Marathoner Sifan Hassan Accepted Her Gold Medal in a Hijab

This is the correct opinion. Head coverings would never ever exist without a male centric society. Its a symbol of the oppression of women. You cannot argue otherwise without bending over backwards. And the pinnacle of laughability is to call it "empowering".

I grew up next to muslim girls in my community here in Europe. Who were not allowed to leave the house as they wanted, had to marry a fellow muslim, only goal in life they were prescribed to was birthing kids. I helped one girl hide that she had a boyfriend and she was so scared. Like all of you social justice warriors have never experienced the oppression of women in that culture. Its systematic. So while Sifan can obviously wear it I absolutely hate that its a thing in our society as a whole and wish the practice died out already.

Is clothing in general a symbol of oppression? Are shirts a symbol of oppression in places where it is acceptable for men to walk around topless but not women? Would lip stick, eye liner, perfume, hair salons, hair dye, waxing, eyebrow threading, botox, high heel shoes, etc. ever exist without a male centric society?

I would say that it's incorrect to judge the whole based on the sample of girls whom you grew up next to or any other subgroup. Maybe that's true there, but that doesn't mean that "that culture" can be generalized to everywhere. A number of the most populous so-called muslim countries have had either a female president or prime minister. This includes Indonesia, Pakistan, India (large minority) ,Bangladesh, and Turkey. While here in the US, we chose to elect Obama/Trump (choose whichever you dislike more) before a woman.

With regards to Sifan, I think it's quite simple. She doesn't walk around in race uniform all day anymore than Simone Biles walks around in a leotard all day. She obviously feels comfortable dressing as she did as was clearly elated to get her medal. I haven't read anything supporting that it was some kind of protest or other message.

Sifan Hassan tries so hard as a competitor that she is becoming a favorite of many.

So the notion that you as a westerner can say that this thing is wrong all of the time is just blasphemous. Our laws, whether we want to believe them or not, make moral judgements all of the time. It may not be required for a woman to wear a hijab in the states, but in most places, if a man has no pants on, we’re gonna have problems and cops will be called. Isn’t that a moral judgment? You probably think “oh that’s just basic human decency”, but what’s ‘basic’ here is not what’s basic in other places. Even 100 years ago, Western society used to crash out about a woman showing her ankles, and it’s only recently that we’ve gotten to this point. Things aren’t wrong just because you don’t like it, and you’re invalidating the experience of other women who do find empowerment through the hijab.

Most of what you’re referencing is cultural. If you look at Islam, its teachings tell us that both men and women are supposed to ask permission to leave the home from the elders as a sign of respect. Yes, married women must ask for permission to leave the house, but that’s because one of the rights women have onto men is that the men are responsible for their well-being. Not only is it a good idea to marry someone from your faith background, so the household will be strongly rooted in faith, there are certain rights in which a woman is obliged to receive, like a dowry. Also, Islamically, a woman isn’t married if she gets married to a non-Muslim man. In the sight of Allah, the marriage is invalid. So, getting intimate with this person, would be considered Zina, or extramarital relations, which is a major sin in Islam.

If you look throughout most of human history, most people got married through semi-arranged or arranged marriages. You get introduced to the person, and then things go on from there. Islam is very big on prevention and as I mentioned before, extramarital relationships are a big no-no. But they don’t start from just anywhere. That’s why Allah calls us to lower our gaze when we see the opposite sex, so that we don’t fall victim to the whispers of Satan. Also, we’re told not to touch the opposite gender, try not to be in the same room alone with same gender and to just overall observe modesty. You might not know this, but Muslim men are also given a “dress code” which includes covering the region from between your navel to past your knees, not wearing tight clothing, and we’re not allowed to adorn ourselves in silk, gold or a garment that is red with no other colors, the latter of which are three things women are allowed to do. Being in a relationship like is commonly practiced now is a recipe for disaster Islamically speaking and societally speaking too. We’re always talking about how many children are growing up in broken families and how this affects society, and if we really want to combat that, it takes measures like that. Now granted, it’s a different land and the people are different, but with that being said I strongly suggest instead of imposing your own judgements onto other practices, you really find out why your own practices are the way that they are. Often you’ll find the foundation in which you set up your beliefs might be shakier than you’re calling out. You’re white savior complexing, and then you’re coming at SJWs for doing the same. Your experience is not all Muslim women experience's, and what you perceive is ultimately going to be influenced by what ideas and values you come in with. If a rhino is painting a landscape, they’re going to have a horn in their view because that’s how they see the world.

Which Sharia legal system are you trying to describe here? They vary hugely in their implementation, but the common feature is relatively poor governance when it comes o protecting women and girls. India, for example, is currently riven with doctors striking over the rape and murder, and subsequent cover up by police in lived in it in a public hospital while she was at work. Honour killings are far too common in Muslim communities in my social called western country (which is by the way northern rather than western). Consanguity - cousins reproducing with cousins is a big medical problem primarily affecting Muslim communities due to the disabilities inherited by the offspring. It's an increasing burden on medical services.

But if I were generalising, what I'd say about Sharia law systems is their major difficulty is passing new legislation and updating it to modern times. Most Sharia law countries are characterised by weak legislatures and a very poor separation of powers - their legislatures aren't independent and are too heavily influenced by the executive, as are their courts. This means that their laws struggle to change and adapt to changes in society. This means that they have very low legislative output - they struggle to pass new laws which are essential to provide guidance to society as it naturally changes over time.

I previously mentioned that I'm from the north, not the west. I am almost certainly far closer geographically to north Asian nations than you are to English speaking countries. I grew up on a small island which is actually fairly strict in terms of religious observation and moral codes. It was only really that In the 21st century that it's been possible to do some things on a Sunday, for example. In no way would society there work if women had to ask their husband or make relative for permission to leave the house. The concept is disrespectful to both men and women. Women tended to run the farms while the men were deep sea fishing for weeks at a time.

For you to suggest that hard working people are corrupt due to western society shows up your racism. For centuries here, women have had free choice over whom to marry. No arranged marriages. The usual method is that the young man would, along with a friend, arrange to visit the young lady at her parents home. If she liked him, she would engage him in lively chat and invite him to stay for the family dinner. If she didn't like him, she would leave his friend and the rest of the family to engage with him. A very safe, respectful system. What I see as a woman from so many Muslim men who have moved to my country (and all of the ones who contact women over the internet, unasked for) is that they are not respectful to women. In my culture, a man must traditionally be introduced to a woman by his family or by mutual friends. It doesn't require the force of law or male relatives' permission because it's a social convention. People will think you are an idiot if you don't follow it because it means the man is disrespectful, badly brought up and quite possibly dangerous to be around. Some may differ, but many still.follow this as a guidance to find a suitable partner. Because it works.But of course if the husband or wife is abusive, or badly behaved or they don't get on, they are free to divorce. You really think it's better for a child to be brought up in a marriage where the man hits the woman and the child sees that most days? That's madness. If course the woman should be free to divorce.

But Muslim men want our money! So they keep contacting us without an introduction over social media. If course, it's a complete joke, only the desperate would actually respond to a stranger. But it's always Muslim men. They are pathetic. They all want to move to Norway because they realise they would have a better life here ie more freedom but mainly more economic prosperity created by our hard working previous generations.

But you know nothing of the traditional values of much of what you term "the west", only the lazy stereotypes you want to believe and which you like to think is normal because it suits you and the poor moral boundaries you have particularly in relation to women and girls., as a result of typical Sharia law systems inability to pass modern laws as society changes.The fact that, as an adult male you haven't even worked out that it's the majority secondary sexual features that have to be covered up outside Muslim countries. Nothing to do with women's hair. Even the way you write is disrespectful-"wanna,""gonna", etc - people her will just think you are an uneducated idiot because you don't even have the discipline to be polite to strangers.

Almost ALL trackrunners seemed to wearing an obvious cross/crucifix. Sprinters had huge ones. This was deemed OK.

It did seem unreasonable to not be allowed a hijab on these grounds.

But I don't really care.

Did you live in a Islamic country or are you only theorizing?
It was expected: most of hater of Islam have sex behind their minds.

Try to convince this New Zealandian women of her tragedy:

I can bring you hundred of examples like this.

Sifan always has this cloth around her head on photos unless she runs or surprised or under a contract. No big deal at all to nobody except to Muslims.

I’m agnostic, but grew up in a Muslim majority country. The Muslim women wearing a hijab are not doing it as a symbol, in their interpretation (which I disagree with) it’s a religious duty.
It would be like France banning Kosher food in the cafeterias at the Olympic village because they’re ’inconvenient to the chefs… Jewish athletes should just eat like the rest of us and assimilate”.
As for your statement that it was driven by men, that’s true. So are the outfits female athletes wear at the games. When Nike was trying to break 2 in the marathon, they didn’t force Kipchoge to run shirtless in a thong. Yet, for women athletes, we’re supposed to believe their outfits are designed for ‘speed’. Sure… men had nothing to do with that. And beach volleyball is an Olympic sport.

Insightful post that won’t be read by many of the arrogant people on this site, but I’m glad I read it. Thank you.

Men always make the mistake of assuming women are interested in them or doing things for them when they are not, just because some women do.

I'm not interested in men. I won't go into it, but take my word on that. I am a woman. When I was fast a decade ago, and really in shape for track, I worse my skimpy top and briefs to impress the other women. You simply cannot wear them and not look ridiculous unless you are fast. By ridiculous, I mean you will have fat hanging over the sides. I couldn't give a damn whether some man gets off on that, I'm not interested. What I am interested in is beating the other women.

Now there are men out there, even heterosexual men, who deliberately wear skimpy shorts to get women's attention. Their shorts are too revealing and they know that they ride up at some times. Do they do it to get men interested?

I also don't know if you've noticed that men and women are built differently? So because of my female hormones, I have fat where men have sinew, especially around my hips. Now when I wear flappy shorts that male non sprint track runners tend to favour, they make me look chunky. They are also uncomfortable, because they get stuck in my more fleshy thighs and ride up my legs. Whereas short tight shorts or bikini briefs don't do that. They stay where they are when you put them on. I also don't have a willy which might fall out of a pair of bikini briefs. If I had one, I wouldn't wear them, I would wear the flappy shorts which wouldn't ride up the insides of my legs encouraged by my female anatomy.

I can assure you that I am not, and never have been, interested in attracting the attention of middle aged men. In fact, I would really like to be ignored by them, and I don't want to have to hide in my house for that to happen.

France banning religious symbolism is all to do with the history of France, particularly its Revolution. You need to read up about it more. Its been around for centuries because there was previously a big division between catholicism and protestantism in France which caused a lot of problems, and has only been highlighted recently because its become fashionable amongst some groups to dress as they did in their home country or that of their grandparents. Many European countries have actually banned kosher preparation of food on animal welfare grounds and France is likely to follow.

Foreigners were able to wear religious symbols, French people weren't.

Western culture is older than written Arab history , especially Islam of all things. Learn some real history, not SJW bs

Learn to read because the OP stated this not I.

Glad you recognized that the Jewish God (also worshipped by Xians and Muslims) are as fake as all those others

Hassan looks the very same as Jaq in the Netflix series of Top Boy. When she crossed the finish line in the marathon I knew she reminded me of someone but couldn’t think who. Then I remembered Jaq from top boy and laughed

How is a woman wearing a hijab different than a man wearing a kepa?

Both are often done for culturalnrather than religious reasons.