[BRIEF NOTE] Today in the National Post
Aug. 17th, 2004 06:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldI've written earlier about how I've always felt that The Globe and Mail has had a reputation of modernity for me. The National Post has never had that kind of reputation with me, since I've got issues with Conrad Black and the sensationalistic tone of the Post's coverage. Nonetheless, early this afternoon I picked up a copy for two quarters from a streetside vending machine.
The "Art & Life" section had some interesting articles. There was a profile of actress Laura Dern that has more coverage of her personal life than of her latest acting careers on the front page. On the back page is a profile of Tal Bachman, second-generation Canadian pop music star ("She's So High"), talking about his problems with his record community and how his Mormon faith evaporated after he began Sunday-school teaching children and realized for himself its historical flaws. (Oh, and in a different article on that page, we learn that there are now Bible-based diets.)
The main section of the Post also has some interesting stuff. We learn, for instance, that David Frum spends summers in Prince Edward County, reads The Lord of the Rings to his children, and is proud that this area of the Western world, this terroir as the French would say, is beyond the reach of international terror. (That was a pun, of course. Don't worry, he tells you if you didn't get it.) The Post also has a full page on international terror, including the testimony of one of the Khadr sons as to al-Qaeda presence in Canada and another detailing the efforts of the Canadian government to deport an Egyptian terror suspect to his homeland despite knowing that he'll be tortured. There's an amusing satire, by Rob McKenzie, of hubris as it is apparently affecting the US performance at the Olympics.
Finally, there's an article by Iranian expatriate and author Amir Taheri concerning the low level of female participation in the Olympics. He traces this to a suspicion of the potential danger caused by the sight of the female body:
Now, I definitely know that the Islamic Republic of Iran's dictums on sexuality are a far cry from being accurate. I'm also suspicious, if to a lesser degree, of Taheri's suitability as a neutral observer of the Islamic Republic. But does heterosexuality really work that way?
The "Art & Life" section had some interesting articles. There was a profile of actress Laura Dern that has more coverage of her personal life than of her latest acting careers on the front page. On the back page is a profile of Tal Bachman, second-generation Canadian pop music star ("She's So High"), talking about his problems with his record community and how his Mormon faith evaporated after he began Sunday-school teaching children and realized for himself its historical flaws. (Oh, and in a different article on that page, we learn that there are now Bible-based diets.)
The main section of the Post also has some interesting stuff. We learn, for instance, that David Frum spends summers in Prince Edward County, reads The Lord of the Rings to his children, and is proud that this area of the Western world, this terroir as the French would say, is beyond the reach of international terror. (That was a pun, of course. Don't worry, he tells you if you didn't get it.) The Post also has a full page on international terror, including the testimony of one of the Khadr sons as to al-Qaeda presence in Canada and another detailing the efforts of the Canadian government to deport an Egyptian terror suspect to his homeland despite knowing that he'll be tortured. There's an amusing satire, by Rob McKenzie, of hubris as it is apparently affecting the US performance at the Olympics.
Finally, there's an article by Iranian expatriate and author Amir Taheri concerning the low level of female participation in the Olympics. He traces this to a suspicion of the potential danger caused by the sight of the female body:
Islamist theologians are divided on how much of a woman's body can be exposed in public. The most radical, the Sitris, insist that women should be covered from head to toe, including their faces and fingers. The less radical Hanbalis say a woman should be covered all over, but recommend a mask with apertures for the eyes and the mouth. (A version of this, known as the burwa, was imposed on Afghan women by the Taliban.
The Khomeinist version of the hijab, invented in the 1970s and now popular in many countries, including the United States, covers a woman's entire body but allows her face and hands to be exposed. Hijab theoreticians agree on one claim: A woman's hair emanates dangerous rays that could drive men wild with sexual lust and thus undermine social peace.
But the problem of female athletes goes deeper. Some theologians claim that any form of sporting activity by women produces "sinful consequences." In 2000, for example, the Khomeinist authorities in Tehran announced a ban on women riding bicycles or motorcycles. The rationale? Riding bicycles or motorcycles would activate a woman's thighs and legs, thus arousing "uncontrollable lustful drives" in her. And men watching women on their bikes in the streets could be "led towards dangerous urges."
Now, I definitely know that the Islamic Republic of Iran's dictums on sexuality are a far cry from being accurate. I'm also suspicious, if to a lesser degree, of Taheri's suitability as a neutral observer of the Islamic Republic. But does heterosexuality really work that way?
