The hijab is a liberation from capitalism’s beauty myth

Muslim women are at times victims of patriarchy, but they are also often strong arbiters of their own lives and destiny. To deny this nuanced and ‘ambivalent’ fact and to emphasise only on Muslim women as victims has dangerous implications. In her latest work, Gendering Minorities: Muslim Women And Politics of Modernity, author and academic BS Sherin shows how liberals, by insisting that a woman choose between faith and her feminist identity, are imposing a false dichotomy, one premised on the redundant modernism vs religion binary. She argues that ‘unveiling’ the Muslim woman was originally a western/colonial fantasy, but now, ironically, feminists, of all people, are inadvertently perpetuating this fantasy under the guise of ‘save Muslim women’.Sherin speaks to TOI on gender politics, right-wing agendas and colonial hangovers. Excerpts from an email interview: Q: The socio-political discussion surrounding Muslim women has centred around whether Muslim women are 'victimised' and need to be saved from the patriarchal culture of the minority community. You have chosen to interpret this as a 'narrative' woven between several elements including the left-oriented feminist ideology, the right-wing political framework of pro-Hindutva parties and even secular-centrist forces. A: The political agenda to ‘save Muslim women’ rises from multiple frameworks; sometimes one may find a strange collusion of right-wing nationalism, western imperialism and feminist politics when it comes to ‘saving Muslim women’. Historically, the colonial burden of “saving brown women from brown men,” as Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak rightly pointed out, justifies colonialism. In this context, the US’ war on terrorism “Save Afghan women” campaign led by white liberal feminists in the United States was a mission to justify America’s political interests in the region. Lila Abu Lughod points out the irony in “saving women,” while destroying and bombing a nation. So, this extreme anxiety to save Muslim women and concerns over the rights of Muslim women often play into the agenda set by messy political hierarchies and western imperialism’s domination over poor nations. I am not saying feminists and right-wing nationalists have the same agenda. But eventually in an Islamophobic climate, there comes a strange collusion, as the liberal feminist clamour for Muslim women’s justice often plays into the stereotyping of Muslim community, and particularly Muslim men as modernity’s outsiders. medium nocaption99865629 ShowBlurbsIn the Indian context, under the present political situation one needs to be careful in linking feminism and Muslim women. A feminist response needs to be informed and responsible. While many feminists in India are quite articulate about internal religious patriarchy in the Muslim community, one does not find similar fervour in talking about the historical realities that Muslim women face in the country. For instance, the lack of employment, the denial of healthcare and other facilities, the denial of educational opportunities — recently the government stopped the Maulana Azad scholarship meant for minority students for higher education — or even the threats faced by Muslim women during political insurgencies, do not form subjects of liberal feminist discourse, like they talk about Muslim women’s veil or so called internal patriarchal positions. This overt attention to Muslim women’s victimisation in Islam and her subjectivity centred on personal law is a construct. Colonialism and, later, a mainstream political agenda nurtured by majoritarian nationalism share an equal role in this. For the former, this comes from a western idea of Islam as the other of its modernity. The latter reinforces the colonial prejudices to marginalise a community, whose political power has immensely eroded since Partition. Feminism should not neglect this reality. medium nocaption99865665 ShowBlurbsQ: Why is it that women, be they temple going ones with vermillion on their forehead or veil/hijab adorned ones, are categorised as religious and orthodox-thinking persons rather than as persons who have chosen to keep their religious faith even while being comfortable in modern society? A: Religion and modernity are always treated as a binary. In order to be modern one needs to shed all traces of religion from one’s embodiment in the public. Feminism in its conception is framed as a politics that opposes religion because all religions are/were patriarchal according to its modern logic. However, if we look carefully, this does not enact itself in the same manner in the public lives of people. Post-secular thinking has introduced to us the ways in which ideas of modernity and secularism are partial. The meanings of religious symbols are very contextual. A bindi or a vermillion is not treated in the same way as the veil. We have ‘progressive feminists’ whose large bindis are treated as part of their cultural expression. However, for a Muslim woman this is not possible. The visibility of hijab or burqa only alienates her from feminist publics. One can choose to wear a bindi, but hijab or burqa is treated as an imposition. medium nocaption99865490 ShowBlurbsMuslim women’s dress-code is thoroughly scrutinised whereas we have several other dress codes in the modern context. What to wear to a formal event and a casual event are often demarcated. But no one is bothered about such impositions like they are concerned about Muslim women’s attire. The anthropologist Saba Mahmood says that one’s wearing a mini skirt or highlighting one’s coloured hair is seen as emancipation; but one’s sticking to a religious ethics and wearing a particular clothing as part of one’s faith are seen as conditioned by patriarchy. How can one balance these perceptions?Untitled Carousel 89382545Q: There was a recent comment by Malayalam actor Nikhila Vimal on Muslim women being served food in the kitchen and not eating with men. How do you look at this comment about Kannur in the backdrop of historical ruler Arakkal Beevi who far early in history had set a discourse for liberal women in that region? Precisely, this is the carelessness I was referring to. This extreme anxiety about Muslim women, and the particular ‘feminist-burden’ of using Muslim women as an indicator of primitivity are rising from a universal assumption that all women aspire to be served food with men.Each culture has practices rising from different contexts and realities. When one is unaware of such contexts it is better not to make such sweeping statements. The imbalance is quite visible when the same person does not feel apologetic about massive atrocities that Muslims/Muslim women go through, under the state apparatus or through majoritarian violence. Q: Is the veil 'forcing' a change in identity for Muslim women? As in, is wearing a veil a matter of choice or a message of political and social insecurity? A: The responses to veil need to be analysed historically. Malek Alloula studies the French postcards that picture Algerian women as naked. This study further argues that unveiling the Muslim woman has been a colonial fantasy. Katherine Bullock engages with the feminist anxiety over the veil as oppressive and argues that in a consumer capitalist culture, the hijab can be treated as a liberation from the tyranny of the beauty myth and the thin ‘ideal’ woman. In many ways, the veil is what connects a practicing Muslim woman to her public. The violence involved in the feminist anxiety over Muslim women is precisely the absence of this acknowledgement. By forcing a woman to choose between her faith and liberalism’s acceptance, feminism is ignoring its own power and oppressive tactics. medium nocaption99865727 ShowBlurbsMany times, what we think of our choice in clothing is not a choice at all. The fashion industry chooses for us, capitalism chooses for us, institutions choose for us…. One lament I often hear in Kerala from liberals is that “earlier Muslim women never used to wear burqa. They had our own culture-specific clothing.” Why are we not thinking that Hindu women and Christian women are also not wearing what they used to wear earlier? They have also discarded the culture-specific clothing to clothes determined by contemporary fashion. A Muslim woman chooses her clothing out of options available based on her faith, affordability and convenience. Visibility of religion in public is a reality in the post-Babri Masjid India. This is a reality not about Muslims alone, identity assertions by the mainstream are not often talked about.Untitled Carousel 94458235 Q: You have identified Muslim believers who have a modern outlook vis-a -vis feminist non-practicing Muslims who are seen as real liberals. Are practitioners of Islam allowed to critique the religion in the real sense? Don’t they risk being alienated from the community? A: Like every religion, Islam also has a functional internal space. There are organisations, piety groups, student movements, cultural organisations, creative groups etc that function within the context of faith and minority politics. The visibility that Islam-bashing Muslim women receive is quite spectacular, whereas practicing Muslim women never obtain that reception from the public. The necessity to critique religion to be accepted in liberal political circles is mandatory for a Muslim woman. However Hindu women are not dictated by this necessity. Unless it is in a very specific context that concerns religious practices [like that of Sabarimala temples entry] no one asks a Hindu feminist about her relationship with religion. They do not have to explain how they place themselves in terms of their religious practices. Like modernity, religion is also not static; religious texts are. There are visible changes among Muslims, especially among Muslims in Kerala, in terms of presence in higher education etc. The post-Mandal central university campuses in India have a visible presence of Muslim students from Kerala. While many of them are practicing Muslims, I do not see them as people oppressed by the structures of a pre-modern religion.I am not saying that they represent the entire Muslim community in Kerala. But think of the Muslim educational institutions, practicing Muslim presence in the entertainment industry, in the social media etc. It is also important to listen to these voices. Movies like Halal Love story, Thallumaala etc have a totally different framing of gender in Islam, unlike the public perception of a victimised Muslim woman. I feel it is time for us to listen to these voices.Illustration: Gireesh