Analysis Of The Article ' Colonial Feminism '

Women are discriminated against because since religion is connected deeply to culture, it is only “normal” for them to be circumscribed for their own good. Rasheed finds modern Afghanistan women and their behaviors such as not wearing

"The Discourse of the Veil" Ahmed examines Amin’s recommendations regarding women and formed part of his thesis and how/why he believed that unveiling was key to the social transformation, which is important for unraveling the significance of the debate that his book provoked (Ahmed, 145). Ahmed discusses the origins and history as an idea of the veil which informs Western colonial discourse and 20th century-Arabic debate have several implications. The first implication is the evident connection between the issue of culture of women, as well as between the cultures of other men and the oppression of women, which was created by Western discourse. The idea that improving the status of women resulting in abandoning native customs was

Apart of the problem is American feminist, beyond critiques of minority exclusion, is there goal to fix these oppressive patriarchal cultures is misdirected. Many do know fully understand the practices they are fighting against and are too quick to judge them as “wrong.” “American feminist began to focus spectacularly oppressive practices that were easy to mobilize around: female genital cutting, enforced veiling, or the honor crime” (Lughod, 8). She explains in her book how debates on the veil and discussions of honour crimes are deployed as 21st century political projects. Lughod challenges the assumptions that these countries need to be saved and critiques the west obsession of ‘culture’ as the cause for repressive regimes. Abu Lughod in Writing Against Culture raises critiques of what anthropologist are supposed to study. She raises the issue of the difference of feminism and anthropology. Lughod talks about how anthropology really came from the divide between the west and the non-west. And naturally because the west is the hegemony anthropology has be mainly dominated by western anthropological thought. Which is why Lughod suggests anthropologist need to realize this difference and move to writing against culture (Lughod, 1). Though in more recent years the crisis of representation is beginning to get more voices from "different" cultures that are non-western. She challenges

This furthers the gap between the notion that most non-Islamic people have around the world, which relates to the aspect of vainglory, because in the US, like many countries around the world, women are seen as political figures, physicians, and have simple freedoms. Compared to other ares of the world that contain a predominantly Islamic ethnicity, the rights of women less restricted as they are in Afghanistan. In the US and other countries that allow freedom of religion and expression, the burka is completely optional based on the individuals preference. In order for the Taliban to gain power, they had to convince the public that they were in the best interests of women and not only men. However, the truth is that the Taliban regime has cruelly reduced women and children to poverty, worsened their health by denying them adequate healthcare, and deprived them of their right to an education. In some cases they are denied the right to practice their religion. As a result of these measures, the Taliban was ensuring that women would continue to sink deeper into poverty and deprivation of rights. This would ensure that their future would consist of them having limited skills needed to be considered a civilized individual in modern day

The first assumption argues that “western” feminist discourses emphasize that all women are bound together by a shared oppression and are powerless (53-54). Mohanty systemically explores this theory through an in depth analysis of five categories in which women of the third world are traditionally presented as homogenous victims by “western” feminist. The first two categories, women as victims of male violence and women as universal dependents, arguably offer the most straightforward deconstruction of the gendered body of knowledge that is power. Women, especially women of the third world, are all seen as victims of male violence and control (54). All women are defined as powerless, and all men are defined as powerful (55). Similarly, all women are defined as powerless dependents in the second category. Mohanty argues, “this is because descriptive gender differences are transformed into the divisions between men and women” (55). This division possesses a privileged position as the explanation for the oppression of women (56). Therefore, women are seen as a powerless group no matter what the historical or cultural situation because they are deemed so prior to any analysis (56).

In July of 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed with the idea that all men were created equal. However, “all men” seemed to only to apply to white males, since women were not granted many of the promises articulated in the Declaration of Independence. In response, Judith Sargent Murray and Abigail Adams demanded equality through their writings, On the Equality of the Sexes and the 1776 correspondence between Abigail and John Adams. Through their writings, Murray and Adams argue for access to the promises articulated in the Declaration of Independence by using their prior education and Enlightenment ideologies in their favor.

This is because they believe that everyone should be treated equal. Specifically they believe that gender does not define a person. A photograph of a women playing soccer in a hijab(Doc#7)demonstrates that there is no difference between a man and women. This reminds me of nows days because now mostly every gender is capable of doing any work the opposite gender is capable of. Furthermore we have also seen many other ways of showing support to women. In one of the document we analyzed it was a photograph of “Afghan men wear burqas to campaign for women's rights”(Doc#2). This is important because the photo demonstrates that if most women have to wear a burqa then why they can not be equal and have everyone wear them. Just because they are men does not mean that they can not wear them. Due to all these oppressions I learned that they were times when we saw the reactions of people (women). One of the documents says “I chose the second one. I decided to speak up”(Doc#6). The big idea of this quote is to explains how many women were tired of the mistreatment and started of thinking of ways to get their words out. In another document a women also mentions “I am woman, woman, a woman a statue of love, and I will” rise!”(Doc#1)This is important, because we need to have people who have the growth mindset to know that they are going to

Throughout history, women have been victims of oppression no matter what religion or background they come from. They have learned from a young age, that their appearance is important to fundamentally be happy in their life. The topic of oppression in woman leads to controversial discussion not only to scholars but women of all parts of the world. How a woman presents herself through appearance and clothing targets her in a society obsessed with each other’s business. In today’s society, whether we can help it or not, men are treated differently than women. There seems to be different “rules” associated with the acceptable ways they should dress as opposed to the strict rules that apply to women. Women who are westernized

She also talks about the Native feminist ethics, which brings understanding of the cultural perspectives of leadership under the spotlight. In this respect, I think understanding of Native women’s traditional gender functions, roles and responsibilities is crucial in perceiving Indigenous feminism. This is because I think in many tribal societies such as the Pashtun tribal societies in the northwestern FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) perceive gender roles and responsibilities as complementary. The FATA areas and the colonial government system were creation of the British colonizers. This example is very much relevant to the case of Native societies that were/are colonized in North America because the British colonial rulers applied the similar methods to control and regulate Pashtun tribes in the FATA areas. In comparison to the CFR Courts to implement the Code of Indian Offences in Canada, the colonizers introduced and enforced the FCR (Frontier Crimes Regulations) in the FATA areas on the Pakistani side of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In this colonial structure, the Political Agent system implemented the FCR in which, for example, because of one tribal individual the entire tribe was punished. Unfortunately, the FCR is still very much alive and is being used the way many colonial laws are currently implemented in Canada and

Alternatively, while the teaching of the Quran promoted equality among men and women, Orthodox Islamic ideas and negative interpretations became the dominant view in Western society and colonists. “It was the practice of veiling and the Islamic degradation of women that stood in the way, according to the imperialist thesis, of the “progress” and “civilization” of Muslim societies and of their populaces being “persuaded or forced” into imbibing “the true spirit of Western Civilization” (Ahmed, 1992, p. 243). Many colonist men created a negative image of Islamic culture,

Some men as well as women think that part of the feminism’s definition is that women want to be men. That is so far from the truth. Having the same rights and equalities of men is not the same as wanting a penis. Feminism has a misconception of being a movement that is anti-male. An example of this thinking is a quote from Reverend Jerry Farwell “Feminists hate man. They’re sexist. They hate men - that’s the problem” (David, 1998). Some people object to the language change in feminism that is the change of a “police officer” from a “policeman”. These thoughts are from the same people who don’t believe that women should even be allowed to vote. Unfortunately some people cannot see the big picture on how the feminist movement has

The definition of feminism is very elusive. Maybe because of its ever-changing historical meaning, it’s not for certain whether there is any coherence to the term feminism or if there is a definition that will live up to the movement’s variety of adherents and ideas. In the book “No Turning Back,” author Estelle Freedman gives an accurate four-part definition of the very active movement: “Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently part of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies” (Freedman 7).

Feminism can be described as a movement that fights for men and women to have the same resources and opportunities. Colonial feminism is a movement that also fights for men and women’s equality but mostly focuses on some certain areas. In the article “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” by Lila Abu-Lughod, she explained “This was a selective concern about the plight of Egyptian women that focused on the veil as a sign of oppression but gave no support to women’s education.” There are plenty of examples of changes to local custom promoted by the colonial administration. One example is when Hitler came to power, he blamed the Jews for the mishaps in Germany and he ordered for them to be sent to concentration camps to be killed. Another example is when the Europeans first came to America, they wanted the land and everything that came with it so they forced the Native Americans out.

Furthermore, women are often seen as a symbol of cultural preservation and a measure of family honor. In conditions of war and colonial rule, which represents an attack on men’s honor and dignity, attention to women’s roles as prescribed by cultural tradition is often intensified. However, the unusual conditions of war and resistance to colonial rule also may provide openings for women to reconfigure their roles and rights, based on new needs of society.

Although Western feminism started in the 1900s, yet, it didn’t reach the Islamic world until most recently, a couple of hundred years later than the West. Despite the fact that both of the feminism movements come from totally different back grounds, and they are affected by different history and culture, still, both of them aimed for women’s best interests. Muslim women were profoundly feeling aggrieved by the discrimination they have against them. They stereotypical reputation about them in the West, and their presentation in the Western media didn’t help either. They started and supported a new fight to regain themselves the equal status they were granted by Islam centuries ago. Muslim women didn’t like to be looked at as being backward and oppressed by men in a male-dominant world. According to the feminist historian Margot Badran, “Islamic feminism is a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an Islamic paradigm. Islamic feminism, which derives its understanding and mandate from the Qur 'an, seeks rights and justice for women, and for men, in the totality of their existence.” (Badran, 2001)