Stop the Oppression of Muslim Women by Recognizing Your Oppressive ways
Our Ignorance is Hurting Muslim women
Like many feminists, I am concerned about the oppression Muslim women to have to go up against. However, as someone who has never practiced or known much about Islam, I have no right to comment and criticize it as being oppressive. I can, however, comment and criticize the fact that Muslim women are oppressed by those who are not Muslim.
Many want to save these women from their perceived Islamic oppression, but what they do not stop to consider is the choice these women have and the oppression non-Muslims are forcing them into. The common misconception non-Muslim Americans have about Muslim women is that they are forced to practice Islam, the “oppressive” religion. The truth is these women choose to follow a faith that is right for them.
“ Nudity empowers some. Modesty empowers some. Different things empower different women and its not your place to tell her which one it is”
During my senior year of high school, I met Raneem. Raneem is a Palestinian Muslim-American girl with dreams of becoming a doctor. Recently, She made the choice of wearing a hijab. Raneem, and many other Muslim women, proudly choose to wear this garment as a symbol of their faith. Similarly, Catholic nuns choose to wear a head covering and modest clothing. The days following the announcement of Trump’s presidency many marginalized groups were attacked. I texted Raneem to see if she had been harassed and thankfully she was safe. My fear for my friend’s safety lead me to think about the average day harassment Muslim women must receive and the view that these women are victims.
In order to change the way Muslim women are wrongfully viewed we need to look at the power structure. Firstly, educating and expanding our awareness of Islam itself and the issues Muslim women face. Historical and cultural sociologist Orlando Patterson explains power as a trio of facets in Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study (1982). Those facets are the social, psychological, and authority. Patterson says “The first [faucet] is social and involves the use or threat of violence in the control of one of one person to another.” After the attack that happened on 9/11 many Muslim women were attacked. One women visiting the country was set on fire. In addition to the physical violence non-Muslims also perpetrate violence in the media.
If we compare the common social views and images in regards to Muslim women and what they actually are we would find severe differences. In the 2014 film God’s Not Dead the Muslim family is depicted as the stereotypical Muslim household where the daughter is forced to wear her hijab and is not allowed very much contact with non-family outside of her studies. The daughter had been secretly practicing Christianity and only wearing her hijab when in public with her father. When her father found out about this he beat her and kick her out of the house. I was able to find a clip of these scenes on YouTube. Click this hyperlink to be re-directed there. This is just one of many false and harmful representations of Muslim women. These violent representations of Muslim women reinforce the idea that Muslim women are oppressed by their religion.
It is important to change the representation of Muslim women showing them as they are. Muslim women like Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim American fencer and first Olympian to compete in a hijab, are beautiful contradicting proof. Muslim women like Carolyn Walker, the first person to use the Quran while being sworn into a judge position, are proof Muslim women can have careers. Muslim women like Tawakkul Karman and Malala Yousafzai, activists and receivers of the Nobel Peace Prize, prove that Muslim women can voice their opinions and are not forced into obedience. In the social aspect Muslim women are not viewed or portrayed as they are.
Patterson’s second facet is the psychological facet of influence. This is the ability to persuade another to change the way they perceive their interests and their circumstances. After the San Bernardino shooting in 2016 Muslim women were further associated with terrorist attacks. Muslims have been stereotyped as terrorist and that stereotype had re surged into full effect after this mass shooting. If Muslim women and men had positive media coverage those with prejudice would be compelled(hopefully, not every mind is willing to change.) to change the way they perceive Muslims and Islam. This positive media coverage would aid in taking the fear of being attacked and turn it into the realization that there is another group of people that can help and contribute to the community.
Patterson’s last facet of power is cultural facet of authority. This meaning turning force into legal actions. Examples of this can be found in the recent ban on immigration from Muslim countries. The national prejudice held against Muslims had been making its way into political policies. Random selections at airports are always always “randomly” targeting Muslims women that wear a hijab or have “un-American” sounding names. The silent justification of not acknowledging the hate crime relates deaths of Muslim women, like Yusor Abu-Salha. All of these being horrific examples of cultural facet authority that oppress Muslim women. Acknowledging this cultural facet of authority is the first step in stopping it from continuing.
Muslim women are not the oppressed by their religion. They are oppressed by people who do not understand their chosen religion, and those same people can stop this oppression. It’s time to delete the image of the “demonic” hijab and see it as a feminist symbol. The hijab is one way these women are taking control over their own bodies.
