The veil functions as feminist resistance and liberation, not only oppression
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
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: American suffragists borrowed Turkish dress as feminist resistance; Enforced unveiling converts the veil into a symbol of anticolonial resistance; Rising Islamophobia causes some Muslim women to adopt the veil as political resistance — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 846 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- The hijab can function as a source of liberation rather than oppression
#corroborates(1.00) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 803 - Wearing the veil can be a deliberate political act
#exemplifies(0.95) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1648 - Algerian women turned the veil into a weapon of anticolonial warfare
#exemplifies(0.90) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 846 - Enforced unveiling converts the veil into a symbol of anticolonial resistance
#corroborates(0.85) - Muslim women veil for varied personal-political reasons silenced by rescue discourse
#expands(0.85) - Veiling functions for converts as emancipatory protection from sexual objectification.
#exemplifies(0.85) — Margaret Hodson, Baby Jihad, 45 - Rising Islamophobia causes some Muslim women to adopt the veil as political resistance
#corroborates(0.82) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 846 - The ‘oppressed Muslim woman’ stereotype itself functions as oppression
#expands(0.80) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 535 - Veiled Muslim women manage anti-Muslim hate crime through concealment and social withdrawal.
#qualifies(0.75) — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 368