(no subject)
Some parts of Elizabeth Moon's Park51 posting are more difficult to address than others. For example:"The same with other points of Islam that I find appalling (especially as a free woman) and totally against those basic principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution...I feel that I personally (and many others) lean over backwards to put up with these things, to let Muslims believe stuff that unfits them for citizenship, on the grounds of their personal freedom."
Because Ms Moon doesn't specify what these "points of Islam" are, it's pretty much impossible to discuss them, except in the most general terms. It can be said that American Muslims are very typically American in their views. For example, most believe life is better for women in the US than in many Muslim countries.
Waleed Aly (and many, many others) point out the maddening tendency of politicians and commentators in the West to accuse Muslims of disrespecting, oppressing, and mistreating women - while Islamic politicians and commentators accuse Westerners of exactly the same thing. Caught in the cultural crossfire (often physically) are Muslim women, whether in the West or the Islamic world: they are spoken about, rather than being given a chance to speak.
Because of that, rather than add the voice of yet another slenderly informed white Western feminist to the noise, I'd like to link to some online commentary from Muslim women. I'll add more links to this list as I come across them. Here goes:
Muslim Women Don't See Themselves as Oppressed, Survey Finds
On 9/11, Listening to Muslim Women's Voices
Muslimah Media Watch
Loving and Leaving the Head Scarf
ETA: In Ms Moon's home state, the Texas Muslim Women's Foundation engage in various good works, including providing a domestic violence shelter for women of all faiths, and collaborate with other organisations.
She Who Disputes: Muslim Women Shape the Debate. A very readable 2006 report from the Muslim Women's Network, giving British Muslimah's views on numerous issues, from violence and safety to civic participation.
(btw, I've said that I'm not going to go and look for online responses to Ms Moon's posting, because of the slim chance of finding light rather than heat. However, I'll read anything that's recced to me - and if there are responses from Muslim women, I'm especially interested in seeing them.)
PS From July this year, the findings of a global survey on attitudes to gender equality.
Because Ms Moon doesn't specify what these "points of Islam" are, it's pretty much impossible to discuss them, except in the most general terms. It can be said that American Muslims are very typically American in their views. For example, most believe life is better for women in the US than in many Muslim countries.
Waleed Aly (and many, many others) point out the maddening tendency of politicians and commentators in the West to accuse Muslims of disrespecting, oppressing, and mistreating women - while Islamic politicians and commentators accuse Westerners of exactly the same thing. Caught in the cultural crossfire (often physically) are Muslim women, whether in the West or the Islamic world: they are spoken about, rather than being given a chance to speak.
Because of that, rather than add the voice of yet another slenderly informed white Western feminist to the noise, I'd like to link to some online commentary from Muslim women. I'll add more links to this list as I come across them. Here goes:
Muslim Women Don't See Themselves as Oppressed, Survey Finds
On 9/11, Listening to Muslim Women's Voices
Muslimah Media Watch
Loving and Leaving the Head Scarf
ETA: In Ms Moon's home state, the Texas Muslim Women's Foundation engage in various good works, including providing a domestic violence shelter for women of all faiths, and collaborate with other organisations.
She Who Disputes: Muslim Women Shape the Debate. A very readable 2006 report from the Muslim Women's Network, giving British Muslimah's views on numerous issues, from violence and safety to civic participation.
(btw, I've said that I'm not going to go and look for online responses to Ms Moon's posting, because of the slim chance of finding light rather than heat. However, I'll read anything that's recced to me - and if there are responses from Muslim women, I'm especially interested in seeing them.)
PS From July this year, the findings of a global survey on attitudes to gender equality.