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Constructing Human Rights

This conversation about Muslim women is as relevant now as it was 15 years ago, specifically because as a culture we still have no more understanding about Muslim women and the terror of their presence. Terror may seem excessive, but burqas on the beach seem to be an issue in the current French presidential elections which makes it seem like maybe it is us and not them that are we should be afraid of. Additionally, it has become common for some women to joke about the seclusion a burqa would provide, as if they would finally know what it feels like to walk down the street without being harassed.

The veiled woman has variations and although looking at it as a uniform, worker versus housewife, may seem oppressive, most women follow some sort uniform whether business casual or high fashion. To encourage or require a Muslim woman to unveil for her ‘comfort’ also known as our comfort seems equally reductive because issues of equality are more deeply rooted than clothing and remaining focused on clothes is like expecting a band aid to heal a broken bone. Abu-Lughod presents an excellent question when discussing liberating Afghan women, what do we do if liberation means something different to them, and when our need to fix things out weighs our understanding.

Our superiority driven desires to ‘save’ people is patronizing, but more than that it often seems like a short cut. If you can’t be bothered to do the work of learning about a culture and/or what your role in it is, but you can open a door to Westernize someone you are removing that person’s agency. It is only another role of expectations that the person had nothing to do with assuming, but is now left with the responsibility of maintaining. I agree in it being more valuable to shift the focus to demilitarizing and peacekeeping, but there is so much money to be made in a perpetual war state that I can’t imagine how it will change.