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Secularism is Not the Solution: Why Muslim Women and Catholic Women Need to Be in Dialogue
- Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
- Villanova University
- Volume 38, Number 4, Summer 2015
- pp. 44-64
- 10.1353/jsa.2015.0013
- Article
- Additional Information
44 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXVIII, No.4 Summer 2015 Secularism is Not the Solution: Why Muslim Women and Catholic Women Need to Be in Dialogue Kate Mroz* Women’s rights are often given as an excuse to maintain a certain level of suspicion toward religion. In recent years, this has been most especially true for Islam. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, in her 2006 memoir The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam, states that “the West needs to help Muslims help themselves.”1 Those dolling out such critiques often fail to recognize the problematic attitudes toward women that persist in their own cultures and religions. In this paper, I will focus in particular on the Roman Catholic Church as one such critic. This paper will proceed in three parts. The first section gives a brief overview of how patriarchy is manifest in both Islam and Catholicism. In the second section, I discuss secularism and why it offers neither a more practical nor more liberating alternative for Muslim and Catholic women. Lastly, I propose that Catholic and Muslim women should approach one another as allies in the struggle to end the male control of women’s bodies, minds, and lives that is present in both traditions. Catholic and Muslim women share a goal that is not widespread among feminists, a desire to retain a deep devotion to their religious practices and traditions. *Kathleen Mroz, is a PhD student at Boston College 1 Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam (New York: Free Press, 2006), 13 2 The burqa covers the head and the body and has a grill which hides the eyes. A niqab covers the entire person, including the mouth and the nose, but has an opening for the eyes. 45 Not Each Other’s Savior: The Myth of Intense Opposition Between Christianity and Islam 1. Women’s dress and Body Image A quick Google Images search reveals some disturbing trends. Type in the words “Muslim woman” and a substantial amount of pictures are of women in full burqas or niqabs.2 The general impression given by the overall results is that Muslim women are submissive and supportive of violence both against themselves and against the West, as evidenced by the presence of weapons in some of the women’s hands and the pictures of faces hidden behind cages. Suggested related searches are burqa, hijab, clothing, and abuse. Type in the words “American woman” and you will see an array of pictures of women in sexually provocative poses with little clothing. Suggested related searches are flag (which is mostly women holding the American flag while in various sexually suggestive positions), and statistics comparing what the typical woman looks like versus Barbie dolls and models. Most of the women are clad in bikinis or tank tops. This paints the picture of American women as a sex object who is entirely occupied with the quest for attaining a so-called perfect body. The vast majority of Muslim women and American Catholic women would look at these photos and say, “These results are not me!” Sadly, these pictures do capture certain cultural expectations of these women. In some countries in the Muslim world, the practice of veiling is strictly enforced.3 Shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, women were required to wear the chador. Failing to do so could result in arrest for inappropriate clothing. Mandatory veiling was also seen under the Taliban Regime in Afghanistan in the 1990s and early 2000s. Refusal to wear a burqa could result in beatings or imprisonment for immodesty.4 In Saudi Arabia, women are required to cover their bodies and don the hijab and abaya5 . Oftentimes, women feel social pressure to veil, as unveiling can be deemed a rebellious and indecent act. The veil can be perceived as a way for women to ensure they are taken seriously, and that they do not suffer harassment or ridicule in public. Ironically, Muslim women in the West 3 My point in discussing the veil is not to make an argument either for or against it, but to demonstrate that women often lack choice...