The Women of the Veil: Gaining Rights and Freedoms

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Introduction

Deliverance, transformation, and salvation from the yokes of overbearing cultural economic and social-political discrimination are an imperative agenda in modern society. Internal conflicts within states and interstates wars have been a common hallmark of the political history of Afghanistan. The instability, which is the unfortunate outcome of those struggles, has resulted in further unforeseen outcomes. For example, the neo-colonialism twisted in other obstinately assistive and emancipatory missions.

The author of this article has detailed her opinion in all the aspects surrounding the attempts to describe the women of the veil (Muslims women). While structural, societal, political, and economic oppression is a reality, the author is skeptical, as the same had not been done objectively. For instance, she finds constant bombing a violation of civil rights.

Social Context

The author chides the activities of the Western colonies in Afghanistan in restoring the rights of the women of the veil. Social stratification is a product of a long history. This is a manifestation of different circumstances incidental to one’s lives and a structural design of one’s desires. The author feels that the fight for the deliverance of the women should first focus on the appreciation of this reality hence deliberating on global injustices as they shape the plight we find ourselves in.

In Afghanistan, when the Taliban came into power, wearing the veil was made compulsory for all Afghanistan women. This was coupled with other discriminatory facts, which include poor health, unemployment, denial of schooling for the women, malnutrition, etc. This, according to the author, is what could have given many meanings to the discrimination of Afghanistan women as it reflected their real needs.

What Affects Muslim Women in Canada

Prejudice plays a key role in the negative experience of Muslim women in Canada, as well as in the Western world in general. The fear of terrorism and the immediate relation of Muslim people in general and Muslim women in particular to radical Islamic movements is the first obstacle on the way of understanding Muslim women for most Canadians and Europeans (Abu- Lughod 784).

While a rapid increase in terrorism awareness in the 21st century was not random, Western people clearly lack understanding of the Muslim culture in order to differentiate between radical Islamic groups and regular Muslim people, women in particular.

The concept of a woman as a martyr to the patriarchal rules of the Muslim society is another misconception and hindrance to understanding Muslim women: “Projects of saving other women depend on and reinforce a sense of superiority by Westerners, a form of arrogance that deserves to be challenged,” (Abu- Lughod 789).

Political Context and Historical Context

As mentioned above, the current life of Muslim women is also a result of prolonged political history. Afghanistan had experienced long periods of political and civil strife until the Taliban’s rule. It is after this that the wearing of the veil for women was declared a compulsory part of their clothing. Those, who belonged to elites, ran away while the poor stood back to scramble for the power.

Taliban’s rule imprisoned women to their homes and thus so much of their rights were compromised. Even then, the author feels that the attempt to assist these women should not be restricted to making the entire Muslim community abandon the veil. Considering the custom as a medieval imposition manifests a disrespect to the Muslim traditions and the lack of understanding of the Muslim culture.

The author also states that other interests incorporated in the battle were only used as a cloak to hide the real economic and political agendas regarding the oil dealings. Citing the case of African women and the female genital mutilation, Abu-Lughod effectively affirms her position.

Main Objectives

The author’s main objectives in the article are: to spread the word, share knowledge and to correct existing misconceptions hovering around the struggle to assist the Muslim women in gaining rights and freedoms. In her article, Abu-Lughod seeks to extrapolate on the wrong convictions on the saving missions, which she assumed to be sanctioned poorly.

The article focuses on revealing the impropriety of the measures taken by the western powers in Afghanistan. While the situation in Afghanistan deserved a complete overhaul, the author attempted to show that the measures taken were inordinate for addressing the situation. Use of armaments and superior weaponry to quell the situation could be justified because of the potential repercussions that it carries.

The author’s goal was to invoke the malice and the intent that was backing these saving missions and suggest other ways of addressing the current situation regarding the rights of Muslim women and their representation in the Western society. This would ultimately guarantee a global fight for the deliverance of all women including, but not limited to, African women in America.

How to Influence Other Women from Canada and Western Block in General

The notion that wearing the veil is a medieval rudiment is the ridicule of the free will of the Muslim women to choose whether to wear the veil or not. Particularly, fighting the Taliban is not equal to fighting for the rights of women, as in the process, other rights of women are compromised. This has prompted the rise of feminist movements from western block advocating the rights of women, which the current formulas jeopardize.

In order to influence other women from Canada and Western block in general, people should be convinced that the rights of Muslim women are upheld. They should be motivated to embrace the self-sufficiency of Muslim culture. Any person, who will be found violating or despising the Muslim culture, will face severe repercussions. Finally, a rigorous campaign should be started in these regions to enhance awareness and motivate people to support Muslim women.

Authors Issues, Arguments, and Suggestions

The author of this paper seeks to show that the used armament to liberate the Muslim’s women from the Taliban’s rule is not justified. Abu-Lughod furthers the opinion that the subject has been given more attention than it actually needs. The author claims that as these women deserve deliberation and that the battle should be fought globally, but not be focused on one area alone.

Abu-Lughod says that this battle should focus on listening to the voice of women, who are the real victim. Even then, she concedes that their voice may not be fully heard. Only after women’s opinion is taken into account, policies that promote the provision of irrefutable human rights to women will finally have the desired effect.

Personal View on the Subject

Personally, I believe that the problem of Muslim women in Canada and other Western countries needs an urgent solution. Fueled with the fear of terrorists and gender inequality, people’s attitude towards Muslim women may deteriorate to the point when the latter may be shunned by Western society.

Therefore, one must admit that prejudice exists and that it needs to be eliminated so that people could view Muslim women as unique personalities and the people belonging to an original and beautiful culture. Nevertheless, the obvious problems of women’s treatment in the Muslim world are not to be ignored, either. While people must respect other cultures’ traditions, they must not turn a blind eye to violence. Herein the necessity to provide Muslim women with their irrefutable rights lies.

One Contemporary Incident

As an anthropologist and a professor, Abu-Lughod valued the life of women in the Middle East. She rejected some suggestions that were meant to frustrate the Muslim women. She valued all women without considering the races or religion (Abu- Lughod 787). Lila Abu-Lughod produced a book that encouraged the saving of Muslim Women.

The book is widely known for its unique nature of upholding democracy and the global campaign of saving Muslim women. She asserts that the Islamic faith is just like any other religion, including Christianity, Hinduism among others. Therefore, Abu-Lughod rejects any form of discrimination and supports the idea of providing every single person with the key human rights.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I agree with the author when she utters that the concept of feminism has been used for political purposes to the point where it has finally started applauding to the ideas that it used to subvert.

Moreover, the feminist perspective of the Islamic women needs a thorough reconsideration so that the politicized ideas, the fears of terrorism and the related issues should not stand in people’s way of understanding the Muslim culture and the image of a Muslim woman. Eliminating political issues from the feminist movement is bound to lead to Islamic women gaining their rights faster and the Western world is reconsidering its concept if a Muslim woman.

Works Cited

Abu- Lughod, Lila 2013, Do Muslim Women Need Saving? 2015. Web.

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