when she actually made noise he tried flinging himself into my lap in an desperate timmy-is-down-the-wellish effort to communicate that THE BABY IS UPSET!!!!!!!

This is the best story ever.

Women’s Sexy Clothing ‘Distracting Muslim Men From Sleep’

Malaysia’s Muslim men are suffering sleepless nights and cannot pray properly because their thoughts are distracted by a growing number of women who wear sexy clothes in public, a prominent cleric said.

Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the spiritual leader of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said he wanted to speak about the “emotional abuse” that men face because it is seldom discussed, the party reported on its Web site Wednesday.

“We always [hear about] the abuse of children and wives in households, which is easily perceived by the eye, but the emotional abuse of men cannot be seen,” Nik Abdul Aziz said. “Our prayers become unfocused and our sleep is often disturbed.”

More at the link. And the other stuff at the link is more disturbing....

Women’s Sexy Clothing ‘Distracting Muslim Men From Sleep’

I don't know whether to laugh or let my eyes roll out of my head.

the emotional abuse of men cannot be seen,” Nik Abdul Aziz said. “Our prayers become unfocused and our sleep is often disturbed.”

I'm having to work really hard to not unleash a big-ass feminist rant about how *I,* as a whole separate other human entity from all other human entities walking around, am NOT responsible for your reactions/thoughts/inability to control your "lust"/other jackassery.

No woman, Muslim or otherwise, is responsible for some dude's "unfocused prayers."

Oh, I'll GIVE you "emotional abuse," buddy. Then try complaining about women who show their ankles in public.

He should try that shit with my Malaysian Muslim cousins, see how well it goes down.

I'm just going to stand behind Teppy and her rant instead.

I'm just going to stand behind Teppy and her rant instead.

The shit people pull in the name of religion -- and, sorry to the guys here, but it's well-nigh always men pulling some oppressive shit on women -- makes me sick.

You see it all the time with very fundie Christian groups that try to suppress interaction between the sexes -- women are always told to not wear anything, or *do* anything, etc., that might cause "a brother to stumble."

Bullshit. Looking at *linoleum* can cause them to "stumble." Blame the goddamn linoleum, then.

When I was a kid our parents just turned us loose in costumes without adult supervision from the age of 7 or 8. That allowed a great combo of trick-or-treating fun with other kids and the thrill of getting scared without Mom or Dad right there to reassure us. I feel sad that modern parents are so protective their kids never really get that scary rush of adrenaline from Halloween.

I can't remember a time when my parents came with me. It was sort of nice to have a staircase with a turn because, unless the kids were super little, the kids were by themselves with the parents around the corner down on the sidewalk.

One little doctor (2-3) was scared to come up the stairs and called us bad girls!

I wasn't sure if I should post that link, as I thought it might be rage-inducing for no reason. But maybe it's good to know about men like this.

I've been thinking about this guy - I guess he and men like him are so used to having complete control over women that when that control is lessened a little bit he flies into a a rage.

Or maybe it's more about this guy's power in general (not just power over women). The guy is the "spiritual leader of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party" so maybe it's more about his rallying political support behind him by scapegoating women.

Or maybe it's that people who are so convinced they're right just bug me....

Women’s Sexy Clothing ‘Distracting Muslim Men From Sleep’

I read an article (in Salon probably) by a western woman who'd spent time working in Saudi Arabia and one of the things that struck me about her adventures in staying covered up at all times was that the reactions of men who would "see" her (like, once she was -- fully covered -- waiting for a friend outside of a bank she wasn't allowed to go in to and the guard asked her to stand to the side instead of right out in front because it men were staring. and when she told her friend he was not sure why this upset her...) was that the men acted like they'd just hit puberty. They stared, they stammered, they got really freaked out whenever they had to deal with her.

I can believe those guys would be distracted to sleeplessness. And I can believe someone who thinks men never need to, oh, mature and learn a little self-control, would feel bad for them.

Ew.