Behind the veil

By Isabel Lyman web posted November 19, 2001

Amherst, Marxachusetts - For two long hours, I was the woman
behind the veil.

My pal, Dr. Donna Kelley, and I donned homemade burquas –
a head-to-toe garment - to participate in Veteran's Day festivities
on the Town Common. We carried a flag of Afghanistan
decorated with a circle slash through it and were accompanied
by a small entourage of friends that took turns holding Old Glory
and a placard bearing twin messages. "Taliban
oppresses/depresses women" was on one side, and "Happy
Birthday, U.S. Marine Corps" was on the other. It was our way
of expressing "peaceful outrage" at the criminal treatment of
Afghan women by the Taliban, as well as honoring our armed
forces. Multitasking at its finest!

By now, many of us have read the news reports about how the
Taliban's Department of the Promotion of Virtue and the
Prevention of Vice monitors the religious behavior of the fairer
sex. In this extremist Islamic society, Afghan women, for
instance, have received floggings for appearing in public without
a male relative or for showing too much ankle.

So, there we were, on a chilly November day, clutching bed
sheets we had draped over our jeans, walking in a hunched
(read: oppressed) manner, and vowing to exercise our right to
remain silent.

A reporter from the Associated Press, as well as the patriots
who had gathered on the Town Common immediately "got" our
attempts at political street theater. Many thanked us for taking a
pro-woman stance and not one of my neighbors recognized me.
(Tee-hee.) Donna and I appreciated the support, because it was
really hard to see through the mesh that covered our faces, and it
would have been difficult to chase a purse snatcher with all that
cloth. "Like wearing a birdcage," as a local professor described
our getup.

Unfortunately, we soon encountered the disturb-the-peace
peaceniks. They had lined the street for their weekly "I Hate the
Military" demonstration.

As we hobbled past a line of these losers, one cutie pie
(borrowing a line from the tired-liberal-cliches manual) said to
me, "I see racism is still alive." An elderly lady also had kind
words for me: "They're bombing people like you."

This woman behind the burqua decided to speak. "Shut up!" I
snapped at one. "Get a life!" I ordered another.

Not original or nice, but my mummy wrap seems to have
constrained my creativity and unleashed my bad manners.
Nearby, I could tell that Dr. Donna was also going at it with a
fourth grade teacher. Mouthy. We became mouthy. And
disheveled. My head gear was falling off, and Donna's pant legs
were brazenly showing.

We were also demanding answers. Why would left-wing
feminists, of all genders, hassle us, I asked University of
Massachusetts graduate student Ed Cutting, who was on hand to
support the troops. "You don't honestly believe that those folks
actually believe their own literature, do you?" asked Ed. "They
are fascists, and thus they have no trouble being hypocrites."

I know that, Ed. And, now, I also know why I quickly failed at
impersonating a downtrodden femme.

When you regularly enjoy a life filled with liberty, opportunity,
and adventure, acting like a victim is no piece of cake. Thanks to
the sacrifices of our nation's veterans, American females, like
Donna and myself, have grown accustomed to such a good life.

And what grand news last week … that the women of Kabul are
beginning to liberate themselves from their veils, the men are
shaving their beards, and the peaceniks are so over. Yahoo! Let
freedom ring!

Izzy Lyman, author of The Homeschooling Revolution (http:
//www.homeschoolingrevolution.com/), can be reached at
ilyman7449@aol.com.

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