Dreamer Easy

Back from a trip; lots of catching up to do. In the meantime, the radio show Big Ideas has an edition on Muslim Women Reformers - grab it while the MP3 is still available.

Looking for any recent news on the prosecution of Asqa Parvez's alleged killers, I stumbled across this:

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/11/12/barbara-kay-quot-discover-canada-the-rights-and-responisibilities-of-citizenship-quot-is-a-watershed-moment-for-the-policy-of-multiculturalism-and-a-banner-day-for-immigrant-women.aspx

National Post blogger Barbara Kay refers to "gender ideologues who can't bear the idea that some forms of violence against women are a culturally imposed pathology and not, as they would prefer, a tragic but predictable example of the inherent violence and controlling instincts of all men." Damned if I can think of one. Neither can Kay, apparently, since she doesn't name or quote one. Out of millions of people over a century there must be or have been some feminists who think that men are irredeemable. But you're actually much more likely to hear that belief from rape apologists than the women's movement. After all, we're hoping to change society; what would be the point if we thought the problem was biological instead of cultural?

Kay is writing about a Canadian guvmint guide for immigrants which states, "...Canada's openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, 'honour killings,'... or other gender-based violence." Kay hoots delightedly at the use of the word "barbaric", although she doesn't consider its possible effect on the intended readership. Let's hope the firm language opens eyes rather than closing minds.

Any hypothetical feminists who opposed this initiative, says Kay, would be "not really feminists at all." Someone who characterises Muslim women as too frightened, ignorant, and "brainwashed" to resist is skating on very thin ice when it comes to claiming to be a feminist, let alone dictating who else deserves the description. Squabbles over the f-word aside, I wonder what the Canadian Council of Muslim Women or the Federation of Muslim Women or the United Muslim Women of Canada or attendees of August's Muslim Women conference in Ontario would make of her description of them.

Rape Victims Suffer Ordeal to Get Medical Tests: "Victims of sexual assault in some areas of NSW are being forced to wait hours in blazing heat and travel up to 500 kilometres without showering because there are not enough local people to carry out the medical tests later used as evidence."

MPs seek to lift ban on abortion advice: "The federal coalition may accept a move to overturn a Howard government ban on Australian aid funding advice on abortion and other aspects of family planning."

In the Name of Hijab?: "Some so-called “traditional” Muslims argue that ‘Western’ women are oppressed because they must derive their self-worth from the gaze of men. However, it is also true that within some Islamic communities a woman who does not cover is not afforded the same respect as one who does. The expectations are different but the result is the same; a woman’s worth is still determined by others, including men."

First some great news from the AP: Saudi king pardons rape victim: Abdullah reportedly spares woman in sex-assault case from jail and lashes. (But what about the man, who was also raped, and whose sentence was also increased? The article doesn't tell us.)

Still a long way to go for Saudi Arabia, with alleged rape victims denied forensic exams and the flogging and imprisonment of gays.

Mum saved me a charming clipping from local paper The Hills Shire Times, about a Christmas carols night hosted by a Muslim centre, an event organised by the Hills Interfaith Dialogue Group. Participants traded info on Advent and on the importance of Jesus and Mary in the Koran.



Right, well admittedly the timing on this is a bit weird, but here we are: Huge rise in Scots with racist prejudices (and they were surveyed before the nightmare at Glasgow Aiport). Scottish Muslim Osama Saeed comments at his blog, and was also interviewed by The Scotsman: "There is this idea in many people's minds that Muslims in this country sympathise with regimes like Saudi Arabia or Libya, when in fact many people are here because they fled those regimes and are here because of the freedoms we enjoy."

Via drhoz: Comic Book Characters Grouped by Religious Affiliation. Pineapple Man!

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As I'm not firing on all cylinders, I'm going to take a break this week from blogging on these issues (unless there's some major news or I think of some fascinating point to make).

I've been having a little break from activism, so it's been a while since I read much feminist thought. Right now I'm interested in the perspectives of Black feminists and Muslim feminists¹. There's something very cool about the fact that feminism gets invented repeatedly in different cultures, or different parts of the same culture - it's not just middle-class White Western feminists (like me!) handing down their brilliant ideas to the oppressed masses. (I suppose it's a bit like how writing was invented from scratch in different countries.)

I talk a little bit about Black feminist thought over at seeingred, but I've only just started to explore Islamic feminist thought. (MUL has heaps of books on both, so I guess that'll keep me busy in the new year. :-

Here are a few links coughed up by a quick Google. (I haven't read every word of every one of these yet - I'm putting them here so I can get back to them! :-)

October 2007: Muslim feminist seeks to educate journalists: "Zainah Anwar, executive director of Sisters in Islam (SIS), a Muslim women's rights organization in Malaysia, points to last year's flap over a remark by Sheik Taj el-Din al-Hilali, a senior Muslim cleric in Sydney, Australia. He likened women who don't wear hijabs, or headscarves, to "uncovered meat." "We get so tired of being asked to respond to such stupidity and inanity. It's just one person speaking and it's the worst thing that that person could possibly say... And of course that makes the news, and it's so tiresome that the rest of the Muslim community is being held responsible and held accountable and got to explain ourselves."

January 2007: Islamic feminists on the move

Islamic Feminism Revisited

Islam and Feminism

'Islamic feminism means justice to women'

A'Ishah's Legacy

Islamic feminism: what's in a name?

Islamic Feminism - 2003 NPR broadcast

Islamic Feminism Finds a Different Voice

November 2007: A new look at Islamic feminism

Way back in November 2001, an English professor surveys Islamic feminist responses to 9/11: Here Are the Muslim Feminist Voices, Mr. Rushdie!

1 And indeed, Black Muslim feminists. :-)