<<But in rural areas, conservative Islamic tradition still confines many women to the home and the all-covering burka robes the Taliban made compulsory.>>
That's the quote from the NYT article that you mentioned. Huh?
This example reminds me of the early days of the civil rights movement when those who were formerly called "Negros" or "colored" opted for the label, black, a very common word in English usage. For a while there was sensitivity whenever the word was used, for example, "black magic" or "pot calling the kettle black." It was as though the word, having been co-opted by a certain special interest group, was in the process stripped of all its other legitimate contexts and every usage of it somehow because a veiled reference to the group. Fortunately, we're past that now, or so it would seem.
Likewise, every usage of the word, conservative, is not about the GOP or US politics. It is very clear to me that the usage by the Times in that article has absolutely nothing to do with US political conservatives and does not reflect badly on any of us here. I suppose we'll get past this sensitivity, too. I hope it's soon. |
