"Faith and feminism" go hand in hand

Almost every word in this column resonates with my own thoughts and lived experiences. It's so true, I felt like Zohra Moosa, the author of this week's "Faith and feminism" column on the New Statesman, could be my twin sister. Here is what she says:

I am often probed about how I reconcile my faith with my feminism. Sometimes it comes as an explicit question, as happened when I was interviewed earlier this year for a book on Islam and feminism. I was asked directly whether I found it difficult to reconcile the two, whether there were inherent tensions I had to navigate and how did I square my religion and my belief (the two were conflated in the question) with my feminist convictions.

I was there too:

More often, it is an implied critique, a suggestion that I suffer from some combination of any of: false consciousness, limited agency/choice (where my family, ‘community’ and/or ‘culture’ is presumed to be oppressing me), insufficiently robust or analytical intellectual capacities (no one has actually called me ‘stupid’ yet though), political defensiveness about being Muslim (i.e. refusing to engage in critiques of Islam within the current political/security climate), political or social naiveté, opportunism (some people think it’s a good time to peddle being a ‘Muslim woman feminist’), and/or a misreading of feminism and/or Islam.

Sexist text?

Having grown up with both faith and feminism and never really not had either, I continue to find the suggestion that they are anything other than complementary in my life a bit alien. Intellectually I understand the confusion that prompts the question; I’ve had enough people quote parts of the Qu’ran at me to have received the message that they would like to tell me: ‘your primary text is sexist don’t you know’. But to equate a spiritual practice with some people’s literal, and historically and politically vacuous, interpretations of a text is to miss the point in a pretty profound way.

My feminism is informed by my faith and vice-versa because of how I live both. Just as my feminism is more than the job I do at the Fawcett Society, so too is my faith more than the prayers I say.

I couldn't agree more:

I came to the feminist movement from religious teachings about empathy, peace, social justice, and the need to work for the betterment of others and the world. I was schooled, in religious contexts, to have a healthy intolerance of exploitation, abuse, marginalization, and dis-empowerment. In addition, there were particular religiously-sourced stories about the importance of respecting women, the righteousness of treating women with dignity and fairness, the value in educating girl children over boy children that reinforced feminist principles for me from an early age.

They reinforce each other:

Over time, feminism has become the natural extension of the moral framework that I was inculcated into from birth. There need not have been anything particularly ‘Muslim’ about my feminist awakenings, but the reality is that in my case there was. In turn, I come to my faith, every day, with a sense of purpose and direction because of my feminist ethics. My spiritual journey is intimately connected with my ideas about humanity and life. As these ideas evolve over time, so too does my spiritual path change, which then affects my politics.

Who wouldn't want a richer life?

My life is richer for having both faith and feminism in it. So that’s how I reconcile the two.

The "Sarah Palin" Fever

As seasonal allergies and flu fevers hit hard, there is one world-wide fever that is particularly unexpected and unsettling: the "Sarah Palin" one. From silly impersonations of her on YouTube and Palin hairdos to non-stop media coverage and analysis of each and every word she says, it is becoming simply unbearable. I know I am contributing to this fever by writing this very post, but sometimes you have to vent about something to be able to begin healing!

What i don't understand is how much of this fever is REALLY triggered by her gender as opposed to everything else she is and stands for? But then, why didn't Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, or Pat Shroeder get this celebrity-like treatment and attention? And her motherhood -- why is it that all those men's fatherhood is never brought up or their ability to "balance it all" questioned? There is something seriously wrong with our political gender double standards.

Despite their proven track record, I refuse to believe that McCain and Republicans are stupid enough to think that most women of America are stupid enough to vote for them just to get a woman VP. I partially agree, however, that whether they intentionally meant for this to happen or not, the Sarah Palin fever is stealing the spotlights away from the real issues American voters and media should be focusing on only weeks before elections.

Well, there are also the recent distractions of the stock market, economy, and Ike. To me these issues come handy in a "World 101" lesson on how the greatest majority of people on earth do not prioritize political participation when their #1 concern is survival and immediate financial security.

So while the Obama supporters are busy balancing their checkbooks and re-calculating their monthly expenses based on the new oil prices, Sarah Palin is busy getting a private tan in the comfort of her own mansion and shopping for designer shoes.

As Eve Ensler nicely put it in her "Drill, Drill, Drill" article: "I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke."

Reflecting on Modern Patriarchy

I can't help but wonder sometimes if the concept of patriarchy in its traditional understanding still holds today. Yes, most of the world leaders are still men (although there is still the question of who votes for them, is it only men?) and yes, women still make 76 cents to a man's dollar in the most powerful country in the world. Women still amount to less than 10% of military forces worldwide and less than that in Engineering. But if we look around us, and I mean really look closely, who is oppressing women these days? Who is telling us what to wear and what not to wear? Who is raising us to be good housewives? Who is judging our (in)ability to be super-human by juggling (and perfecting) two or three jobs at once - career, housework, and childcare - if not more than that? Who is constantly pointing out our excess fat and cellulite? Who is labeling us spinsters, bitches, and monsters-in-law? Men are not the ones going around cutting girls' genitalia (for whatever reason) in Africa; they are mostly grandmothers and midwives, and sometimes moms help out by pinning the girls down so they can't move! And are scantily-clad and nude models all being forced to pose for those photo shoots? What about women who ask for female servants/maids/modern slaves from poor parts of the world, totally oblivious to their possibly horrible fate and the ugly big picture of women enslaving women?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending men or blaming women. I am trying to analytically critique the concept of patriarchy the way it is practiced today. It might have been true that in the past, far or near, men had a strong hold over women and women had no say. How could they when they had no right to vote, own property, get education, or even express their opinions? Nowadays, women almost all over the world have these rights and much more, yet a few choose to have affairs with married men who promise nothing but love and lies.

What's wrong with the picture? Has patriarchy been internalized as a culture and way of life that we can no longer point fingers at men, yet we're still several steps below them struggling with a shiny, glamorous glass ceiling? Have they succeeded at petting us against each other using the "divide and conquer" rule that now we're too busy to get back on track? I am not asking for a militant women's movement with a separatist strategy to achieve equality. I am just hoping to live to the day when women are aware of their own oppressive ideals, cultures, lifestyles, choices, and dreams and are willing to change them.

Muslim Women and the “War on Terror”

The “War on Terror,” which was initially waged to retaliate against Al-Qaeda’s 9/11, was also controversially declared a war to “liberate” Afghan women. Moreover, the promise of democracy and freedom for Iraqi people has become a nightmare of endless occupation and violence, and further inferiority for Iraqi women in their extremely turbulent environment. Subsequently, Muslim women’s lives have shifted from the shadows of invisibility and silence to the spotlights of vulnerability for some and power for others. The so called “War on Terror” has created an opportunity structure wherein Muslim feminist activists working on the grassroots level have successfully mobilized feminist support and political action transnationally.

I am writing a paper that chronicles the emergence of a new type of feminism in the Muslim world that is characterized by its postcolonial perspective and its transnational sphere. Using postcolonial feminist theory and transnational social movement literature, this paper examines the dimensions of the “double-burden” that Muslim feminist activists face as they mobilize on two fronts: internal – against patriarchy and women’s rights violations – and external – against Western imperialism and neoliberal capitalism, two of the factors fueling the “War on Terror.” Examples and testimonies are derived from writings of Muslim feminist activists in war zones as well as from documents and programs of women’s organizations like RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan), which have been powerful entities in defining and driving women’s efforts to effect change in times of war and upheaval.