Lila Abu-Lughod's argues in "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?" that often the supposed plight of muslim women in places like Iraq and Afghanistan is supported simply to achieve other political goals. She is extremely suspicious of this. She argues that covering itself and the reasons behind comes in a variety of forms. Western, particularly Right Wing persons overgeneralize by positioning all Muslim women in need liberation. Abu-Lughod's comparison to our unspoken societal rules concerning dress helped to ground the issue for me. Though I can see her point, that often covering is simply the acceptable way to dress, I would like to know more. It seems logical to me that covering could still perpetuate harmful ideas about female modesty. If some of the reason behind covering is to prevent male lust, this places the burden on women not men. this is some of the same rhetoric circulating among conservative Christian groups. It perpetuates the idea that men are uncontrollable sex fiends and women must help them all they can.
Charlotte Bunch's "Who's Security?" and Arwa Ibrahim's "Living while Muslim..." both share themes of cosmopolitanism. They argue against nationalistic tendencies and instead support the idea of a common humanity. They assert that feelings of national identity should not trump human rights of all. Ibrahim's story about being personally detained for 6 hours with out food, water, or access to cell phones made the issue real for me. Though in some ways we have moved beyond immediately post-9/11 policies and fears anti-Muslim propaganda still permeates our society. This can be seen by the recent laws in France that prohibits people from wearing full face veils in public. Though this law does not directly mention Muslims it is clearly intended to target them. In America there is currently a movement to make Sharia law illegal to practice. This is preposterous. Elements of Sharia law that could possibly be an issue would already be outlawed. Any others simply do not harm others - and are therefore not an issue - or help others - even less of an issue. It can be nothing more than blatant discrimination against a people/religious group.
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ReplyDeleteLila Abu-Lughod’s “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” reminded me of a scene I saw in “Sex and the City 2”. The four main characters are visiting Abu Dhabi and they are sitting at breakfast at a gorgeous hotel sitting across from two women who are wearing black cloth to cover their bodies and face. The four women make crude comments as they always do about the way that the women are dressed and are carrying themselves. I also found interesting the idea that women cover themselves to prevent male libido from getting out of control. This seems as though it is speculation and simply a conclusion drawn because of societal stereotypes about men.
The fact that France made a law barring people from wearing full face veils in public is unbelievable to me. Veils are an integral part in Muslim religion and to tell religious people that they are not allowed to wear them is ridiculous. My grandma’s good friend is an orthodox Jew and must wear certain things that are required of him. I have spoken to him at length about his dedication to religion and his passion for it. I cannot imagine someone telling him that he was not able to wear something that meant so much to him. It simply takes away the right of freedom of expression and more.
The way that Sharia law is defined here, I find it hard to understand how America could possibly make practicing Sharia law illegal to practice. There are certain rights that America prides itself on and taking away the ability to practice Sharia law takes away some of these God given rights.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/islsharia.htm
April-I agree with you and the reading that most people do not have the knowledge about the history of the veil to be able to critique it's usage. However, as you pointed out, I can not see how the veil as any significance that does not have to do with subjecting women to being the lesser of the two genders. Why do males not where veils? It just seems that the culture is putting all the responsibility on the women and if the women do not cover themselves then it gives the green light for men to be sexually aroused by them. We hear people say that girls who dress provocative are bringing sexual assault upon themselves. This is ridiculous and a lame excuse for men to use. I understand that the veil is not the biggest problem for Muslim women, however having something covering your face does seem to correlate to freedom of speech.
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