Saudi Morality Police Propose Ban on “tempting” Eyes

Too tempting for her own good?
Too tempting for her own good?

I'm too sexy for my…everything?? That's what Saudi Arabia's Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) is saying about women whose eyes, the only feature many reveal in public, are deemed too seductive.

Related link: Saudi woman to be flogged for driving a car

According to an article published by the Daily Mail, the CPVPV has put forward a resolution to grant members the right to force women with "tempting eyes" to cover them up in public. Saudi women already adhere to a strict dress code: a full-length black cloak, a black headscarf that completely covers the hair, and often a veil that hides the face except for a small gap showing only the eyes.

The Egyptian news website Bikyamasr reports that the announcement was made after a man brawled with a committee member who told him that his wife had to hide her (presumably alluring) eyes.

According to an article in the Daily Beast, the CPVPV hasn't said what attributes define a "tempting eye." An anonymous Saudi journalist conjectured, "uncovered eyes with a nice shape and makeup. Or even without makeup, if they are beautiful, the woman will be in trouble." What really constitutes a pretty peeper is, of course, in the eye of the beholder, so the new law could essentially be a tool to arbitrarily control and harass any woman in public.

The CPVPV is known for its extremism. In 2002, members refused to let girls escape from their burning school in Mecca because their heads were not "properly covered." 15 were killed and dozens more injured.

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