Glasses look to keep Israeli women out of sight
JERUSALEM (AP) — It's the latest prescription for extreme ultra-Orthodox Jewish men who shun contact with the opposite sex: Glasses that blur their vision, so they don't have to see women they consider to be immodestly dressed.
In an effort to maintain their strictly devout lifestyle, the ultra-Orthodox have separated the sexes on buses, sidewalks and other public spaces in their neighborhoods. Their interpretation of Jewish law forbids contact between men and women who are not married.
Walls in their neighborhoods feature signs exhorting women to wear closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts. Extremists have accosted women they consider to have flouted the code.
Now they're trying to keep them out of clear sight altogether.
The ultra-Orthodox community's unofficial "modesty patrols" are selling glasses with special blur-inducing stickers on their lenses. The glasses provide clear vision for up to a few meters so as not to impede movement, but anything beyond that gets blurry — including women. It's not known how many have been sold.
For men forced to venture outside their insular communities, hoods and shields that block peripheral vision are also being offered.
The glasses are going for the "modest" price of $6.
In an effort to maintain their strictly devout lifestyle, the ultra-Orthodox have separated the sexes on buses, sidewalks and other public spaces in their neighborhoods. Their interpretation of Jewish law forbids contact between men and women who are not married.
Walls in their neighborhoods feature signs exhorting women to wear closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts. Extremists have accosted women they consider to have flouted the code.
Now they're trying to keep them out of clear sight altogether.
The ultra-Orthodox community's unofficial "modesty patrols" are selling glasses with special blur-inducing stickers on their lenses. The glasses provide clear vision for up to a few meters so as not to impede movement, but anything beyond that gets blurry — including women. It's not known how many have been sold.
For men forced to venture outside their insular communities, hoods and shields that block peripheral vision are also being offered.
The glasses are going for the "modest" price of $6.
The Taliban is the Taliban, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, they are all the same and they are the biggest threat to world peace existing in the world today. Â
The perfect tool for dating on Craigslist.
 @Elvis Works for both genders in that case...
Well,to each his own - I might get a pair of these goggles so I don't have to see those men with their pregnant looking pot bellies at the beach in their 5 sizes too small thongs.Â
@Elaine2 Well, that goes for everybody... Remember, people, spandex, lycra, etc is a privilege not a right! That's why I keep my pale Gaelo-Scandinavian butt covered up!
:)
I'm sorry but death is the only thing that will keep me from looking at a pretty lady.
Okay a couple of things for those who want to be 'outraged' about all this.
Firstly, we have several sects here in the US that attempt many of the same things. Even accepted religious groups like the Amish have a separation of the genders beyond certain very controlled circumstances.
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Secondly, nobody is forced to be an ultra-Orthodox. People may enter and leave most of their communities freely.
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Lastly, these guys aren't the Saudi mutaween, who whip schoolgirls back into burning buildings because, in their rush to flee a burning building, the girls forgot their headscarves. I'm not kidding. This actually happened back in 2002.
http://rense.com/general21/blz.htm
 @svensson they'd do it.  It's the same ideology.  Exactly. Â
I've seen stories about these guys harassing young girls who are going to school. If you wish to practice your religion peacefully, so be it. If your religion requires that you police those who do not subscribe to it, then your religion is wrong.
I agree, I am glad to see that this "tactic" only affects them if they are choosing to live that way. Stories about women being harrassed for not upholding the belief is sad.
Those are beer goggles. Â This isn't new.
 @ChestersGorilla But don't beer goggles actually make the woman look prettier?
why not just blind them?
I wonder if they sell blurry Playboys.
To each their own if it doesn't hurt anyone else, but geeze. Why don't they just start up Orthodox monasteries and call it good?
@janeandspot Because Judaism generally doesn't have a tradition of religious aetheticism. They view religion as being part and parcel to community life and don't often withdraw from public life to become monks or hermits. The lone holy man at the top of the mountain simply isn't part of the Jewish faith. Their revered religious figures are people who are known for their wisdom and knowlege of the Law, but also have families, work jobs, and have deep roots in the community.
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Even in Israel these folks are on the extreme end of the spectrum, forming their own kibbutz's or neighborhoods. Rather like the Amish that way.