Reddit reviews The Veil And The Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation Of Women's Rights In Islam

Although I am not a fan of the veil in general, (for a feminist look at the veil I suggest The Veil And The Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation Of Women's Rights In Islam by Fatima Mernissi) but I find it insane that we are letting males who “identify” as female compete against girls, but we are disqualifying girls for wearing hijab. Girls are screwed no matter what they do.

FGM predates Christianity and Islam. It's intertwined with cultural notions of purity and religiosity that go back to days when animism was the dominant form of religion (something that is still the case in many parts of Africa where this is practiced). Why it emerged I think varies from community to community. Many of these same cultures practice male circumcision in ways that are hardly more pleasant (think a dude scraping somebody's foreskin off with a piece of broken glass when they're 16). Though that isn't to excuse this sort of thing at all.

Religion comes up when these cultural practices are put in the context of broader religious/sexual morals.

The issue isn't how to make people doubt their religion (that's counterproductive), it's more how do you encourage a division between the two. For example your typical protestant has no issue eating meat on Fridays, even though during the middle ages this would have gotten you publicly flogged by the local priest.

A lot of people act like women's rights and Islam are somehow incompatible. This is uneducated. You can absolutely make a feminist interpretation of Islam if one wanted to, and people have, just like people have found similar things in Christianity and Judaism.

Any change in a culture has to come from within that culture. This is something I don't think people in the west have ever really figured out.

> explain how I'm "just projecting," how my analysis is actually wrong, etc.

I am not saying you analysis is wrong at all. What I am saying is that your analysis is only true for a portion of the Muslim community, and that the reality of many Muslim women is different from what you are describing. Thus, I am saying that the French ban is ineffective because of this reality. But I acknowledge what you describe is true for some.

I am not looking for an argument at all, if that is what you want, go interact with someone else. I am merely stating that I understand your view, but I humbly submit that your view of the issue is not the only view, and that we need to understand the reality of other people. If you want to argue that I am not depicting an accurate description of the reality of many Muslim women, then there is not much I can do about that.

If you want to know more about how Muslim women and the community view the veil I will point you to two authors: 1) F. Shirazi, she is a great authority on Muslim women and is particularly good about the veil and its use in Iran and East over to India. 2) F. Mernissi, who specializes in the role of feminism in Islam. Menissi is especially good about talking about the role of the veil for Islamic identity among Muslim women across north Africa.