Every culture is a male-dominated culture. Patriarchy is everywhere and it cannot be escaped. The subject of "dress-codes" for women is a very controversial one. I don't think Westerners understand the idea of covering-up one's body. I personally for sure don't know enough about it to scream out my opinion left and right. But here are some facts that I do know. Last semester, I read a book called No god but God by Reza Aslan. He explains all the misunderstandings about the Qur'an and Islamic culture. Nowhere in the Qur'an is it written that women need to completely cover up their bodies. They are only advised to cover their bosoms and to not have too many ornaments on display. The wives of Muhammed  were the first women in the Islamic tradition to cover up their faces. They did so because their house in Medina also served as an early Islamic temple so there were a lot of people passing through it every day. Muhammed's wives wore veils to protect their privacy and modesty. Their veils became the symbol for their high societal status. Soon, other women started to wear veils as well to seem like they also had a high societal position. It was their decision to wear the veils. Only recently, men started to force women into wearing burkas. This issue is complicated, both in Islamic and Western countries. Until recently, Turkey, a country with a high percentage of Muslims, did not allow women to attend university while wearing a burqa. There was also a controversy when some important politician's wife chose to wear a burqa, and he was losing votes because of it. This whole issue is too complicated for me to fit all the facts and my opinion into 15 minutes of writing. However, I am sure of one thing: no woman should be denied her basic rights and be forced by a man to wear something she does not want to wear.