--- "James B. Davis" <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 02:10:40 +0200, Peeter Vissak <pv@xxxxxx>
> wrote/replied to:
>
> >>Is it their choice though?
> >>Not every country has freedom of choice.
> >
> >What? The freedom of being different? The choice of their
> religion?
> >The freedom of rejecting the so-called western democracy?
> >I think thyey have always had that.
> >Perhaps lacking some other aspects of freedom, yes.
>
> So you're saying that every man woman and child there has
> total freedom of
> religion?
>
> Face it, they have NO freedom whatsoever. They want to be
> Christian, they'll be
> put to death. It's happening right now, check CNN.
I'll probably regret injecting myself into this thread
but.....I've spent some time in Arab countries and in my
experience, whatever little freedom that exists there is enjoyed
by men only. Women have freedom too - to obey the men. Sure,
it's a "cultural" thing but the culture was invented by men.
Women have no say whatsoever. However, I don't think that's
unique to Arab societies. It wasn't that long ago when women in
Western countries had precious little in the way of freedom.
I've also heard it said that religion itself was invented by men
to keep women and children in line. But you didn't hear that
from me!
Not sure what all this has to do with photography. Except that
we as photographers sometimes violate cultural norms (not always
knowingly) simply by taking someone's picture. The fact that it
may be our job to do so doesn't make the violation any less real
or serious. Back in my PJ days I was punched more than once and
shot at a couple of times. Was I violating someone's cultural
taboos? Maybe. One of the individuals was a "mafia" type who
objected to my taking his picture. That was his "culture".
Richard
