because they pee outside and there's not bushes or trees!!

As you go west to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan there's more Islam and more religious people in general. That's never great for women.

That's fascinating in the context of human history. And so very ironic

I’m surprised I’m not seeing outrage here. There seem to be more excuses for the ban and justification and also prejudices against Islam, rather than outrage that a woman is being prevented from dressing as she chooses.

If woman chooses to wear hijab, why should a man ban her from wearing what she wants? Does the freedom to make this choice not apply to Muslim women?

Selective feminism.

Interesting article:

www.euronews.com/2024/06/24/why-did-muslim-majority-tajikistan-ban-the-hijab

I think the hijab is very problematic and I don't believe that a choice to wear it is really a completely free choice in most cases. However, I worry that banning it is only going to result in some women becoming effectively housebound.

I’ve been to all the CA5 - Tag, Turk, Krgy, Uz, Katz).

Kazakhstan is definitely the most westernised with more liberal attitudes towards women but they are all pretty ‘liberal’ compared to their neighbours. Most foreigners don’t wear headscarves etc and when you meet people they’re very relaxed. Very similar to Azerbaijan, actually, where many are secular, they drink, don’t wear Islamic clothes etc. Women do tend to not be treated equally but that is more often due to having children and not returning to work. Several of them have female ambassadors to Western countries.

Many of the educated (in the regions educational prospects are limited) find religion - and particularly Islam - to be deeply problematic. In part because of their relative geography to Afghanistan and Iran - both of which have been responsible for terror attacks in these countries (in the name of Islam) - and the attitudes of those governments.

So it’s actually not simply a women’s right issue but a pushback against Islam and the fundamentalists - essentially protecting their own domestic security. Most CA countries are very secular.

What thread are you reading? Most people were trying to work out the actual basis of the law, and stating that women should wear what they like. Possibly, most people couldn't find Tajikistan on a map.

And no, I think most organised religion, particularly Abrahamic religion, is bad for women's rights. One all-powerful, male god... doesn't sound great.

I'd love to pick your brains. I'm dying to go. I've heard Turkmenistan isn't great to solo travel right now.

I went to Kyrgyzstan twice in the noughties. It was work-related and I was at a remote mine most of the time. I don't remember seeing anyone in hijab and I often saw the younger girls in the villages in short shorts and huggy t-shirts.

IIRC there is a kidnap-to-marry thing in the culture and I don't think that society is equal but I didn't see any evidence of clothing mandates.

Very happy to answer any questions! I’d start at Kazakhstan though (or Azerbaijan). The cultures are similar but they're more westernised so it’s a good starting point! Azerbaijan has more of a Turkey feel (but less westernised) and Kazakhstan does lots of business with China.

Even I found Turkmenistan very hard to handle for more than a week (I speak Russian and broken Turkish). It’s very Soviet Russia in many ways - and unless you speak Turkish or Russian (which I wouldn’t advise you do…) it’s quite hard to get by. Whereas in Kazakhstan most understand broken English or Russian. Azerbaijan, most people speak reasonable English IME, Russian or (if you really want to push your luck) Farsi!

The problem with Turkmenistan is the lifestyle is so different (as I’m sure your aware) that actually the language barrier is nightmare unless you’re with a Turkmen OR with a tour group! Kazakhstan has a lot of Europeans in (proportionally) and Americans as does Azerbaijan - so it’s ‘safer’ in a way that Turkmenistan isn’t (if that make sense). you can still get a sense of the culture but without throwing yourself in head first.