Author: It's Absurd to Call Niqab and Headscarf a Feminist Choice
Translated from Danish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
Opinion
Sources not specified
Context piece
- The author criticizes the notion that wearing a niqab or headscarf is inherently a feminist choice, particularly in the Danish context.
- She argues that such a view ignores the reality of women facing coercion, imprisonment, or violence for refusing to wear these items elsewhere in the world.
- The piece calls for open and critical discussion of religious and cultural practices, emphasizing that respect should be for people, not necessarily for all ideas or traditions.
A Danish author is pushing back against what she perceives as a hesitant and overly cautious public debate regarding religious and cultural practices, particularly concerning women's choices in attire and personal freedom.
When Isam B can call niqab and headscarf a feminist choice, then I simply get off.
In a commentary, the author expresses strong disagreement with the idea that wearing a niqab or headscarf can be framed as a feminist choice. While acknowledging a woman's right to choose such attire, she argues that elevating the headscarf or niqab to a feminist symbol is a significant leap, especially when considering women globally who are allegedly threatened, imprisoned, or harmed for refusing to wear them. This paradox, she contends, is not discussed enough.
The author also touches upon religious social control, citing Hizb ut-Tahrir as an example of a group whose views on democracy, religion, and society should be open to critical discussion, particularly when they seek influence among young people. Furthermore, she addresses Muslim marriages, stating that the fundamental principle should be that no woman in Denmark is left in a worse position than her husband due to religious rules dictating her ability to leave a marriage.
People have a right to respect. Ideas, religions, and traditions have a right to be able to withstand criticism.
She believes a "strange fear of touching" has emerged, where respect for other people is conflated with respecting every religious or cultural practice. The author asserts that people deserve respect, but ideas, religions, and traditions must be able to withstand criticism. As a mother and grandmother, she feels a responsibility not to tell her descendants that women's freedom, fought for by previous generations, was not defended by her own generation due to an unwillingness to engage in uncomfortable debates. She concludes by stating her intention not to bow to what she calls "dark men," just as her own grandmother did not.
My grandmother did not bow to the dark men of her time. I do not intend to do so either.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by Berlingske in Danish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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