The fact that some women seem to be actually interested in being property in ISIS is incomprehensible to some, but it’s not completely devoid of logic if you look at a bit of the bigger picture.
We in the west live in a very ideologically individualist society and we seem to equate submission with weakness. Yet paradoxically we laud anyone who submits to the many collective positions on which society depends. Example: A submissive man is pathetic, yet a solider is heroic despite service being the very basis of being in the military. It couldn’t function without at least the majority of the time obeying orders without question and without hesitation.
But the thing is there are advantages both psychological and practical to being inclined to submit. After all, that’s why it’s a common survival strategy. Some people just aren’t assertive by genetic inclination. And a structured social order, even if that order places one in a subordinate role, can be a pleasant thing for some people.
I think the fact that western society both refuses to admit that and depends on it utterly, drives a lot of people underground and makes them bitter about the hypocrisy of the mainstream.
We are still a young culture, and there are a lot of elements of human nature that we have not created niches for. Drug use and various paraphilias for example. We seem to wish to stamp them out, but realistically that’s never going to happen. We’re still not even done solidifying our response to homosexuals.
One draw of systems from the 7th century is that they have had time to incorporate everything. Even if that incorporation is oppressive or an effort to annihilate it, at least they have a clear answer, and that is fundamentally appealing to the human mind. We like answers, even if they are wrong and toxic. (Just ask anyone who thinks nuclear power is a bad idea.)
Authority is difficult even if it’s over only yourself. Self reliance is inherently difficult. The pressure of making choices can be quite high contrasted with the comfort of having imposed structure, especially in a culture like ours that imposes all manner of discipline externally thus corroding self discipline.
Also in our society most people realize what a raw deal the vast majority of authoritative roles actually are. Much of our culture is suffering from the curse of middle management, in which you have just enough power to get in trouble when things go wrong but not enough power to ensure things go right.
As a result, a lot of people just coast as much as they can. If you look at things and realize you’re going to end up property anyway, you might start looking at the situation the way a person did in earlier eras prior to selling themselves into slavery. (Which believe it or not occurred a lot.)
Also we tend to dismiss the owner types in ISIS as cartoonish monsters, but in reality they are more likely to be something like soldiers or cult members for the most part. Yes they by definition must be violent and the like to seek to join a violent death cult, but then again, it’s pretty obvious that many women are quite attracted to violent assertive men. (Just look at jail house serial killer marriages.)
Indeed we glorify and cultivate this attraction when it’s about the “correct” classes of violent assertive men, such as our soldiers and police officers. So, given all that, is it really so shocking that some women would arrive at a mindset that genuinely finds life in a 7th century Islamic culture appealing, even before you get into the seductive power of religion itself and the draw of a charismatic conman recruiter?
Not to me. Not so much.
Still, it must be said that for the good of the species those that wish to join ISIS should not be given the freedom to do so because that action directly leads to the harm of others. I’m a big fan of freedom as any of my readers should know, but when you find local girls or boys wanting to fly off to join ISIS, it’s time to seize their passports.
