I’m getting ready for my second of four nightshifts, which is why my blog posts have been largely absent or incoherent. More than usual, I mean.
I actually fell asleep twice while writing the June 7 post, then put it up without any editing. That was while I was on days… we’re in for a rough time, I think.
Do you remember the Boobquake? Five years ago, an Iranian Imam said this:
“Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes,”
In response, blogger and activist Jen McCreight organized the Boobquake. The idea was to pick one day, April 26, 2010, for women to dress immodestly in order to cause earthquakes. And yeah, the earth moved, but no more than on an any other day.
I was reminded of that this week when this story made the news: “Malaysia detains 2 canadians among 4 westerners for naked pose on mountain.” The thinking was that, by posing naked on the sacred mountain, these tourists had caused an earthquake that killed 18 climbers.
It’s tough to discuss this at all without laughing. I mean, I’ve made my feelings on sacred mountains clear before, but this is even more ridiculous than usual. Which is why I found this article particularly out of place: “Travel is a privilege, not a right.” The author, Wade Davis from UBC, argues that tourists have a responsibility to respect the superstitions of the host country, no matter how bizarre.
Well, actually, that’s not strictly true. He actually argues that this taboo isn’t very bizarre at all. Perhaps this mean that means his bar for weird is extraordinarily high, and that there might still be something so outlandish that he wouldn’t want tourists to play along. But when ‘nudity causes earthquakes’ doesn’t make the cut, I really don’t know where that bar might be. It’s hard to tell whether Davis still has enough between his ears to consider anything unreasonable, or if any practice could be considered a quaint local custom to be respected.
Frankly, even the headline is a problem. Travel is a right, not a privilege. It’s in the Declaration of Human Rights and everything.
Look, if Malaysia wants to have oppressive customs than I can’t stop them. But it’s still right to consider them oppressive, and to oppose them where I can. Sure, these particular people might be unimportant and these particular pictures banal. But if these mountain climbers were locals, rather than tourists, the pictures would be heroic. There’s nothing good in respecting a rule just because it’s the local custom.
Kurdish women remove dark dress after fleeing #isis west Tel Abyad nr #Kobani.#Twitterkurds #Syria #Rojava #Kurdistan pic.twitter.com/u8NKtXgEeO
— Kadar Sheikhmous (@kadaroza) June 4, 2015
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