American suffragists borrowed Turkish dress as feminist resistance

Evidence

Leila Ahmed traces the emergence of the “discourse of the veil” in the late nineteenth century and how it became the most visible marker of difference as well as the inferiority of Muslim societies. In recent decades, the veil has been banned, scorned, or otherwise used to advance a taken-for-granted argument about the need for “enlightened” governments to rescue Muslim women. Largely absent from this discourse are the voices of Muslim women who could speak to the complex reasons why they don the veil. Anthropologist Fadwa El Guindi outlines these reasons, stating that they range from an affirmation of cultural and religious identity, to taking a feminist stance against the male gaze, to being an expression of liberation from colonial legacies. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 305 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Feminist suffragists adopted Turkish trousers as a practical dress reform; The veil functions as feminist resistance and liberation, not only oppression — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 305

Broader Connections

• Feminist suffragists adopted Turkish trousers as a practical dress reform #corroborates (0.90)
• The veil functions as feminist resistance and liberation, not only oppression #qualifies (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 305