Re: you could talk about Arabic some more......

Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on February 19, 2000 at 06:23:53:

In Reply to: Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... posted by Kenzi on February 19, 2000 at 04:27:59:

One of the phrases in translation is "a woman should not strike her
foot as to show her ornaments" and another is she should not cause her
garment to shift as to show her ornaments.
Now .... as the tattooing patterns that accompany henna frequently
follow the garment opening lines, so that a dancer COULD shift her
garments to show her "ornaments" (slit up the thighs, open at the
bosom, around the waist .......
and other than ankle bracelets ...what would be on a foot other than
henna?

Mernissi grooves! I've been banging my head on that book for a year
trying to get a sense of the mind-set. ... that and "Price of Honor".
As in, what are the implications of a fundamental assumption that
orderliness = masculinity versus chaos = femininity? How did it
happen that women are percieved as polluted and dangerous? Why does
the veil occur in the same places as the tradition of henna? It's not
a matter of mean spiritedness ... at least not at the start. At some
point, all that seemed like a really good idea!

Altogether .... the further you dig into henna, the more questions
come up about life and what is means to be born female....

Follow-ups:

• Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Kenzi 03:39:26 2/22/00 (1)
  • ornaments and Sirius expenses Catherine Cartwright Jones 14:39:30 2/22/00 (0)
• Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Jewel 16:34:31 2/20/00 (3)
  • Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Catherine Cartwright Jones 04:26:18 2/21/00 (2)
    • Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Amy L. 07:42:02 2/24/00 (1)
      • Re: you could talk about Arabic some more...... Catherine Cartwright Jones 14:18:55 2/24/00 (0)