jimnyc
12-02-2015, 06:40 AM
Wearing head-to-toe covering is not optional and can have deep psychological ramifications.
Women in ISIS-controlled territories are being forced to wear burqas that conceal everything but their eyes. Of course, some Muslim women willingly cover up. But for women who are accustomed to wearing what they want, or perhaps just a headscarf, the forced wearing of full-body coverings can be stifling and traumatic but ultimately a survival challenge, experts told Yahoo Health.
Phyllis Chesler, professor emeritus of psychology and women’s studies at City University of New York and author of An American Bride in Kabul, says that wearing a burqa for the first time — even willingly — can produce “sudden feelings of anxiety and claustrophobia.”
“It’s very uncomfortable,” Chesler told Yahoo Health. “It’s sensory deprivation, an isolation chamber. It’s hard to eat in a restaurant, hard to have a normal conversation, hard to buy things in a marketplace.”
However, according to an Express report, women in ISIS-conquered areas are required to wear loose, head-to-toe covering without designs that “attract attention.”
Punishment for failing to comply with the ISIS dress code is severe. The New York Times reported that women have been whipped for wearing coverings deemed too formfitting. Other women and their families have been fined for wearing the wrong clothes.
Chesler says living under a constant clothing fear can lead to “clinical depression, panic attacks, and low self-esteem.” Also, being covered from the sun can cause vitamin-D-deficiency diseases, like osteoporosis.
“You’re in a prison that moves,” Chesler says.
https://www.yahoo.com/health/in-isis-controlled-territories-forcing-1311317654560822.html
Women in ISIS-controlled territories are being forced to wear burqas that conceal everything but their eyes. Of course, some Muslim women willingly cover up. But for women who are accustomed to wearing what they want, or perhaps just a headscarf, the forced wearing of full-body coverings can be stifling and traumatic but ultimately a survival challenge, experts told Yahoo Health.
Phyllis Chesler, professor emeritus of psychology and women’s studies at City University of New York and author of An American Bride in Kabul, says that wearing a burqa for the first time — even willingly — can produce “sudden feelings of anxiety and claustrophobia.”
“It’s very uncomfortable,” Chesler told Yahoo Health. “It’s sensory deprivation, an isolation chamber. It’s hard to eat in a restaurant, hard to have a normal conversation, hard to buy things in a marketplace.”
However, according to an Express report, women in ISIS-conquered areas are required to wear loose, head-to-toe covering without designs that “attract attention.”
Punishment for failing to comply with the ISIS dress code is severe. The New York Times reported that women have been whipped for wearing coverings deemed too formfitting. Other women and their families have been fined for wearing the wrong clothes.
Chesler says living under a constant clothing fear can lead to “clinical depression, panic attacks, and low self-esteem.” Also, being covered from the sun can cause vitamin-D-deficiency diseases, like osteoporosis.
“You’re in a prison that moves,” Chesler says.
https://www.yahoo.com/health/in-isis-controlled-territories-forcing-1311317654560822.html