I have recently starting writing book reviews for the London School of Economics Review of Books and it has proved to be a very exciting process.
Due to my current dissertation concentrating primarily on female Muslim political blogging, I have been keen to read other work emerging from Muslim female contexts. Therefore all of my book reviews have concentrated on Islam, gender, politics, and sexuality which have proved to be academic areas with a rich amount of research work currently being conducted.
The key theme emerging from most my recent reading has been the relationship between the West and Islam and I think this is an interesting point. When we consider development, frequently the West has been blamed for applying a one-size-fits-all Western framework which understands any other understandings of issues such as gender and sexuality as wrong. Especially when we consider gender, it is important to understand that a large amount of the negative attitudes towards Islam exist in contrast to Western understandings which are not necessarily right. The most recent book I have reviewed 'Sexuality in Muslim Contexts' (2012) by Helie and Hoodfar argues that restrictions to sexuality in Muslim contexts should not be seen as purely a result of religion. The editors argue that sexual freedom existed in Muslim countries before the arrival of the West and all too often Western discourses surrounding sexuality are seen as the only and right ways in which sexuality should be understood when in fact there should be more fluid understandings taking into account cultural differences. Researching sexuality in Muslim contexts therefore must explore different contexts to prove that it is not necessarily always religion but place based norms that dictate sexuality. For example in Bangladesh, it is not uncommon for same sex friendships to be very close and have intimate bonds but these are not considered sexual. Furthermore homo-sexual relationships are not allowed in society but sexuality in Bangladesh is a very fluid category which would not fit into traditional Islamic nor Western understandings, emphasising the importance of place based understandings. In Pakistan, patriarchal societies allow men to use violence to control who women chose to marry, largely this is a result of society, family laws, and tribal systems and this must be taken into account when we view this restrictions. While in Israel, family laws do not give women equal rights, which is not necessarily a result of Islamic laws but Israeli society. Furthermore Islamic texts do not write anyway about laws, but due to an interpretation of these texts by men, and patriarchal societies, women are not the priority in law making.
Two things emerge in my mind from all of this
1. Firstly how problematic it is that Western discourses present Muslim cultures as under-developed or not equal without considering other factors and using Western knowledge systems
2. Secondly the best ways to tackle these problems and to give women a voice
The first question I do not think I am capable of answering, however, the second is one I have given more consideration to recently. The two research projects I have conducted this year at University have both attempted to address this. In my first one I created a climbing forum for women to discuss their own experiences of climbing and to offer advice and help. This created a slight backlash from the male climbing community when I posted an article arguing there was an element of sexism in the climbing community, which is discussed in an earlier blog post. The second piece is my main dissertation and is a reading of Islamic political blogs in Palestine to have a reading of the current conflict from the view of the women involved. I would also like to theorise how female blogs can be considered as emotional, and offering a gendered politics.
The books have been reading have opened up these ideas of alternative understandings of politics. It is interesting when we consider the concept of Image politics in the Middle East to consider how important it has been in changing who has the voice in a conflict and who in particular produces images (Khatib, 2012). Due to the use of blogging, mobile phones, and photography much of the news from the Arab Spring came from the people who were involved in it.
Another consideration is the spaces in which we see women as being empowered. One study in the book 'Women, Politics, and Power in 21st Century Iran' by Tara Povey and Elaheh Rostami-Povey, explores how sexuality is viewed in Iran through an ethnographic study of life drawing classes in Tehran. The editors argue that by exploring a wide range of spaces in Iran we can change how we understand politics in Iran.
A friend linked me to an article the other day that brings these issues
of visibility and gender together very well. The article is about a
recent ruling by a judge in a Kurdish area of Iran that a man who had
committed domestic abuse be punished by being forced to wear womens'
clothing in public. Kurdish men have therefore protested to this by
dressing up as women and saying they would be proud to be seen as a
women and the judge's ruling was demeaning to women. This visibility is
important, as I do strongly feel that women must become more visible to gain more political power.
There are definitely ways then that women can be given voices so that the story comes from the women themselves and not third hand sources. This then attempts to address the first question the problems of Western discourses dictating what is right and wrong. Before we say that non-Western countries have backwards attitudes to sexuality, oppress women we must listen to the women themselves. Only by reading, listening, and understanding can be make any positive changes to the treatment of women...
