Cultural relativism harms women
‘Aft er Cologne, we can’t let the bigots steal feminism .” That was the headline in the Guardian newspaper, above an opinion column by feminist writer Laurie Penny .“It’s a miracle !” Penny writes. “Finally, the right wing cares about rape culture! And all it took was a good excuse to bash migrants and Muslims and tell feminists they don’t know what’s good for them.… You know what has never yet prevented sexual violence? Unbridled racism.”
After I spit out my coffee, I started to type. Because between diatribes like this and chirping- cricket silence, I’m getting a little fed up with the feminist response to the rampage of sexual assaults that took place in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve.
Penny’ s position illustrates the trap ensnaring a women’s movement wedded to a host of other movements. For the past 25 years, ever since the term “intersectionality” was coined in reference to black feminism, the fight for women’s rights has become indivisible from the fight against other oppressive practices and institutions. Racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, xenophobia, capitalism, the patriarchy — in the fight against inequality, it’s become all for one and one for all.
Except when, as Cologne shows us, it isn’t. The attacks in Cologne reveal the ugly truth: cultural relativism is harmful to women. And feminists who refuse to call out sexism because they fear being called racist are doing women no favours.
The reality is that some cultures are more femalefriendly than others. This is not a bigoted statement, but a factual one. In the World Economic Forum’s 2014 ranking of the best and worst countries to be a woman, Islamic countries made up 16 of the 20 worst nations. Syria ranked fourth- last. The Guardian’s own graphic on women’s rights reveals that women in the Middle East enjoy the fewest rights of all women on the planet. And gender discrimination does not just affect women who live there. The International Women’s Travel Center’s 2015 List of Safest Countries in the World for Women Travelers concludes with the line, “At this time, we cannot recommend travel to any country in the Middle East.”
In Cologne, German women dressed in party clothes when they went out to celebrate New Year’s Eve. They did not cover their body, hair or faces. Walking alone in mixed- gender crowds is not frowned on. Conversing with men who are not members of their family is not taboo.
But that is not how many men in attendance saw it that night. In Islamist countries, a covered woman is considered pious and modest. She does not mix freely with men in public places. By contrast, an uncovered woman out on her own is seen as immodest and an unbeliever. And increasingly, a permissible target for sexual violence.
It’s the cultural version of “her skirt’s too short, she asked for it.” This is no different than the blame- thevictim mentality Western feminists have decried for the past 50 years, the slut-shaming they expose online and the rape culture they denounce at Western universities. But because it is rooted in the practices of a non- Western culture, they are silent, or call those who criticize t his worldview racist.
In the debate over the place of women in Islam and Islam’s place in the women’s movement, feminists have been trying to have it both ways. They have defended the equality of all cultures, even when those cultures discriminate against women. They point to women within the Islamic community who defend these practices, such as Sunera Ishaq, who fought to wear a niqab during a citizenship ceremony. After all, it was her choice to cover her face. Chatelaine magazine even named her as one of Canada’s Women of the Year.
One wonders what the millions of women who did not have that choice would say. This includes Canadian women like young Aqsa Parvez, who was killed by her father for refusing to show respect by donning a hijab. Or Zainab, Sahar, Geeti Shafia and Rona Amir, who were murdered by their family for offending its “honour” by having boyfriends and taking selfies. Aqsa’s own mother even blamed the victim for not listening to her father.
That’ s not freedom. That’s not choice. That’s indoctrination — the same type of indoctrination that led to the sexual assaults in Cologne.
While Western feminists may not want to acknowledge this, women within the Muslim world increasingly do. On Dec. 21, the Washington Post published a column (which was subsequently reprinted in these pages), in which authors Asra Q. Nomani and Hala Arafa call out “well- intentioned Americans” who “in the name of Interfaith … are getting duped by the agenda of Muslims who argue that a woman’s honour lies in her ‘ chastity’ and unwittingly pushing a platform to put a hijab on every woman.”
Violence is violence. Discrimination is discrimination. Neither can be tolerated and women cannot be silent. Regardless of religion, culture or race.
FEMINISTS WHO REFUSE TO CALL OUT SEXISM BECAUSE THEY FEAR BEING CALLED RACIST ARE DOING WOMEN NO FAVOURS.
‘IT’S THE CULTURAL VERSION OF HER SKIRT’S TOO SHORT …’
— KHEIRIDDIN