What western feminists should do about the veil - Faisal al Yafai
A few years ago, the Moroccan feminist writer Fatema Mernissi published Scheherezade Goes West, a book in which she drew comparisons between the treatment of women in the west and in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Men in both societies, she concluded, oppressed their women, but in different ways: the west by only allowing youthful women to express their sexuality, and only in certain ways; Islamic societies by allowing sexual expression, but limiting women's physical space.
Whatever one thinks of Mernissi's analysis, her book points to a significant cross-pollination of feminist thought. Like other equality movements, feminism crosses borders and feminists from the west and the Muslim worlds need each other and have a great deal to learn from each other. The question is, how can they best do that?
***
The veil, then, is literally veiling the ability for feminists in the west and the Middle East and wider Islamic worlds to communicate. Feminists are handicapped by history and culture: history because, as Katherine Viner has pointed out, feminism has often been used as a cloak for imperialism; culture because outsiders seeking to remove the veil elevate it to a symbol of resistance.
Time to get rid of it. This is not a question of compromising but of prioritising. Focusing on the veil detracts from other far more pressing issues such as education and legal reform, topics on which western feminists have much experience to impart. Feminists need to be careful they don't fight culture wars on the battleground of women's bodies. Voltaire had something to say about that - though he didn't really say it and he wasn't talking about clothes.
Whatever one thinks of Mernissi's analysis, her book points to a significant cross-pollination of feminist thought. Like other equality movements, feminism crosses borders and feminists from the west and the Muslim worlds need each other and have a great deal to learn from each other. The question is, how can they best do that?
***
The veil, then, is literally veiling the ability for feminists in the west and the Middle East and wider Islamic worlds to communicate. Feminists are handicapped by history and culture: history because, as Katherine Viner has pointed out, feminism has often been used as a cloak for imperialism; culture because outsiders seeking to remove the veil elevate it to a symbol of resistance.
Time to get rid of it. This is not a question of compromising but of prioritising. Focusing on the veil detracts from other far more pressing issues such as education and legal reform, topics on which western feminists have much experience to impart. Feminists need to be careful they don't fight culture wars on the battleground of women's bodies. Voltaire had something to say about that - though he didn't really say it and he wasn't talking about clothes.
posted by temporal at 9/09/2008
1 Comments:
You have to fight the battles where you have the army, and Voltaire is not a credible citation. I urge Muslim women to dress as modestly as they like, and assure them that the issue is every bit as important as any reform mentioned in the post. I speak as a western feminist.
Post a Comment
<< Home