Reflection on class discussion: Topic on women and veils

I found our class discussion on women wearing the veil, very interesting. I learned that Muslim women, and particularly Middle Eastern and North African women, wearing the veil is not an obligation, instead it is an option. I always thought that they wore it because they were suppose to wear it, were pressured to wear it or did it just out of respect. When I saw Sex and the City 2 for the first time, it never occurred to me how disrespectful the movie portrayed Muslims until I read “Sex and the City and Muslim women,” “Sex and the City 2′s stunning Muslim clich,” and “Sex and the City 2: Orientalist Boogaloo” articles and seeing the movie clips in class. The movie misinforms the audience that all Middle Eastern women are veiled, silent or subdued by aggressive men and it perpetuates the U.S. and the Middle East stereotypes that already exists out there. Our discussion in class has taught me how to see future movies in a different perspective and that information given to us from movies are not always accurate.