Once, Turkish Sunni preacher compared uncovered women to 'peeled apples'
Justifying patriarchal notions by degrading women to mere objects is an age-old trick. In this game of 'What object are you today?', women are now apples. Comparing apples and oranges, a video of a Sunni preacher drawing a parallel between a peeled apple and an uncovered woman is doing the rounds on social media. Here are more details.
'A peeled apple attracts germs'
The video is dated, however, it was recently retweeted by Kurdish American author and philosophy professor Edip Yüksel in a thread criticizing Turkish administration. Identifying the man in the video as a Sunni preacher, Yüksel quoted him as saying, "A peeled apple attracts germs. Women should cover themselves like an apple." The video was then reshared by Australian Islamic scholar Imam Mohamad Tawhidi.
You can watch the video here
Video implies that women are meant to be 'consumed'
The underlying message of the video is that women live only for the consumption of others, and hence, must prevent themselves from being tainted by physically shielding themselves. Fail to do so, and you may find yourself regarded as inconsumable and hence irrelevant in a world where your value is defined by what you provide to men.
Women are often compared to 'unsealed bottles' and 'second-hand cars'
This subliminal messaging is evident in various other instances wherein the idea of virginity is imposed onto women by comparing them to sealed bottles of water, or cars and how you shouldn't "buy" one that's "second-hand." In each of these instances, women are sexualized for the pleasure of men, stripping them away of their agency to consent- because your purpose is to provide sex.
Contrarily, video also implies men are 'germs'
Of course, the presumably unintentional implication of the "peeled apple" argument is also that predatory men who target "uncovered" women are germs. As though having sex with a man is sinful because men are dirty. However, it also shifts the emotional burden of constantly feeling like you need to keep your guard up onto women. That's rape culture 101- teaching women to self-police their sexualities.
How does this trickle down into common parlance?
In the Netflix special Can I Touch It?, American comedian Whitney Cummings points out that women are often nicknamed "honey" or "cupcake" or other desserts meant to be consumed by others. On the contrary, men are nicknamed "champ" or "boss". Knowingly or unknowingly, through tacit communication, we have been telling women their existence is meaningless if not for others and that needs to change.
