While France debates the burqa, calls for the death penalty greet Qatari girls who wear shorts.
Young Qataris are infuriating their elders by "cross dressing"--that is, dressing in shorts and shirts like American girls. According to The Economist, "manly women" (as these girls are called) are being condemned as part of a "foreign trend" brought into the Gulf by the evils of Globalisation. When asked on a Qatari talk show, how to deal with these girls, some members of the studio audience called for the DEATH SENTENCE.
On a related topic in the eternal women's fashion debate, see remarkably superficial NYT Editorial The Tabliban Would Applaud on France's efforts to respond to the challenge of the burqa. The NYT blithely states "People must be free to make these decisions for themselves" while forgetting how much pressure -- and violence--is applied to young girls and women who have no choice whatsoever.
For earlier blog post: Islam in France
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