Love, love, love the last few lines of this post. I’m not Muslim, but this post resonates with me. Although many people around me don’t see me as one, I am also a feminist. I don’t subscribe to a particular feminist thought save my own. As a feminist I accept the choices that other women make. I don’t agree with them all the time, but I accept that not all women have to think the same way that I think for their points and positions to be valid. As a feminist I believe in defining myself in my own terms and on my own terms and f*** how others will have me defined because, as you so eloquently put it, anything I say can and will be used against me by everyone!

Weird to see a woman only a little older than me being referred to as an “older generation” feminist! I was just a child during the feminist movement in the US, and so was Naomi Wolf. And so was Sarah Palin, for that matter.

It’s somewhat interesting how wildly her opinions about women hiding their bodies to achieve liberation seem to be the polar opposite of what the early feminist movement was all about and yet the older feminists (the real ones) seem to be agreeing with her about that. I think feminist movements are like most activist movements where the goal is first and foremost to upset the status quo. Her argument is that women in the west have become so body-conscious and beauty-conscious that it’s harming their self-image, so how better to combat that than to hide their bodies and deliberately make themselves look plain? I’m not saying I agree with her argument (I don’t) but I am able to follow her logic.

Isn’t feminism/emancipation first of all about the right/possibillities to make your own choices for your own free will? It doesn’t matter if you wear a headscarf or not. (I do object to any clothing that covers a face, because it makes real interaction between people impossible. You have to be able to face the person in front of you. That’s a two way situation).

I admire you, Mona, because you give me the feeling you did (and do) make your own choices, based on what you believe is true.

I object to the idea that conservatism may benefit men more. Some might see it that way. Stupid! I, as an ICT-consultant, work in an all man team. We used to have 1 woman for years and 2 women for a short period in our team. Our team was better on almost every point, and especially in atmosphere, even with 1 woman and I saw her leave with regret. She’s still one of my best friends. We have contact on an almost daily basis. But she’s missed in my team, like no male colleque has ever been missed.

Men, though not all might see this as clearly as I do, need feminism/emancipation as much as women do. Human kind needs all human beings to be equally valued, appreciated and loved.

Here in Wisconsin, we just concluded our gun deer hunting season. Last Saturday, I loaded a shotgun and trooped off to the woodlot of a privately owned farm where (I thought) there would be no other people. Upon arrival at a thick cedar stand, I beheld an amazing sight; a man dress in a brown Carhart jacket gathering firewood!

Now, as you might surmise, walking into the woods wearing a garment the same color as a white-tailed deer during the deer hunting season is tantamount to insanity. I restrained myself from firing a shot into the air just to see the man jump.

While that individual perhaps did not intend to make a target of himself, you clearly did as soon as you took on the dual mantle of feminist/Muslim. Did you expect that nobody would take shots at you?

As you have repeatedly pointed out; there is more than one kind of Muslim, and that not all Muslims are bomb-throwing jihadists intent on blowing up Christmas celebrations.

I posit that there is also more than one kind of feminist, or perhaps that there are “degrees” of feminism. I can accept that not all who wear the label of “feminist” believe that all sex is rape, that as many abortions as possible should be performed each year, and that men should be emasculated whenever possible. There certainly are individuals who believe these things and more.

“Feminist” is a word that gets its definition largely from the context in which it is used. Sarah Palin would have scandalized the original woman suffragists with her brand of feminism. You don’t see her as a feminist at all.

If you can be a “different kind of Muslim”, why can’t Sarah Palin be a “different kind of feminist”?

I posit that you are less of a feminist than you are a liberal. I’ve cited my reasons for this in the past… they have to do with the fact that you want to bring about changes in Egyptian society, and Middle Eastern society in general. Conservatism doesn’t work toward that end.

In any case, the next time you visit the Peoples Republic of Madison… bring a blaze orange garment!

[...] Mona Eltahawy, The Jerusalem Report, November 24, [...]

I really don’t understand why you cling to ridiculous superstition when your evolved and learned moral compass tells you that so much of Islam is wrong. Your support for woman’s rights is admirable yet it is completely at odds with the tenets of your chosen religion. Islam (and Christianity and Judaism among others) is replete with misogynistic nonsense and inequality for women. The very fact that you cherry pick the parts of Islam you believe to be good is proof that you don’t need the Mohamed’s medieval rantings to provide you with a moral guide.
Dump the belief in fairy tales and the cognitive dissonance under which you are labouring will disappear.

[...] Really interesting article here from Mona Eltahawy which yielded, among other things, this fabulous quote: To be a Muslim and a feminist is to stand in the crossfire and yell “Shut the f**k up!” to everyone around you because you know that anything you say can and will be used against you by everyone. [...]

To be a Muslim and a feminist is to stand in the crossfire and yell “Shut the f**k up!” to everyone around you because you know that anything you say can and will be used against you by everyone.

Sadly, this quote works just as well with ‘woman’ in the place of ‘Muslim’.

Sorry if this seems like an advertisment. I’m trying to pull some attention to needless deaths of Iraqi civilians due to their security forces being duped and sold fraudulent bomb detectors that don’t work …by a UK company. http://reasonablydoubtingnews.blogspot.com/2011/02/selling-death-fraudulent-bomb-detectors.html

If you could talk about it on your blog we might just put an end to this stuff.

I would like to send a msg to the protesters in Egypt that will hopefully move things forward, something everyone can get behind. I suggest this slogan:

“Government RESIGN! We want an election!”

Believe me, feminism has no cachet in Britain. It translates immediately into ‘Frigid Manhating Bitch Who’s just Angry because she hasn’t been Fucked hard enough’, whatever context or even in isolation. Further, I’ve spent my life being advised i’m disgusting and will never be loved because i don’t shave my legs or wear makeup etc, often by threatening gangs of youths in public places. I just want to be left alone, i’m not after approval or agreement, just not being beaten up on would be fine. (At least i didn’t used to have to deal with the imported arab hatred of bodyhair before.) To quote a poster above, “While that individual perhaps did not intend to make a target of himself, you clearly did as soon as you took on the dual mantle of feminist/Muslim. Did you expect that nobody would take shots at you?” No, i actually just want to leave my body as it is, not deface or degrade or alter it as if it wasn’t good enough to live as it is. I don’t feel degrading your self versus ‘being in the crossfire’ is a fair choice. I actually feel the burqa and the sexualisation of women are the same thing: women are sex objects. So, i offend because i’m not a sexy sex object (to me, i’m just me, in my body, but in my society, my body is a sex object). The burqa is because the sex object (to me,me in my body) will lead men into temptation. But my body is me, i am my body: when it dies, i’m dead; it’s inseparable from me. Acceptance of your body is the true first basis of anarchism.

It is comforting to find people I have very little in common with but also find a link in the desire to move beyond the past into a future of what could be. To imagine a world where the weak are protected by the strong. To imagine a world where the rich and powerful want to share and not use people for gain.

To dream the dream of what could be. To be inspired by the mind of a creative soul.

It gives life meaning and inspires to aspire to the greater good.

I’m in Las Vegas, Nv.

Mona, I really love this article. Hope to see more terrific articles in the future! I’ll be visiting your blog often from then on.