Islam, politics, anthropology (original) (raw)
Related papers
2019
Libraries around the world are filled with books and encyclopedias on Muslim Women. Notably, Western and Westernized scholarship tends to be marked by a trope characterized as having a posture of domination and superiority, often subtle, over Muslim women, who are Orientalized , inferiorized, and stigmatized – portrayed as victims of Islam and patriarchal culture. Caged in veils and stigmatized by ‘awra, they are subjected to honor killing, circumcision, polygyny, segregation, and seclusion in the harem. All in all, they are second class citizens. During the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s scholarship on the subject of Muslim women contained a disproportionate number of references to the veil in connection with Muslim women to such an extent that some scholars of Islam lamented the trend suggesting perhaps that the Crescent, which is commonly considered the legitimate symbol of Islam, was being substituted by the Veil as Islam’s primary symbol. A gradual construction of the essential ‘Veiled Muslim Woman’ was being erected. Terms like ’Visibly Muslim’ (Tarlo 2010, as an example of a popular advocacy work in defense of Hijab) were beginning to appear in print, implying, unintentionally perhaps, that the veil is primary indication of being Muslim or that Muslim women are necessarily veiled. The prevalent perception about the Muslim Woman emerging out of some trends in feminist scholarship and generally in the Western media was that of a victim. She was a subordinate woman oppressed by Islam (‘awrah [translated as blemish of her body], unequal inheritance, polygyny, veiling, arbitrary divorce, subjugation to male guardianship), her culture (honor, seclusion, circumcision), and men (who control her movement and enslave her sexually). This trope of Muslim women’s victimhood, whether blamed on Islam, cultural tradition, or patriarchy extends to issues such as voting in political elections in which women are again portrayed as victims of exclusion, in that they are deprived of the he right to vote, as was more prominently the case until recently in Arabian and Arabian Gulf countries. However, with regard to having the right to vote, until recently in Arabian monarchies no one voted. Neither men nor women voted. There was no representational election. Is it a matter of gender inequality when neither sex voted? Gender inequality in voting rights means that while men had the right to vote, women were excluded from that right as was the case in the United States before the suffragette movement and until the 1960s in Switzerland. Therefore, in systems which were not based on election to achieve political office and positions of governance and in which neither sex voted the issue of gender inequality of access to elections does not apply. So when women are singled out as being deprived from the right to vote, we are looking at selective bias and inaccuracy in such observations regarding issues of rights and gender in Arabian and Arabian Gulf countries.
Unveiling the myth of the Muslim woman: a postcolonial critique
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 2013
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between neo‐colonialist discourse and Quebec's proposed Bill 94 aimed at restricting the public activities of niqab and veil‐wearing Muslim women.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon postcolonial feminist frames, this study critically analyzes the discourses of Muslim women and Western elites that serve to construct the niqab and veil‐wearing Muslim women. Using critical discourse analysis of digital and print media articles from 1994 to 2010, the authors trace the discursive character of the Muslim woman related to Bill 94 which proposes the banning of religious face coverings when seeking public services in the Province of Quebec, Canada.FindingsThis paper develops a postcolonial understanding of the discursive conditions that constitute the social environment in which Muslim women are required to operate in Quebec and the advent of Bill 94. The authors contend that the discourses in the construction of Muslim ...
The depiction of Muslim women in western societies
In this paper I shall explore the position of Muslim women who wear a headscarf in the western world. By examining the socio-historical view of veiled Muslim women as seen through the eyes of the western onlooker, I shall point out the way women have been subjected to a history of triple discrimination.
Need to Counter Gendered Orientalism: The Case of Muslim Women
Khan. A
In the previous century, the biggest Western stereotype about Muslim women was her view as a victim. It goes back to the medieval era when a white man is shown saving a harem girl. This concept continued feeding a white Christian supremacist hero complex for a long time. Around the turn of this century, this representation of Muslim women has changed from odalisque to termagant. (1) The new representation of Muslim women presents her as a threat to the global peace and harmony. The researchers are of the view that attaching any stereotypical notion to any segment of human society is a form of oppression which needs to be identified, analyzed and finally confronted. The significance of this research lies in the emancipatory agenda for uncovering the Islam phobic construction of the image of veiled Muslim woman. The caricatures disseminated on the World Wide Web, during the year 2017, are an integral part of the media war playing a vital role in spreading Islam phobia. Countering and demystifying the widespread lethal Islam phobic trends is among the responsibilities of Muslim scholars. The greatest damage of bigoted graphic imagery is that the biased stereotypes against Muslim woman are not only perpetuating and self-reinforcing across generation, they also pave way for Western colonial endeavors. The lens of critical discourse analysis helps us find that the past practice of the stereotypical representation of Muslim woman as a victim of oppression has recently been replaced by her identity construction as an agent of oppression. The research can aid in changing the prejudiced perception of broader world community about the Muslim woman.