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September 29, 2002
REVIEWS: Denouncing veils and walls
Be it East or West, women all over the world are living in systems characterized by gender inequality. In Muslim societies, the veiling of women is another issue which has been intensely debated. Outsiders see it as a form of oppression. On the other hand, those who opt for the veil describe it as a sign of honour and means of security.
Veiling is in fact a tool of male dominance and control over women. It requires a far deeper analysis to understand how the hijab works against women’s freedom. Renowned feminist writer, Fatima Mernissi, does so in the context of the dynamics of male-female relations in Muslim societies. The book under review is based on her landmark doctoral research.
In this book too, as in all her previous works, Mernissi has relied upon data gathered from the Moroccan society. Her conclusions, however, reflect the reality of a majority of Muslim societies. She has challenged the discourse on female sexuality in order to liberate it from the patriarchal approach.
Exploring women as an entirely separate entity from men, she asserts that Islam believes in active female sexuality. It is, in fact, the interpreters of the religion who have deliberately declared the woman as a passive, inferior and inarticulate being. They present the woman as a source of fitna (chaos) due to her sexuality. And the veil has been imposed on her as a safeguard for males. Mernissi argues that “Muslim exploitation of the female is cloaked under veils and hidden behind walls.”
The traditional Muslim concept of sexuality has inevitably allowed a perception of society, power, and division of labour, whose unique feature is territoriality-dividing the social space into private and public spheres. Men are part of the public sphere (Ummah, power, salary) and women are confined to the private sphere (home, sexuality, reproduction). This has effectively kept in check the interaction between the two sexes.
Mernissi blames these defective ideologies and social structures for the backward state of the Muslim world.
But the world is changing. Boundaries so far preserved by customs are vanishing. Muslim women are striving for better education and jobs and this has earned them more exposure in the public sphere. The traditional Muslim mindset interprets this situation as a threat to the integrity of the Muslim male. In her introduction to the revised edition (1987), Mernissi adds her commentary on the events, which occurred since 1973 when the book was first written. These include the Iranian revolution and the rise of Muslim fundamentalism. She declares the latter as a result of the conflict between the imperatives of modernization and a strong Muslim identity. The traditional ideology of Islam empowers its believers to the extent that they do not hesitate to assert their self-acclaimed right to control and guide others, including women.
Mernissi sees women’s emancipation beyond the veil as determined by the economic and cultural conditions interplaying with the traditional images of the male and female. The need of the hour is a readjustment of gender rights since there are very few role models of liberated Muslim women. The issue is mistaken as a religious one hence the tribulations of the Islamist elements. Both the pre-Islamic and Western models of a liberated woman are traumatizing images of women actively exercising their sexual self-determination.
The Muslim men lack confidence in dealing with such a woman. Another fear inherent in women’s emancipation is that they are not believed to be capable of discerning between good and evil in Western culture. This is a patriarchal fallacy.
In her liberal and bold analysis of Muslim societies, Mernissi asserts that polygamy and divorce are equally destructive for both men and women. The Muslim system cannot be called ‘sexist’ in that it does not favour men at the expense of the women. Veil and walls, she believes, restrict the male’s pleasure as well.
Muslim men pay a higher psychological price for their sexual fulfilment as compared to women since they are socialized to restrain such desires. A society marginalizing women is unwise and modern Muslim societies need to deal with women in their un-fragmented wholeness.
The author also looks at the random and non-systematic nature of the women’s liberation movement. She describes it as an outcome of the disintegration of the traditional system under pressures from within and without. Change in sexual relations, according to Mernissi, is the most explosive threat faced by the Muslim society these days. The traditional sources of pride, privileges, power and supremacy of man are now crumbling. Men are coming under increasing subjugation of the state, which has been depriving them of their traditional patriarchal power as head of the family. They also face their wives, now more aware, economically independent, challenging and protesting at the biases of the system. Men retaliate by becoming oppressive and violent in their homes. But, Mernissi holds, deprivation and low self-respect, may also gear greater solidarity within the family.
Mernissi hopes that the image of women as active and aggressive beings can facilitate their entry into the networks of decision-making and power. Muslim women can thus aspire for higher and broader goals than just equality with men, since the male position itself is not so enviable. The state caught in the nexus of globalization and domestic pressures, has become more fragile in the Muslim countries. Desegregation has now become a must for an authentic Muslim society, where, according to Mernissi’s ideals, men are no more frustrated and women no more degraded.
Her analysis, based on conventional sources of interviews and listener’s letters to a radio programme, is superb. The book comprises nine chapters and a conclusion, with a comprehensive introduction. It has been regarded as a classic book in gender studies.
The Urdu translation has come rather late, for the book appeared first in 1975. However, looking at the excellent quality of translation, one can ignore the delay. The translator has proved his mettle by translating difficult themes of sociology, theology and politics.
Hijab say aagay
By Fatima Mernissi
Translated into Urdu by Muhammad Arshad Razi
Mashal, RB-5, Second floor, Awami Complex, Usman Block, New Garden Town, Lahore-54600
219pp. Rs170
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