Our children's TV opiate, Sesame Street, has just unveiled ... or should I say veiled ... a hijab-wearing Afghani puppet named Zari who will teach our munchkins about "girl empowerment, social and emotional wellbeing" as experienced by Muslim girls ... see: Breitbart Article.
A few small problems Zari ... number one, hijab wearers are not allowed to show any of their hair if they are devout Muslims (nor be without a burqa, a face veil) ... and, number two, Muslim girls in Afghanistan are often not empowered or living well ... particularly if they reside in an area controlled by the Taliban. There they cannot attend school ... they cannot have a job or be seen outside without a male relative as a companion ... they must be submissive to males ... they must be completely covered in traditional Islam garments ... and the punishments for disobeying these strict Muslim doctrines is often lashings or death ... see: The Afghan Web.
I wonder if Sesame Street will show any of these downsides to Zari's life? Or will it keep up this saccharin flacking for its romantic vision of Islam ... slavishly hoping this religion will become something that it is often not.
