Letters to the Editor
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Oppression
I don't think this is an area of grayness. Very recently I heard Azar Nafisi, the author of Reading Lolita In Teheran. She very clearly articulated the issue that I also have as a woman with middle eastern but non Moslem. As western feminists the issue is very clear. Religion by choice, wether for women or men is a right, a human right. How we choose to practice it should be an individual choice. Oppression, misogyni and patriarchy rear their heads when the state, the father or husband force a woman to practice that expression. When it is forced, it's a lie. It's a caricature that is only there to make the person who endows themselves with authority the satisfaction of obedience. That same right of choice in religions expression, should be afforded to Arab women, Moslem women, basically all women without distinction and without gray areas. We are either for human rights or we are not. It's not ok to apply cultural relativism to an issue of rights.
Practicing and believing Moslem women should have the right and the protection to wear the hijab. As feminists we should not cloud tyranny with the fog of cultural relativism and acceptance. When a woman is killed for not wearing the hijab, it's a violation of human rights. In this day in age, this is a crime against humanity. If there is one honorable thing that has come out of the West, it is this concept. It's not gray.