‘—

In her essay, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving,” Lila Abu-Lughod points out that have been many arguments about to rescue oppressed Muslim women for their culture and religion. Even now in the 21st century discourses on humanitarianism and human rights establish the image of an Afghan woman who needs to be rescued. Muslims women have been exposed as victims of the veil (or burqa), violent abuse, forced to marry, and deprived of their rights. Also, the burqa is commonly seen as a sign of their oppression and we seem surprise when many women continue wearing their burqas after been “liberated”. Lughod also explains that the burqa is a form of “cover” that represents the separation of men’s and women’s spheres. According to the anthropologist Hanna Papanek many women saw the veil as a liberating invention because it allows them to move out of segregated spaces and still being protected of unrelated men. Lughod makes a point of equally when she explains that poverty and political instability affect not only the attendance of girls to school, but also of boys.

I think that the “vocation of saving others” is because we have a different culture and a different lifestyle than the Muslim women’s. We expect a better world for all women. We have a different point of view about how should be the world, how women should dress or what role should they play in society. That is why we see Muslim women as victims. Lughod explains that we focus more in see other’s problems and we forget our own situation and ignore our own oppressions. Trying to “save others” is just a distraction to forget that our own policies and actions are responsible for making the conditions in which others live at a distance. A better option is to ask ourselves what can we do to create better condition for better place for everyone to live.