Tomás Ó Flatharta

This interesting post comes from an Irish-American activist, Mary Scully :

There’s a deep crisis in modern feminism around fundamental questions of women’s oppression. Philosophical idealists like Judith Butler have taken over the narrative, gained ideological dominance, & destroyed its relevance for working class women. One of the chief symptoms of this decline is the almost complete lack of solidarity with Muslim women who wear the hijab or niqab whilst at the same time supporting women resisting the forcible imposition of the headscarf.

They get the concept of resistance but that’s not good enough if they refuse to accept the concept of choice, as if Muslim women were just empty-headed Barbie dolls in scarfs.

Many feminists actually think they’re being radical & progressive, not bending to male supremacy for opposing the hijab. But why do they fetishize this one article of women’s clothing? If they’re so high & mighty righteous, why do they remain silent about stilettos, bikinis, push-up bras to focus only on Muslim women’s attire? Is sexualized attire acceptable but more modest attire offensive? Why do they think patronizing imputations against Muslim women are progressive? Why don’t they include Catholic nuns in their condemnations & imputations when nuns don’t just wear head coverings but entire infrastructures of starched headgear to support those scarfs?

This is Turkish martial arts competitor Kabra Dagli.

There are thousands of other photos of Muslim women martial arts competitors in scarves, of Palestinian & Kashmiri women in hijabs who are engaged in confrontations with occupying armies, & women leading the Arab Spring uprisings doing battle with police & armies. In what kind of alternative reality do feminists presume to judge these women as non compos mentis? Only in a world where one cannot distinguish patriarchy & misogyny from women’s liberation.

So as not to miss the forest for the trees, the guiding principle in supporting women’s struggles over the hijab is coercion & choice. The state has no right whatsoever to tell women what to wear or what not to wear. Period!

Go ahead. Mess with her hijab. Make her day.

(Photo of Kubra Dagli from Instagram)