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Keerim Kim completed Assignment 11

In “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving,” Lila Abu-Lughod introduces constructions that Muslim women were going through. She argues about contemporary discourses on equality and freedom. War on terrorism brought dangers of reifying cultures. By such thoughts, serious appreciations among differences in cultures were disregarded. Abu-Lughod brings the issue of Muslim women, who were also often called as “women of cover,” and discomfort and plight those women were suffering. History of colonialism brought global injustice, and created limits of “cultural relativism.” Instead of analyzing the situations by political explanations, people focused on cultural framing of regions. Colonial feminism created signs of oppression, such as veils that women were forced to wear. Abu-Lughod cites words of Laura Bush, who said that the fight against terrorism could also be a fight for dignity of women. This form of veil called burqa, was originally derived from a region in Afghanistan. It was a convention for symbolizing women’s modesty, and separation of men and women’s spheres. However, feminists describe burqa as a portable seclusion. It became a symbol of oppression among Muslim women that now it means good respectable women for the family. Therefore, Abu-Lughod argues that we should develop awareness and concerns the Muslim women are facing. There should be no superiority over cultural “others.” She relates this idea to the title of the article, “Does Muslim Women Really Need Saving.” It is problematic to put them as someone in need of saving. Such ideas were results of superiority by people from other cultures. The concept of feminism campaigns could be shown in different forms according to regions. As Abu-Lughod states, political and economic views should not affect one’s cultural difference. Accepting the possibility of difference and respectfulness to other cultures would be the starting point for reform of thoughts and be helpful for those suffering from structural violence.