Order Description

TOPIC: This Essay is based on the topic Women and Community

Read carefully the following essays:

Zine, Jasmin. 2008. “Honour and Identity: An Ethnographic Account of Muslim Girls in a Canadian Islamic School.” Topia, 19, Spring: 35-61.

Mcmurray, Anaya. (2008). Hotep and Hip-Hop:Can Black Muslim Women Be Down with

Hip-Hop? Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism. 2008, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 74–92].

These authors draw attention to sexism (Zine) and racism( Mcmurray) within their own Muslim community and call for the community to respect and support Muslim women who are already marginalized. Some of their concerns relate to:

Racism from other Muslim groups

Stereotyping of Muslim women by the media

Rigid regulation of gender-based structures

Gender inequity

Policing of young Muslim women’s bodies.

Control of young women’s mobility.

Imposition of a single ideal-type to which all young Muslim women are expected to conform.

STEP 2: Select ONE of the articles and summarize the main arguments of the author. Clearly note down some of her criticisms of racism and/or sexism within the community. What reasons does the author give for these issues? What are some of their concerns about the effects of these attitudes on young Muslim women? What solution does the author propose for the issues that concern her the most.

STEP 3: Turn to the readings by Kandiyoti and Mir Hosseini. Summarize the key points of these readings regarding Muslim women’s experiences in contemporary Muslim majority nation-states. Explain whether you think young Muslim women in Muslim majority societies might face the kinds of problems described by Zine or Mcmurray? Explain why or why not by using at least ONE insight, argument or example from your reading of either Kandiyoti or Mir Hosseini to support your point.

Kandiyoti Denise (1994). Identity and Its Discontents: Women and the Nation. In Williams, P. and Carisman, L. (eds). Colonial Discourse and Post-colonial Theory. New York: Columbia University Press. Pp376-391.

Ziba Mir-Hosseini(2006). Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality: Between Islamic Law and Feminism. Critical Inquiry 32 (Summer 2006) 629-645.