Muslim cleric's remarks on women working spark BBC-covered controversy in Spain
A Muslim cleric told the BBC that women should not work in offices. The social media backlash reopens Spain's cultural clash debate.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A Muslim cleric and the controversy over women working in offices
According to the BBC, a Muslim preacher has claimed that women have intellectual deficiencies. He also added that allowing them to work in offices like his would "lead to immoralities" and that their "dignity would be undermined". The remarks quickly spread across Spanish social media and have reignited the debate over the cultural clash.
Some see in these words confirmation of a structural problem with immigration: a segment of opinion holds that certain religious views are incompatible with gender equality and that bringing in people with that mindset eventually has consequences. Others respond with sarcasm: "water is wet" summed up the intellectual level of the argument. In between, misogynistic comments have not been lacking, having nothing to do with the cleric and everything to do with whoever writes them.
The interesting thing about the episode is not what the man says, but how easily the controversy becomes a weapon in the migration debate. The controversy ends in a stalemate, as almost always happens when religion, gender and immigration are mixed. Are we facing an isolated and marginal case, or the tip of a cultural iceberg that Spanish society has still not been willing to look at head-on? The BBC has held up the microphone; the rest remains unanswered.
According to the BBC, a Muslim preacher has claimed that women have intellectual deficiencies. He also added that allowing them to work in offices like his would "lead to immoralities" and that their "dignity would be undermined". The remarks quickly spread across Spanish social media and have reignited the debate over the cultural clash.
Some see in these words confirmation of a structural problem with immigration: a segment of opinion holds that certain religious views are incompatible with gender equality and that bringing in people with that mindset eventually has consequences. Others respond with sarcasm: "water is wet" summed up the intellectual level of the argument. In between, misogynistic comments have not been lacking, having nothing to do with the cleric and everything to do with whoever writes them.
The interesting thing about the episode is not what the man says, but how easily the controversy becomes a weapon in the migration debate. The controversy ends in a stalemate, as almost always happens when religion, gender and immigration are mixed. Are we facing an isolated and marginal case, or the tip of a cultural iceberg that Spanish society has still not been willing to look at head-on? The BBC has held up the microphone; the rest remains unanswered.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (22 replies).
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