Why feminists need to start lovin’ the hijab

So I was reading the news this morning and I chanced upon this. It seems the hijab has set off a national controversy in Norway. It all started when a Muslim woman petitioned to wear her hijab with her police uniform. And from there things pretty much went downhill when another Muslim woman set fire to a hijab on International Women’s Day. Oh, don’t you just love these gliberal feminists! They are quick to flutter their hankies on behalf of feminism, but rather see a Muslim woman’s brains splattered to the walls of her house than see her trapped in a hijab!

Anyway, my annoyance this morning was short-lived for I read another article. Gauri van Gulik from Human Rights Watch explains why attacking hijab-wearing women are counterproductive to the cause of gender equality. Here are a few choice snippets worth repeating:

“Some feminists seek these bans in the name of helping Muslim women, whom they often see as uniformly oppressed. Anti-immigration politicians seek these policies because they see people who refuse to “fit in” as a threat to western society. But these arguments are detrimental both to women’s rights and to peaceful integration, and the women most likely to be affected are rarely consulted.”

“Some supporters of these bans maintain that wearing a headscarf is inherently demeaning. They contend that a headscarf-wearing teacher is unable to promote gender equality and freedom of choice among her students. But these well-meaning arguments run counter to the very tenet of gender equality: women’s ability to make decisions about their lives without interference from the state or others.”

“The argument to ban the headscarf in the name of “cultural integration,” is at times expressed as open hostility toward non-white, or non-Judeo-Christian, immigrants.”

“But banning the headscarf is the worst possible policy response to the need to bring people into mainstream society. Our research showed that the ban serves to exclude, rather than include.”

“Gender equality and peaceful integration should be prime objectives for anyone concerned with public policy. These objectives are not met by excluding women who make a choice to cover their hair.”

Naturally I now want to bake van Gulik a cake.

-F