Feminism matters...because?

Written by Ruwayda Mustafah | 07 June 2010

Women rights is often spoken about in light of religion, politics and legal systems¹. For the past century or so we've heard numerous claims against the Islamic ideology, criticism stemming from feminists², politicians³ and religious figures⁴ on the rights Islam gives to women⁵. Often, articles written by antagonists of Islam are substantiated on the basis of conjecture, lack of information and repetitive claims that have been debunked in the past. Arguments perpetuated by individuals for the sake of discrediting Islam do not represent an objective analysis of women under Islam. One of the commonly used argument against the Islamic ideology is about feminism and gender equality. Feminism in it's essence is not necessarily incompatible with Islam, that is if we were to agree on one definition, but there is no definition of feminism which appeases to every feminists thought. In addition to this, contemporary feminists in the west have found a new cause or wave of feminism that does not represent the views of the early founders of the feminist movement.

Feminism, once upon a time fought for women to have the right to property, work, vote and so on⁶. Today, feminism for the most part is dead⁷ and too extreme to follow⁸. Classical feminism or the first wave of feminism achieved it's goal, and because classical feminism is “dead” the new wave of feminism does not have achievable goals – it simply creates “competition” between men and women by ignoring the differences between the sexes and simply concentrating on what a man can do, a woman can too. As humans beings we need to learn to respect⁹ the differences between men and women, and perceive these differences positively. “Equality” does not mean that men and women should be identical, or treated the same. However, this is the image some feminists want to create, that equality is synonymous with the third wave of feminism.¹⁰ Whenever faced with this definition and understanding of equality – it necessarily becomes incompatible with Islam.

Women in Islam are often scrutinized about their respective roles and rights. The scrutiny of the roles of women under Islam has become a popular way of attempting to discredit Islam. This is not to say that Feminist movements in some parts of the Muslim world are all antagonists of Islam because some of these movements have started due to the abuse tolerated and received from men¹¹. They have been initiated by strong women seeking to establish some form of justice within society, and eliminating the male dominance which restricts women from e.g. education, voting, working and so on. There is a difference between this type of 'women rights movement' and some of the feminist attitudes towards sexuality, equality, and societal structure in the West. In non-western countries “feminism” has a different meaning – it seeks to establish justice within society by terminating prejudice towards females in parliamentary elections, work field and education¹² but it does not seek to terminate differences between men and women.  However, just like we have different feminists and feminist thought in the west, it is also the same in the East. Some feminists want a cultural change in the East, whereas others merely fight for their rights while wanting to keep their culture and religion intact. Likewise in the West, we find some Muslim feminists that want to adhere to the classical and traditional thought of Islam, but there are other Muslim feminists that attempt to discredit classical thought in order to accredit their line of reasoning. Perhaps, due to this many Muslim women keep away from buzzwords such as 'Feminism'.

Equality

In order to understand whether the concept of equality is in conformity with Islam, it is necessary to know what equality, in light of liberties mean. Many contemporary Islamic thinkers and scholars have simply brushed aside the concept of “equality”¹³ because it has become synonymous with being identical, and because they are responding to the radical feminist concept of equality¹⁴. Whenever the term “equality” is spoken about – feminism springs up. And this is because there is no clear unequivocal definition of equality. Ideologies such as socialism and liberalism have different definitions for equality¹⁵. In addition, equality, if defined as men and women having the same rights in all aspects of life, regardless of biological differences, then Islam is in direct conflict with this because God says in the holy Qur`an: “The male is not like the female.”¹⁶

Islam recognises the crucial differences between men and women, both in responsibilities and social roles which inevitably leads to equivalent results, but not identical results¹⁷. It is imbecilic to disregard the differences between men and women because there are commensurable academic studies illustrating intuitive differences¹⁸ and self-evident biological differences. However, Islam recognises proportional equality¹⁹. Men and women are “equal” in many fields, for example equal work pay²⁰, job opportunities, respect, dignity, right to vote, work and so on. In other words, men and women are not equal in the sense of being identical, but there are many fields and areas where both men and women are treated on a similar platform.

The above begs the question, why are men and women not treated equally in all aspects of life and inevitably questioning whether this amounts to discrimination. Men and women are not perceived nor treated equally in Islam, and this is if by equality we are referring to fundamental equal treatment of the sexes in all aspects of life because in reality they are not equal. Gender discrimination laws are only applicable if men and women are distinguished and allocated roles on the basis of gender and not capability.²¹ Scientists and academics have pointed out major differences between men and women which effect men and women socially.²² In addition, men are better suited for certain roles, and likewise women are better suited for certain roles. These differences between men and women do not amount to discrimination because women are not being perceived as the inferior or lower sex.

In western countries, women and men are not treated equally in all fields, not because the west is chauvinistic or oppressive towards women, but because men and women if treated equally are both being oppressed and treated unfairly. To illustrate by way of example, women and men do not compete against each other in the Olympics because their capabilities are different and therefore it would be unfair for them to compete against each other. This even includes marathons where both men and women run together, women are given the lead simply because they are women. Men have higher levels of testosterone, and other attributes which permits them to outperform women physically, therefore it is for reasons like these that women are given the lead in marathons – they are perceived as 'disadvantaged', so even in such situations where women and men compete, women are given the lead. The point being, this is not perceived as discrimination or unequal treatment of women, and neither should be the role of women under Islam.

“Full frontal feminism shows us feminism is alive and well and kicking all kinds of oppressive male ass” - Margaret Cho.

The founder of feministing.com published a book called ''full frontal feminism'' in 2007. The site is known for vulgar language – perhaps this is the new language of feminism. In the first chapter of the book, Jessica Valenti gives the reader her version of feminism and why it matters.

Chapter 1: You're a hardcore feminist. I swear. “The worst thing you can call a girl is a girl. The worst thing you can call a guy is a girl”.

This is patently false. If you call a girl, a boy, then surely any self-respecting girl would feel offended and it is equally worse, if not more offensive and insulting to call a girl a boy – our feminine attributes, womanish attitude and ladylike conduct is something to be proud of. And if we are called 'boy-like' with their masculine attributes, man-like attitude and valiant conduct then that would be disrespectful. Jessica Valenti writes “recognizing the screwed up nature of this little exercise doesn't necessarily make you a feminist”. The statement about calling a girl a girl as being offensive carries no weight, or truth, so she's right it doesn't make any of us feminist.

• Feel Good feminism

Your not too fat. You're not too loud. You're not too smart. You're not unladylike. There is nothing wrong with you. Surely an obese woman is fat, and she should consider the health risks of obesity, and someone being too loud is not a good characteristic, regardless of gender. Secondly, where is the link for this being directly reinforced by men, and not women. And if this is what feminism offers women – that they should be happier in their own unhealthy bodies, then I question whether Jessica Valenti's version of feminism is worth following at all.

She goes on to say, most young women are feminists, but we're too afraid to say it – or even to recognize it. These statements are not factual, or supported by any evidence, other than a self-perpetuated desire to believe in them.

• But things are fine the way they are!

There's no doubt that women have made progress, but just because we get to vote and have the 'right' to work doesn't mean things are peachy keen. She writes, and argues that things are not peachy simply because the president of Harvard claimed that women are naturally worse at maths and because a teacher was fired apparently due to being pregnant and unmarried. I looked at the reference for the second claim, but only found an article which had the same title, but dated to one day before and of no relevance to what is being mentioned. In order to come to some conclusion, I contacted the author of the article Gail Schontzler and received a prompt reply. He clarified the matter by sending a copy of the article. The article was about Tina Marie Holewinski who was questioned for not giving factual information about 'abstinence' and she was not fired because she was not even hired to begin with, and was paid for her lecture a sum of $1,500, therefore Jessica Valenti is either “sloppy” with her footnotes or clearly mistaken.

Jessica Valenti goes on to argue that feminism matters because women are paid less. First of all, women are paid less than men not because they work in the same field and for the same hours, but because they work in different fields. If women were paid less for working in the same field, for the same hours then they would be the most employed. There are countless reasons justifying why men earn more, for example women simply don't work as many hours per year than men in the same field and therefore get paid less. In order to substantiate a case, unequivocally proving that women who work the same hours, with the same experience, get paid less simply because they are women, then there needs to be explicit evidence and not mere euphemism from feminists.

She continues to argue that women get beaten up, and raped and therefore inequality exists. I would respond, is this really a case of inequality, or is this a disease within society that needs to be dealt with as it is – a crime. I fail to understand why feminism matters simply because crime exists.

• Fem-i-nism

1. Belief in the social, politics, and economic equality of the sexes.
2. The movement organized around this belief

Then she goes on to say “Besides, at the end of the day, feminism is really something you define for yourself.”

Wait a minute –If feminism is something I define for myself then this necessarily implies that everyone's version of feminism, even if someone defines it as “The absolute hatred for men, and empowerment, as well as liberation of women” is justified. As absurd as this definition might seem to some, it is nonetheless justified since I define my version of feminism.

The reason for mentioning the above book is because Jessica Valenti is one of the prominent speakers and representative of some form of feminist movement in the west. The ''You are a feminist, I swear'' argument is one to remember. The reason why feminism matters is not because women will have better social lives if they just suddenly burn their bras and proclaim to the world that they are feminist. It matters because in certain parts of the world women are being denied rights that should be granted to them – rights given to them by Islam. Some women might be under the impression that Islam restricts their freedom, right of choice and education, but the truth could not be further from this. If we were to agree on one definition of feminism and equality, and that being 'proportional equality' or one definition that includes the Islamic paradigm of thought on the rights and roles of women under Islam, then we would realise why feminism still matters.

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