IS THIS A FEMINIST ACT?
“At last, the revolution has reached State Television.”
These are the words of Fatma Nabil, who made history in Egypt on Sunday as the first female anchor in the five decades of State Television history to wear the veil on air.
News anchor Fatma Nabil.
Under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, toppled in the 2011 Arab Spring, women wearing the veil were banned from State television, despite almost 70 percent of the Egyptian population wearing some form of head covering.
Now, under President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, women wearing the veil are no longer discriminated against on television.
But it’s controversial. Commentators around the world are alternately suggesting it is a potent symbol of the wane of secularism in Egypt, or it’s another “breakthrough” in the extraordinary democratic revolution that was the Arab Spring.
Government bans on personal choices are always problematic.
Witness the controversy that blew up with the French Government’s plan to ban the burqa which, according to President Sarkozy, “imprisons women” and threatens French values of dignity and equality. You can read a fascinating piece about this here.
Certainly in the hands of extremists, the veil has been a symbol of the oppression of women, and because of this it has had an image problem in the West. Under the Taliban in Afghanistan, a woman could be flogged for not covering herself properly, for flashing merely an ankle.
In Australia, we value a woman’s freedom of choice. We celebrate diversity of culture and religion and the right to choose your own freedom of expression, and there has been no shortage of discussion this country about the veil.
But this is complicated.
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22 Responses to this article
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The Huntress September 5, 2012
Like you say, this is a delicate issue that will unlikely ever be resolved. Our Western minds boggle at the seemingly complex systems of Islam and Muslim culture (well mine does, anyway, I’m just a simple Australian woman, when it comes down to it) and due to our own culture and sense of ethnocentricity I doubt we will ever grasp why religious veil makes sense to many Muslim women.
I have no idea where I stand – I have spoken to many women who feel empowered by their manner of dress, that they are judged less by their physical assets and more by their actual talents. It seems many women are forced into it as an act of submission and others are ambivilant as it’s all they’ve ever known.
Whether it’s an act of triumph for women or another act of rule for men, I do not know and cannot tell. But with no understanding of Muslim culture, I doubt it’s for me to judge.
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Rivka September 5, 2012
Women can wear a veil, or go topless. Men can wear a veil or a skirt. And it’s no one’s business what that choice is based on.
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Margot September 5, 2012
Frankly, as a woman and a feminist, this makes me uncomfortable. My immediate reaction to seeing women covered up in this way sends a potent signal – one that says a woman displaying her hair or body shape is an inherently shameful act. However, I respect this woman’s right to wear a veil if that is what she chooses to do. And I think choice is the key here. Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran do not give women that choice.
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Carole September 5, 2012
Before you decide do yourself a favor and do some reading.
No.1 must read “The Caged Virgin” by
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Also “Infidel” by the same author.You might also try “Inside The Kingdom”
by Carmen Bin Laden.
There are many others written by Muslim women
all whose lives have been threatened and who now live in exile under the protection of foreign governments.Please don’t make your decisions in ignorance, inform yourself.
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Tracy September 5, 2012
I agree with the query as to why it is applied only to women – and that answers the question for me. It is not a feminist act. It the act of a person who is conforming to an expectation and set of beliefs – one that she may embrace happily. However, I am wary of the notion of choice and the right of the idividual because behind the individual is a collective of women who as a class are oppressed, in danger and made to feel shame if they do not wear it. That individual triumph is a triumph of a male ideology that will impact on the lives of so many women in very negative ways. I saw it as a sad moment for many women who will never get to voice their views on the matter – a matter that for some will be one of life and death.
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Roni Jean September 5, 2012
What is sacred, is sacred. There are many things in Western culture that boggle the minds of other cultures, and the Western civilisations will vehemently defend their culture. It’s no different for other cultures.
I too, and am a simple Australian woman, and I have my own beliefs. I don’t begrudge anyone else’s beliefs at all. The only time I object to someone else’s beliefs is when they’re being actively forced down my throat and threatening to interfere with mine and my family’s lifestyle. This includes Western hemisphere religious types knocking on my door and telling me I’m doing it ‘wrong’.
The last thing I have to say is this. People move to different countries for a lot of different reasons, and I understand that some of these reasons can be a matter of life or death, but If I CHOSE to move to a different country with different religious beliefs and cultures, I would just naturally try to blend in, not try to change that country’s entire way of living, just to suit my own.
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Amacamchumps Sarah September 5, 2012
My partner is a Muslim – and I live with his mother… I’m not going to convert to marry him though, so I’m not schooled in Islam. However, from family experiences, it seems to me the hijab is an expression of devout faith. However, I’m in Singapore, a moderate Muslim country – not like either side of the border, Malaysia or Indonesia, where the hijab is a norm.
When I was very into Christianity as a teen, I do remember reading passages of the New Testament in the Bible, written by Paul, that talked about women covering their hair. Paul came to the same conclusion – hair is a woman’s crowning glory, if she wants to show it, show it, but wearing a scarf may lead her to feeling solemn and graceful in the practice of her faith. So he just said it’s up to her.
There are plenty of other orthodox religions that include women covering their hair – i.e. Jewish orthodox women who wear wigs for the rest of their lives over their natural hair.
If it’s really about oppression – it won’t do any good having some western women outraged and saying things from the sideline. It will be the women of their own community who will create the real change of attitudes and customs. The best we can do is just try to understand, and change the attitudes and customs in our own communities i.e. xenophobia.
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Mary September 5, 2012
Isn’t the point of feminism…. letting women have a choice. If the newsreader is choosing to wear the hijab, then it is her choice.
I, and I suspect most of the readers here do not have an indepth knowledge and understanding of Islam to make an informed comment on whether it is empowerment or oppression.All religions have their oppressive rules and regulations… take the “new” christian wedding vows..or the Seiks – where the men must not cut their hair and must wear a turban…. its just that Islam has such obvious public regulations and requirements.
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suzanne September 5, 2012
When you said ‘she wears a veil’ I thought you meant all we could see were her eyes. The hijab is not a veil. Gawd Her Maj confidently gets out in her ‘hijab’ at Balmoral every weekend. True its not quite as graceful as the Islamic version
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leah September 5, 2012
Freedom of choice is the essence of feminism. If she doesn’t have to and choses to wear a veil then it’s her choice.
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Tracy September 5, 2012
Feminism is about freedom – freedom from oppressive cultural and social constructs that posit women as shameful and unclean and their sexuality as dangerous and in need of control. That’s just for starters. Think about how women are blamed for being raped, for being in the wrong place wearing the wrong clothes. They’re liars and can’t be trusted. Women as mothers are vilified, blamed for the fat generation, blamed for working, for staying at home, for breastfeeding or not. Women are trashed for getting old and are compelled to fix it so that they don’t age too disagreeably.They must be sexually available until they become invisible. As women we’re “girls” and our girls are sexualized. And if we dare to complain we are told we have “choice’ and agency, and that we really have no sense of humour. Feminism isn’t about choice at all, especially when all you have is one or two options. It’s about liberation.
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Annacristina September 5, 2012
From the 1950s onward a number of Muslim nations that wanted to be seen as part of the modern world banned the veil. These include Turkey(which I think might have done this in the 20s)’ Iran, Iraq, Egypt, etc. Now, the people who chose to do this were men. Not women. It became a legislated matter. No woman who wore it was allowed a job in the public service, couldn’t wear one when teaching, nursing, working in an office, etc, . It was not women’s choice. In the West during that same era, we went from it being culturally accepted that women who left the house should wear hat, gloves, handbag and lipstick at the risk of being a figure of ridicule to the short shorts. Has anyone seen the picture of Jean Shrimpton at the Melbourne Cup in 1966 (1967?). There stewards wanted to ban her being there!
Now, if any man were to tell me that what I was wearing was unacceptable – to him- I might possible do something I would regret. Why is that different in Egypt? There, the veil – not the niqab or burqa – just the plain headscarf was banned on tv. Apparently 70% of Egyptian women cover themselves to some extent. We would say that such a thing was sending a terrible message to our daughters – that the only way you could have a career in this industry was to wear what men deemed suitable .
That’s why wearing the chador was seen as revolutionary in Iran in the 70s. Women were making their own choice to wear it, even though it meant they couldn’t enter public buildings. ( now, that doesn’t mean I support the regime, just that women made an active choice.)
Its the same argument ladies (and gentlemen). We live in the West. They don’t. We can’t impose our beliefs on them. We’d hate it if the same was done to us. And I have to say, I am really annoyed by politics fighting over women’s bodies and women’s choices. In America it’s abortion, in France it’s the burqa, in this article. It’s the veil. Don’t we believe that adult women have the intelligence to make their own decision – wherever they live?
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Annacristina September 5, 2012
Im on a roll here people! I was just thinking about my 13 yo daughter. She and I are Christians,and try to live by the precepts taught in the New Testament. Same as a religious Jewish person, or Muslim, or Hindu, etc, abide by the teachings of their faith. I want my daughter to be modestly dressed. And I know I’m about to be shot down here.
I want her to be valued for her loving heart, for her bright intelligence and her amazing talents. I want her to value her body, as a body, not a honey trap or as a tool of seduction. I want formy daughter what that young lady in the video clip says she has found by taking the veil. And no matter how much we talk of slut walks or the right for a woman to make her own choices, surely the same goes the other way? My daughter can still wear shorts – but an extra inch is nice. Form fitting dresses – well ok, but please wear tights. Fashion trends – go girl, just respect yourself. And that’s what it is all about. Respect. We seem a little lacking in that department sometimes lately.
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Margot September 5, 2012
Wow, reading through these comments just seems to reinforce – at least to me – that the choice on what a woman wears isn’t just about HER choice – it is so entrenched in the perceptions of culture, religion and society and where a woman is supposed to fit into those things, regardless of whether she’s wearing a veil, a burqa, a skirt or shorts that are deemed too ‘slutty’ – we seem to be constantly scrutinized for what we wear and how we present ourselves in public.
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Jenny September 5, 2012
We are not entitled to try and influence decisions made in other countries, or even to judge them. To me, the hijab looks quite feminine and attractive, and is often worn here in Australia along with Western style clothing. If wearing it is a part of the religious beliefs of these women, then that’s fine by me. The full burqa is another matter, and is worn usually with the neck to ground black tent common to the countries of origin – I don’t believe they have a place here in Australia. The people wearing them are quite unidentifiable, and this can lead to mistrust and racial prejudice against them. Muslim women can dress modestly without covering everything but their eyes, surely!
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Jessica September 5, 2012
I agree with Mary. I believe this re-found freedom is a positive improvement to these woman’s human rights. It doesn’t address our concerns about the oppression of woman in some cultures and religions, nor does it ensure that all woman who wear a veil are doing so of their own free will. However, surely we can agree it is an improvement to their situation. Let’s leave feminism out of it and focus on human rights.
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Cate September 6, 2012
This article states that Mohammad lived in 600BC. Mohammad actually lived in 600CE – that is after Christ.
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ellenni September 6, 2012
can we ever be sure she has made the choice freely? she is interested enough in her looks to have her eyebrows shaped and her lips are coloured so why would she choose to cover her crowing glory?
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Helen September 10, 2012
“When you said ‘she wears a veil’ I thought you meant all we could see were her eyes. The hijab is not a veil. Gawd Her Maj confidently gets out in her ‘hijab’ at Balmoral every weekend. True its not quite as graceful as the Islamic version.”
As this commenter points out, the TV presenter is wearing a Hijab, not a veil. Yet the OP refers repeatedly to “The Veil”, as if she was wearing a Burka or Niqab. This is a bit of a beat-up. Also commenter “Annachristina”, “taking the veil” has a specific meaning – becoming a nun – which is also inaccurate here.
Words mean things.
