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It took me three days before I could pin down exactly what it is about boobquake that pushed my buttons, and in all the wrong modes. Several hours later, I'm not sure if I can still articulate my thoughts without wanting to bash something.

In a nutshell (and without links because I am lazy), an Iranian cleric made the statement that women who dress immodestly, and specifically, women who showed off their cleavage were the cause of earthquakes in Iran. Now, if this had happened in Malaysia (and similar, dumb, idiotic statements HAVE been made as any news-reading Malaysian would like to forget), people would laugh, enjoy a day of making fun at said dinosaur (a-hem, #yo old politician, anyone?) and continue their merry lives.

In America, said Iranian cleric was called out for his stupid remark, and this girl named Jen (I think?) decided to do this very random thing called "Boobquake" and basically get women to wear their most cleavage-revealing clothes and prove that such immodesty does NOT create earthquakes (there is more but I am simplifying). Bear in mind two things:

1. It was a choice for women to participate

2. She calls it a scientific experiment.


Alright, you have that already? Good.

Now throw them out the window. Because you see, it's not about what the Americans do. It's not even about what the cleric does. It's about what the Iranian WOMEN are going to face. I know some people are justifying the whole thing as an experiment, so let me say this: You want experiments? COME AND LIVE IN MALAYSIA YOU DOLT. As a non-Muslim. Or a Muslim who is not into Islam at all.

My problem with boobquake isn't that it happened. It isn't that people are talking about it. It isn't that people are labelling as an experiment when it's not.

It's that people are defending it. And they are defending it from the point of view that "hey, it was just a joke, we didn't really mean anything by it, but oh, we've got some numbers and stats to show that you know, people dressing immodestly DON'T cause earthquakes so take THAT, religious nutcases!"

Logic is a damn wonderful thing. But it is not the be-all and end-all of everyone on Earth. Because not everyone has that luxury.

Yes, living by logic is a luxury.

I live in a country where the meaning of being a Muslim is tightly controlled by the Government for political purposes. I live in a country where the religious police is unpoliced, and thus they create fear that lead to such incidents. I live in a country where moral policing is a very real danger to my life and those I love. So the main reason this hits hard for me is because people who defend Jen and claim that it was all for a scientific and logical reason completely ignore the fact that in their strident defence, they are ignoring the cultural implications for others.

So screw you. At the end of the day you guys don't have to live here. I do. So don't talk to me about boobquake and tell me it was all a matter of conducting legitimate research. Because it's not.

Oh, and by the way, because I think God has a sense of humour and he spits in your face, there was a SIGNIFICANT earthquake near Taiwan the morning of boobquake.