{"id":677,"date":"2021-08-13T12:53:23","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T10:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/?p=677"},"modified":"2021-11-21T10:30:34","modified_gmt":"2021-11-21T09:30:34","slug":"women-at-point-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/2021\/08\/13\/women-at-point-zero\/","title":{"rendered":"Women at Point Zero"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_677 social_share_privacy clearfix 1.6.4 locale-de_DE sprite-de_DE\"><\/div><div class=\"twoclick-js\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\njQuery(document).ready(function($){if($('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_677')){$('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_677').socialSharePrivacy({\"txt_help\":\"Wenn Sie diese Felder durch einen Klick aktivieren, werden Informationen an Facebook, Twitter, Flattr, Xing, t3n, LinkedIn, Pinterest oder Google eventuell ins Ausland \\u00fcbertragen und unter Umst\\u00e4nden auch dort gespeichert. N\\u00e4heres erfahren Sie durch einen Klick auf das <em>i<\\\/em>.\",\"settings_perma\":\"Dauerhaft aktivieren und Daten\\u00fcber-tragung zustimmen:\",\"info_link\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.heise.de\\\/ct\\\/artikel\\\/2-Klicks-fuer-mehr-Datenschutz-1333879.html\",\"uri\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\\\/zekkblog\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/13\\\/women-at-point-zero\\\/\",\"post_id\":677,\"post_title_referrer_track\":\"Women+at+Point+Zero\",\"display_infobox\":\"on\"});}});\n\/* ]]> *\/<\/script><\/div>\n<p>From women who go&nbsp;topless&nbsp;to the streets of Berlin, demanding&nbsp;the right to be able to appear topless&nbsp;in the public space like men,<a href=\"\/\/7A8AA22A-D8CA-4694-BED3-5F568006FCD0#_ftn1\"><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/a>&nbsp;to the decision of the German women\u2019s Olympic gymnastics team to wear full-length unitards instead of traditional leotards, to the Muslim women hashtaging \u201cHandsOffMyHijab\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7A8AA22A-D8CA-4694-BED3-5F568006FCD0#_ftn2\"><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/a>, I see nothing but the loud cry of women to the world, to give them back the possession of their body, and their freedom of choice to cover or uncover it the way&nbsp;<em>they<\/em>&nbsp;want; their demand to be the \u201cowners of their own bodies\u201d. Their fight against any double standards, of any kind,&nbsp;in rules and regulations, that treat female body differently than the male body. In this global call, Muslim women are also included. They too want to get all their civil rights and the possession over their bodies, even those who wear \u201cheadscarf\u201d. YES, even&nbsp;<em>those<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To think that because they wear something which from the European perspective is \u201ca symbol for oppression and patriarchy\u201d therefore a Muslim woman can, by no means, be a \u201cfeminist\u201d \u2013 what I keep hearing ever since I am here \u2013 is very simplistic, if not paternalistic. I know of many Muslim women, who are perfectly well aware of the fact that veiling might have little to do with religious piety and the divine decree but rather with patriarchal intents to restrict the scope of the freedom of women in the society, and a product of male perspective regarding woman\u2019s body as the \u201cobject of sexual attraction and provocation\u201d etc., but still follow that, since for&nbsp;<em>them<\/em>&nbsp;it is part of their identity and lifestyle as a \u201cMuslim woman\u201d.<em>&nbsp;Their<\/em>&nbsp;choice!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also know of many pious Muslim women for whom their headscarf is neither a symbol for an ideology nor a medium to propagate any belief or idea. For them, to cover their head is part of their tradition, and their piety, and thus identity. To force them to follow&nbsp;<em>our&nbsp;<\/em>narratives of&nbsp;<em>their&nbsp;<\/em>headscarves, to force them to choose between their choice of dressing and the possibility to work, to try to \u201cenlighten\u201d them by force is itself following an ideology. A rather very dangerous one!<a href=\"\/\/7A8AA22A-D8CA-4694-BED3-5F568006FCD0#_ftn3\"><sup>[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is clear what I am addressing here: the European Court of Justice decided recently that headscarf can be banned at work.<a href=\"\/\/7A8AA22A-D8CA-4694-BED3-5F568006FCD0#_ftn4\"><sup>[4]<\/sup><\/a>&nbsp;Isn\u2019t it really clear, that even if under \u201ccertain conditions\u201d, this ban gives&nbsp;<em>carte blanche<\/em>&nbsp;to the (male) employers to discriminate a certain group of women? And even if it is issued out of Islamophobic intentions, isn\u2019t it clear that again it is the Muslim&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>man, who is paying for that? For as a result of this ban, a Muslim man, no matter how conservative, if not radical and fundamentalist, he is, can attain these jobs, and a Muslim&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>man not, even if she is a pacifist. Simply because&nbsp;<em>she<\/em>&nbsp;is allegedly wearing a \u201csign\u201d, a \u201csymbol\u201d, for her belief. Again, a&nbsp;<em>woman should pay<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a society where the law makers seek to level the hierarchical structures, in a society where the attempt is to more and more democratize rules and regulation, by issuing decrees that give more rights to the marginalized and the under-privileged, by taking them from the privileged \u2013 and in the case of women, by applying positive discrimination \u2013 isn&#8217;t it contradictory to see that, in the very same society, a certain group of&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>men that belong to the marginalized, are deprived of certain rights?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on studies, and not mere speculation, we are now well aware of the fact that in the dominantly \u201cwhite\u201d societies, a kind of hierarchy of rights exists. Based on color and ethnicity, on top of the pyramid stands the white middle-class man, then the white middle class&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>man, then the non-white man, and down at the bottom the non-white&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>man. For the \u201cMuslim&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>man\u201d, with the immigration background, it is even worse. She is not only from another color and ethnicity, but also another nationality and religion. And not just that: she belongs to the religion which has, in the Western setting, been rendered to the \u201cenemy image\u201d. Taking all these into consideration, the Muslim&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>man falls deep down in this pyramid of \u201cprivileges\u201d. Is it then okay for a court of justice to issue a ban, without having an eye on the consequences of it for the marginalized of the marginalized, for the lowest of the lowest level of the social hierarchy?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the case of the \u201cwhite women\u201d, challenging the double-standards in regard to dress codes \u2013 at the price of getting fined \u2013, to the case of the \u201cMuslim dark-skinned women\u201d, asking for their right to study and work, while having the right to cover their body the way&nbsp;<em>they&nbsp;<\/em>want, there is only \u201cone call\u201d to be heard: questioning the \u201cmale gaze\u201d and demanding the possession of one\u2019s own body. It is, therefore, high time to heed their call.<br>In a (still) paralyzing patriarchal setting, all they want is: to rise up, to leap\u2026 to soar up. Let us help them in their flight! Don\u2019t cut off their wings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"578\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2021\/08\/Beitrag-Saida-1024x578.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2021\/08\/Beitrag-Saida-1024x578.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2021\/08\/Beitrag-Saida-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2021\/08\/Beitrag-Saida-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2021\/08\/Beitrag-Saida-500x282.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2021\/08\/Beitrag-Saida.jpg 1072w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Drawing by Maryam ul-Sadat Siahpoosh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7A8AA22A-D8CA-4694-BED3-5F568006FCD0#_ftnref1\"><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/a>https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-9775683\/Berlin-bike-riders-topless-sunbathing-mother-told-cover-park.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7A8AA22A-D8CA-4694-BED3-5F568006FCD0#_ftnref2\"><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/a>https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/fashion\/2021\/apr\/25\/model-rawdah-mohamed-hands-off-my-hijab-protest-france-ban<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7A8AA22A-D8CA-4694-BED3-5F568006FCD0#_ftnref3\"><sup>[3]<\/sup><\/a>I have never seen this ideology be presented as transparent as at this talk show on France 24, where a \u201cFrench white&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>man\u201d&nbsp;<em>man<\/em>splains a \u201cdark-skinned Muslim&nbsp;<em>wo<\/em>man\u201d as how with her headscarf she is being manipulated by the male Muslim fundamentalists, to spread their ideologies, and teaches her what veiling \u201cactually\u201d means, and what a \u201cgood Muslim woman\u201d must look like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/debate\/20191031-macron-and-islam-french-president-weighs-in-on-new-headscarf-row\">https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/debate\/20191031-macron-and-islam-french-president-weighs-in-on-new-headscarf-row<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7A8AA22A-D8CA-4694-BED3-5F568006FCD0#_ftnref4\"><sup>[4]<\/sup><\/a>https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/top-eu-court-says-headscarves-can-be-banned-work-under-certain-conditions-2021-07-15\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-blue-color has-text-color\">Dr.&nbsp;Saida Mirsadri ist Mitarbeiterin am Seminar f\u00fcr Islamische Theologie der Universit\u00e4t Paderborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>#Handsoffmyhijab&nbsp;#Womens_Emancipation&nbsp;#StopDoubleStandards<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From women who go&nbsp;topless&nbsp;to the streets of Berlin, demanding&nbsp;the right to be able to appear topless&nbsp;in the public space like men,[1]&nbsp;to the decision of the German women\u2019s Olympic gymnastics team to wear full-length unitards instead of traditional leotards, to the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/2021\/08\/13\/women-at-point-zero\/\">Weiterlesen <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8844,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8844"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":764,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677\/revisions\/764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}