Paris Fashion Week recently made headlines after seeing models wore headscarves on the catwalk. There are nearly 30 million Muslims living in Western societies, and ironically, we still need representation so that we can get our legitimate freedom to wear what we want without being assaulted, arrested, or forced to undress. We’re living in a…
Tag western feminism
Why White Feminism Is Problematic For Muslim Women
There have been several incidents globally in which female athletes have been pushing back against their mandatory team uniforms. One of the more notorious incidents that sparked worldwide media attention was that of the Norwegian women’s beach handball team. The European Handball Federation fined these women €1500 for resisting the typical uniform of bikini bottoms…
Why I Fled France as a Muslim Woman
It has already been almost two years since I left France, and this is was the best choice I have ever made as a Muslim woman. When I look back, it is as if I fled. I currently reside in the United States, in San Francisco, California. I was born and raised in Lille, France,…
Poem: Not What I Meant
In this poem, the author explores media representations in which women take off their hijab for one reason or the other, often to satisfy Western standards or the male gaze. As the girl on the TV takes off her hijab, I watch in awe, I thought people would accuse her of breaking the law, I…
Beyond Feminism: Women’s Rights in the Quran and Why I Chose to Be a Muslim
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. The F-word: feminism. I was raised a feminist by a mother who was a feminist. I was also raised in a white family, in a predominantly white neighborhood, as a Christian. My mother is a feminist, my sister is a feminist,…
“If there is any oppression at all… it is in acting savior to women who are already free.”
Every so often, Western feminists are struck with the need to “liberate” Muslim women from our religion and hijab. FEMEN is a Ukrainian feminist group that recently launched an “International Topless Jihad Day,” a series of demonstrations throughout Europe, in protest of Islam’s “oppression” of women. First, why is there a prevalent belief that women…
Who Defines Liberation?
Liberation has always been a hot topic. Liberation isn’t an ideal, but a journey; it means to break the inevitable chains of societal norms and to rise above whatever causes one pain or hardship. For Muslim women living in Western society, it is particularly hard to decide where to turn when the question of liberation…