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feminist causes have affected our perception of the hijab. I was under the
false impression that it was the relatively recent feminist dialogue of less
clothing equating more freedom that has caused a hatred of the hijab by
Western society. Upon further investigation, I learned that the roots of
animosity towards the hijab by Western society dates back to colonial
times and is an idea that has persisted due to the ethnocentric, secularist,
and hegemonic nature of Western feminism. In my opinion (I could find
no literary material on this topic) it does not help that the focus of
feminist thought in the past few decades has been on the ability to reveal
more skin without judgement. But, these movements are not the root of
the dislike of the hijab in Western society and in Western feminism. As I
was misguided when creating my proposal, my research presentation
skews largely from my proposed plan.
My thesis is that Western society has not progressed past negative views
of the hijab due largely to systematic flaws in the ideology of Western
feminism.
I proceeded with my research by reading about the historical roots of the
relationship between the hijab and Western Feminism in Leila Ahmed’s
book Women and Gender in Islam. I also researched the history of
Western feminism as well as its key goals and ideas that have
historically been deemed most important. Through all this I felt it would
only be appropriate to study the impact of the hijab on Muslim women
and the different ways in which these women felt the hijab had impacted
their lives. In addition, I thought it was necessary to provide a counter‐
argument to the belief of the imperialist Western society that the hijab
was a tool used largely for oppression of women.
My reading on all of these topics led me to conclude that it was the
specific ethnocentric, secular, and hegemonic qualities of Western
feminism that have led to the propagation of the idea of the hijab as anti‐
feminist. Through reading about the hijab it became apparent to me that
the hijab was significant in the lives of Islamic women for religious,
social, and political reasons, and that ethnocentrism, secularism, and
hegemony of idea in Western feminism adequately explained the
essential “shutting down” of each of these realms of argument or
reasoning that would disprove the hijab as a solely oppressive
instrument.
The secularist nature of feminism leads to the obvious discrediting and
distrust of all religions, religious people, or religious clothing. The logic
of the hijab being of religious importance to women would be
counteracted by the borderline anti‐religious sentiment of Western
Feminism. The ethnocentrism of white, Western thought would explain
the lack of acceptance of the idea of the hijab as a tool against Western
patriarchy and oppression. Western feminism, in being a Western
movement, will automatically be unreceptive to reasoning of the hijab
being empowering because of its ability to show resistance against
Western society. The hegemony of Western feminism explains the
rebuttal of the argument that the hijab empowers women through the
reclaiming of their bodies. Hegemony of Western feminism allows for
Western feminist thought to be considered universally correct for all
women, which in turn allows for dissenting opinions such as those that
say that the hijab protects against hypersexualization of women’s bodies
to be largely ignored or brushed to the side. It is a combination of these
three qualities that has created a system in which the idea of the hijab as
oppressive is still supported and commonly held.
Works Cited (In powerpoint)
Mahmood, Saba. P olitics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the
Feminist Subject. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2005. Print.
Zimmerman, D. D. "Young Arab Muslim Women's Agency
Challenging Western Feminism." A ffilia 30.2 (2014): 14557. Web
Mahmood, Saba. “Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile
Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival”.C
ultural Anthropology 16.2 (2001): 202–236. Web...
Badran, Margot. F eminists, Islam, and Nation: Gender and the
Making of Modern Egypt. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1995.
Web.
Massad, Joseph Andoni. Desiring Arabs. Chicago, IL, USA:
University of Chicago Press, 2007. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 2
March 2016.
Brandt, Nella Van Den. "Secular Feminisms and Attitudes towards
Religion in the Context of a WestEuropean Society — Flanders,
Belgium." W omen's Studies International Forum 44 (2014): 3545.
Web.
Droogsma, Rachel Anderson. "Redefining Hijab: American Muslim
Women's S t a n d p o i n t s o n V e i l i n g . " J o u r n a l o f A p
pliedCommunicationResearch35.3(2007):
294319. Web
Ahmed, Leila. W omen and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a
Modern Debate. Yale University Press, 1992. Web...
Works Cited (not in powerpoint but ideas used in
presentation)
Fatima Seedat. "Islam, Feminism, and Islamic Feminism:
Between Inadequacy and Inevitability." J ournal of Feminist
Studies in Religion 29.2 (2013): 2545.P roject MUSE. Web. 2 Mar.
2016. <h ttps://muse.jhu.edu/> .
Ahmed, Leila. W omen and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a
Modern Debate. Yale University Press, 1992. Web...
Mohanty,ChandraTalpade."“UnderWestern
E y e s ” R e v i s i t e d . " F e m i n i s m without Borders
Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity (2003): 22151. Web.