An Unnecessary Labyrinth

This post reminded me of my visits to Pakistan in the 1990s. At the time my family lived in Saudi Arabia and we would go to Pakistan once a year. There we would meet many family members.

I would exchange strong handshakes and a hug with every male relative. However, there would be zero contact with the females. I disliked that very much. Looking back, I realize just how torturous and sad it must be to be one of them. Not only were my female cousins completely ignored, it is likely that they "think" the whole situation to be alright.

I certainly don't think there's anything modest about that. In fact, it says a lot about the paranoia in that culture: uncovered meat is the cause of uncontrolled pillaging of women and a handshake between the sexes just might lead to things that Allah doesn't approve of. This rotten mindset makes men out to be unrestrained monsters and the entire being of a woman is condensed into her sexuality.

I much prefer the Western view: we're equals in the sense that shaking hands won't lead to fitna. It's better than being constantly reminded that both sexes are degenerate--something that can be countered by garbage bags.