The introduction text to the facebook page “Muslim Women Against Femen..Muslimah Pride Day.” reads as follows:
On the 4th April. The so called feminist group, FEMEN has declared ‘Topless Jihad Day’ in which they are asking women to go topless and write ‘My Body Against Islamism!’ on their bare breasts. We as Muslim women and those who stand with us, need to show FEMEN and their supporters, that their actions are counterproductive and we as Muslim women oppose it.
Why do you feel proud of being Muslim? Why do you choose to wear the Hijaab/nikaab? Why do you choose not to wear it? Which muslim woman inspires you? How do you feel about constantly being Fetishized by the media/feminists/policy makers in the west?
Let us set aside the discussion of Femen and their methods, which I am not too familiar with anyway, and look at the anti-feminist attitude presented here instead. First of all, it is not uncommon for many conservatives to be anti-feminist. This is as true for Christians as it is for Muslims, and for women as it is for men. The indoctrination in patriarchal faiths like these, where it is believed that the differences between men and women are such by God’s design, is usually very strong. It should not come as a surprise that women within these faiths will sometimes defend these views. I come from a fundamentalist Christian background myself, and am quite familiar with how this internalised oppression works.
Source: Facebook
The problem here is not just one of anti-feminism though. Another problem arises when someone within an underprivileged group, as Muslim women arguably are, but that enjoys a number of freedoms that many of the rest do not, then proceed to reject the idea that many people within their group do need liberation even if they themselves don’t.
Take for instance this Muslim woman. The text on the image to the right reads:
I am a proud Muslimah
I don’t need “liberating”
I don’t appreciate being used to reinforce Western imperialism
You do not represent me!
This image appeared on the timeline of the Global Secular Humanist Movement today. As far as can be determined, the woman holding the sign lives in the UK. From the picture we can also see that she is not forced to cover up like her fellow Muslim sisters in for instance Saudi Arabia. So yes, she may not need liberating at all. She is probably already liberated, and she is living in a country with freedom of religion and freedom of speech and the ability to be seen and heard as a woman. A freedom that, amongst others, feminists in the UK and the West have fought for. I find that fundamentalist women who reject feminism too often are hypocrites; just like alternative medicine believers, living in a modern technological society, reject science when it suits them and their wallet.
I don’t have a problem with her being a proud Muslim though, as I don’t in principle have a problem with any person of any religion or belief. I do have a problem with fundamentalism and oppression, and as much as she may represent a large group of Muslim women, she does not seem to speak for all of them. The actual words on her sign aren’t problematic in themselves as they are probably true for her, but they become problematic when they are a response to, and under the heading of, the campaign represented by the before mentioned facebook page, which encourage its followers to:
Write signs on paper, telling YOUR story, hold them up and get someone to take a pic and post on the Group and on twitter using the #MUSLIMAHPRIDE also tag #FEMEN so we can get the message across. Lets show the world that we appose FEMEN and their use of Muslim women to reinforce western Imperialism.
So what about the women living in actual Muslim countries controlled by Muslim law; like for instance Amina Tyler who joined the campaign by FEMEN and as a consequence was sent to a psychiatric hospital? The head enforcer of Sharia Law in Tunisia (Edit: This is not to imply that Tunisia is under Sharia Law), Almi Adel, has expressed his disgust and said:
This young lady should be punished according to sharia, with 80 to 100 lashes, but [because of] the severity of the act she has committed, she deserves be stoned to death. Her act could bring about an epidemic. It could be contagious and give ideas to other women. It is therefore necessary to isolate [the incident]. I wish her to be healed.
Yes, she must not give these women “ideas”, now must she? She is fighting for the freedom of her fellow sisters though. And she does it because she thinks they need liberation, as does she. Maybe Muslim women in the West should listen to her instead? Especially those who are privileged within this group of women? Of course, Muslim women, as all women, face plenty of challenges in the Western world too, where fundamentalism is still strong in many places, and where inequalities between genders are still common. So even only looking at the West, these people do not speak for all. They are instead speaking up in defense of a system of oppression in the name of religion. Most of all, I find that sad …
If you wish to show your support for Amina, check out Rebecca’s post from yesterday which contains relevant links.