Hikikomori, Again

Via the Washington Post:

JERUSALEM — 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…

Sad.

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2 Responses to Hikikomori, Again

  1. hanmeng says:

    Next step: if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. Still, it’s better to put the burden on these horny guys instead of forcing women into burkas or not permitting women to wear shoes that click. (I’m so excited writing about it I have to go take a cold shower.)

  2. Marco says:

    Of course, the silliness behind this doesn’t need much more comment.

    What I find interesting is the very idea of using technology in this way. I’m very nearsighted, have worn glasses since childhood, and am grateful to live at a time when affordable corrective lenses are so easily available. Without such lenses, not only would I miss out on pretty girls and other wonders of nature, but I couldn’t drive, ride a bicycle, or watch a movie in a theater (or from across the room on my TV). The idea of using glasses deliberately to give people the problems I have without them is more than sad, it’s insane.

    Of course, if I lose my mind and actually convert to a sect of this sort, I wouldn’t need special glasses. I could just take my existing glasses off.

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