Those women grew up wearing the "black bag" and so did ALL their females relatives and friends, so, as backward and awful as YOU might think it (me too) THEY saw it as normal, SOP.
As for "submitting," well, strong women exist everywhere, as do weak men. I don't ASSUME that the strong women DIDN'T get their way and that WEAK men did. The problem lies where there are both strong husband and wife who want to rule the roost, or both weak husband and wife, who are ruled by others.
SOMEwhere in there, a happy medium must exist. It happens in most marriages anyway, I think. SOMEone in the family is the disciplinarian and decision-maker and it's not always the man. But you know that.
By the way, those covered faces of the Bedouin women DID protect their skin from the blistering desert sun. The only things showing were hands and feet.
Having lived in that heat for five years, I know what I'm talking about. With all the POWER the Saudis had, each new, modern home had TWO enormous A.C. units and we could get our house down to 60 degrees F. Brrr, I made myself COLD sometimes and had to turn OFF the A.C. for a bit.
All the buildings had A.C. and I ended up having to wear a WOOL sweater over my top at work, just to be comfortable.
By the way, women/girls in a family are not treated as slaves. Their "babas" (daddies) ADORE their daughters and I saw it everywhere I saw father and daughter (little ones) together. They were SO patient with their children...they adore their children.
But I was only there for five years working WITH 30 Saudi men...and heard all the trials and tribulations--and GOOD things--that went on. It was the same as it is here. They are just people.
“Those women grew up wearing the “black bag” and so did ALL their females relatives and friends”
Kurdish Women generally don’t wear burqhas, hijabs, or niqabs. The general Muslim oppression of women is totally foreign to the Kurds.