You may have seen or heard of John Quinones’ hit ABC show What Would You Do. I must admit, while some episodes do make me laugh at the level of sheer arrogance displayed, there are those that do quite the opposite. To think that there are people out there who carry such ignorant attitudes as seen in some clips is pretty disturbing.

Although the one below does not exactly fit either case, I still found it to be quite intriguing as it touches upon a crux found in every society: gender equality vs gender equity.

For more What Would You Do episodes touching on gender equality some can be found here and here.

So, as always I have to put my own spin on things :P …

Today, we find many pushing and pushing in an attempt to reach gender equality. At the same time however, people refuse to accept the fact that as human beings we will continue to subconsciously treat men differently than the way we interact with women. Most of the time when we do things that affects someone we don’t think, “Is the way I’m treating so and so fair? Would I treat this person the same way if his/her gender was different?”

Rarely do we think this… Except when we’re out there purposely monitoring our actions, keeping our modesty in check, purifying our intentions, and so on.

Where am I going with this?

Maybe I’m analyzing this too much, maybe I’m not. I just can’t help but feel that the hijab/headscarf that Muslim women wear is like a “divine prescription” – customized to fit each and every woman’s needs; a reminder to herself of who she is and what she stands for, as well as a body of armour that automatically sets others straight on how to interact with her. True equality stems from treating a woman the way she deserves to be treated, not by measuring her up to man-made standards made for man. I don’t wear hijab for men nor because of men, but I do refuse to be judged according to men. Maybe as women it’s time to wipe off the “white mustaches” we’ve grown accustomed to having on our faces and find our true feminism elsewhere.

And hey, maybe the fact that the hijab has lasted more than centuries has to mean something… maybe something like: “it’s more than just a piece of cloth”.

Alhamdulillah.

Is it all too clear I miss writing for I Got It Covered :P ?

PS Again, title credit goes to DaughterofPearls – what would I do without your cleverness?!

PSS Why is ‘cleverness’ a word but not ‘geniusness’? Someone can be a genius the same way he/she can be clever. I refuse to allow the word ‘genius’ to be reduced to a simple title and not be granted the ranking of an adjective, Webster.

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