sort of like being a woman in Afghanistan
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+1 thinclads
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Here’s what I know about the topic, spouse-of-a-doctor: No one should be running or tracking pre puberty mileage.
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Nope. It isn’t.
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It’s almost like he’s here. Nailed it, pretty much.
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In the context of sports, do you know what Usain Bolt’s religion is? Or Shalane Flanagan’s? Or Almaz Ayana’s? Or David Rudisha’s? We celebrated all these athletes’ accomplishments strictly as athletic perfection. We didn’t know or care what religion they practiced as, presumably, it was something personal that merely… Read more

I’m not a student of religion either, and if I could definitively answer your question about the shift from shorts and tank tops to burqas, I would not be writing on Fittish—I’d be making the big $$ advising the State Dept. about deradicalization programs. The sort of BSy answer is that religious fundamentalism goes… Read more

If you had read to the end of the article, or read the article carefully, you’d see that I think Muslim women truly should have a choice, like men. My article pointed out that only covered Muslim women, like Ibtihaj, were promoted. Dalilah presented an option for Muslim women that was not presented much in the media.
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Says who, my friend? You said you don’t agree with this decree. Who made it so? God? Some dude in Saudi? My understanding from Muslim women is that the specifics of covering are not mentioned in the Quran. Only modesty for men and women. And the internet is filled with pictures of Muslim male athletes working out… Read more

Wonderful response, thank you. I did know many Muslim women participated in the Olympics, but since they chose not to wear religious attire, no one could tell — and hurray for that! Read more

“While the muslim man can do pretty much what he wants the woman is limited to what she can show and wear.” this is a common misunderstanding.
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with you.
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In the case of Somalia, when the government collapsed in 1991, schools closed, art, music and sports had no funding to continue. Saudi Arabia stepped into the void, offering to open schools and putting money into the country but what was being taught was Wahhabism, the conservative Saudi interpretation of Islam. This… Read more

So true. There are many athletes whose deep faith—Christian, Jewish, Hindu, something it’s not our privilege to know—helps them compete rather than adding another obstacle to competition.
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Agreed. I would have liked to see equal media representation of Muslim athletes wearing hijab and those who chose not to, but I didn’t. Media representation was heavily weighted toward Muslim women participating in hijab. I also don’t think track athletes, specifically, can be competitive at the highest level wearing… Read more

My finding was that at the very highest level, the medal winners, women did not cover, unless it was a sport like taekwondo or fencing in which covering does not really add to the standard uniform of the sport. Dalilah may not have been able to train and compete as she has wearing a hijab, long sleeves and tights.
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I’m going to own up, I saw her last name but simply could not justify Muslim woman with what Dalilah was wearing. I felt a fool, certainly. But then I thought, since she looked just like the other women in her race, and I have no clue about their religion, that this was a huge win for Muslim women.
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Why can’t I compare an elite male athlete and an elite female athlete?
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well written.
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+1
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