When I
began researching for this project, my main idea was to look into the complex
relationship between religion and tradition. Being raised in a culture where
performing arts dominated the media yet at the same time, majority of the
population was Muslim, I began to experience inner conflicts as to what should
I really follow. Because, within the Islamic doctrines, the art world is
an extremely critical realm; many restrictions apply when it comes to
performing arts and how it was displayed to the world. However, as my research
continued, I began to realize that it is not much about the culture that
affects a person’s thoughts and views; it is the people that attempt to alter a
person’s mind.
Women,
especially in highly populated Muslim countries, are treated as though they are
only meant to follow religion; yet, at the same time, the very same society
idealizes and lusts after women who are on the complete opposite side of the
spectrum. But the question is does a woman have to be completely veiled and
covered to earn a man’s respect? Why is it that Muslim women who wear Hijab are
viewed unapproachable but those who do not seem accessible?
For my semester project, which you
can find here, I created a Tumblr blog where anyone and everyone has access to
ask questions and create discussions based on the issue of why does a women
necessarily have to be veiled to earn respect? How does culture play its role
in influencing a person’s perspective? Can a person live with conflicting
relationship between culture and religion, or does he or she have to choose a
side? And including the art aspect of this issue, I would like people to share
their own artworks related to the theme of the Male Gaze and how it affects a
person’s, especially woman’s, life.
Reading your project I would like for you if you can, to clear something up for me. When you speak about "inner conflicts" as it relates to what to follow in terms of one's religion
ReplyDeletel. Can you elaborate on what those "inner conflicts" are. I think a lot more people are dealing with the same "inner conflicts" but are afraid to talk about it because of feeling it goes against the tradition of men and they have the utmost most respect for the God they serve and at the same time wanting to cast off the shackles of those traditions put on them by man. I may be off but it sounds like this is what you are saying when you mentioned in your statement "it is not about the culture that affects a person's thought and views it is the people that attempt to alter a persons view". Thanks