# Look at my face? That's a Divorce! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672 "2008-05-17T18:10:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/1 "2008-05-17T18:10:56Z")
Man lift’s his wife’s veil to look at her face for the first time, after 30 years of marriage. She storms off and wants a divorce. [Here](http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/10/08/40103.html). Those wacky Saudis! This is a cultural thing of a minority of Saudis, but you can’t get much better than this as an explanation of why Saudi society is so conservative or why we in the West would see it as extremely odd or even completely fucked up. I repeat, this is NOT Islam, nor does the article imply that it is. It is very clearly stated that this is a minority cultural practice. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/2 "2008-05-17T18:21:06Z")
I value other societies and their cultural folkways and mores but this is one I really find odd - I know this is not Islam, but to look at one’s face seems to me so important so fundamental. To cover the face you were given for your lifetime…To my western mind, it’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/3 "2008-05-17T22:53:14Z")
Can you even imagine how irresistable it must get to take a peek at your wife’s face? ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/4 "2008-05-17T23:22:14Z")
How does she give her husband blow-jo…Ooohhh, nevermind. ☹ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/5 "2008-05-17T23:28:33Z")
[QUOTE=MeanJoe] How does she give her husband blow-jo…Ooohhh, nevermind. ☹ 😃 [/QUOTE] My first thought was how do they kiss… I guess my expectations in a relationship are lower. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/6 "2008-05-17T23:58:05Z")
You know what? The existence of this minority practice just turned my whole notion of the veiling practice on its ear. I thought the whole point was that only the husband is supposed to see her face, and the veil was a way of protecting _his_ exclusive rights. Apparently it doesn’t work that way in at least one place in Arabia. I wonder what this woman thinks of the many Muslim women who cover the head and neck but leave the face uncovered. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/7 "2008-05-18T00:05:43Z")
And another thing: the article described this practice as not Islamic but “very old”. Does that imply that it is pre-Islamic? ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/8 "2008-05-18T00:13:08Z")
WTF? The link to Al-arabiya keeps making Internet Explorer shut down on my computer. I want to read the story, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/9 "2008-05-18T00:17:42Z")
The article does not mention if she is hot or not. She is obviously a ninja based on the pictures. I can understand why she doesn’t want her identity revealed. What I fail to understand is why she wants a divorce instead of giving him a death touch. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/10 "2008-05-18T00:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] The article does not mention if she is hot or not. She is obviously a ninja based on the pictures. I can understand why she doesn’t want her identity revealed. What I fail to understand is why she wants a divorce instead of giving him a death touch. [/QUOTE] She _could_ be a superhero. Wait… maybe she’s Batman! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/11 "2008-05-18T01:00:05Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] And another thing: the article described this practice as not Islamic but “very old”. Does that imply that it is pre-Islamic? [/QUOTE] It dates all the way back to the first guy in the tribe to have an arranged marriage to a coyote-ugly wife. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/12 "2008-05-18T01:03:32Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] The article does not mention if she is hot or not. She is obviously a ninja based on the pictures. I can understand why she doesn’t want her identity revealed. What I fail to understand is why she wants a divorce instead of giving him a death touch. [/QUOTE] Is there a ninja equivalent to the Vulcan mind meld? That would be good… I find I can’t comment on this–it is so outside my experience that I cannot wrap my head around someone not seeing someone else’s face for 30 years. I find it vaguely repellent; inhuman, really. What is the reason for this? What possible purpose can it serve? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/13 "2008-05-18T01:08:41Z")
What if he saw her face, saw she was uglier than his goat, and HE divorced HER? :: rimshot :: Thanks, I’ll be here all week, tip your waitress… ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/14 "2008-05-18T02:27:25Z")
Yeah, joking about the BJs and the kissing, but worse… If he hasn’t seen his own wife’s face, EVER, even after THIRTY YEARS of marriage - the most intimate personal relationship… Has he ever seen ANY part of her? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/15 "2008-05-18T04:08:25Z")
Well, he didn’t give her any kind of fair warning before he lifted it. So of course she’s pissed. She didn’t get a chance to shave off her mustache. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/16 "2008-05-18T04:30:07Z")
A nurse friend worked in Saudi several years ago. One of her duties was to teach new moms about breast feeding. She and several women were in a room. Since everyone in the room was female, the women had their faces uncovered. An American doctor walked in without knocking. :rolleyes: All of the women pulled their shirts over their faces, exposing their breasts. The doctor left quickly, with apologies. Afterward, my friend asked why they had done that. They said if they passed the doctor on the street, even with a veil, he might recognize their faces, but he would never have the opportunity to recognize their breasts. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/17 "2008-05-18T04:31:01Z")
I wonder how often the men want a divorce after finally seeing what she looks like? There’s a reason they keep their women covered, ya know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/18 "2008-05-18T16:34:00Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] I find I can’t comment on this–it is so outside my experience that I cannot wrap my head around someone not seeing someone else’s face for 30 years. I find it vaguely repellent; inhuman, really. What is the reason for this? What possible purpose can it serve? [/QUOTE] Indeed. [QUOTE=Nathaniel Hawthorne] “Have patience with me, Elizabeth!” cried he, passionately. “Do not desert me, though this veil must be between us here on earth. Be mine, and hereafter there shall be no veil over my face, no darkness between our souls! It is but a mortal veil–it is not for eternity! O! you know not how lonely I am, and how frightened, to be alone behind my black veil. Do not leave me in this miserable obscurity forever!” “Lift the veil but once, and look me in the face,” said she. “Never! It cannot be!” replied Mr. Hooper. “Then farewell!” said Elizabeth. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/19 "2008-05-18T17:22:12Z")
:cue music: “…then I saw her face… …now I want to leave her…” …d&r ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672/20 "2008-05-18T21:38:06Z")
Yep, another $7.48 well spent. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-at-my-face-thats-a-divorce/449672.md?page=2)