Mona Eltahawy's new book is Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution.From her Q & A with Denise Balkissoon for The Globe and Mail:
You say many people are “all too happy to hear how badly Muslim men treat their women,” even when their own behaviour is sexist.--Marshal Zeringue
It troubles me deeply that the group that speaks the loudest about the niqab and how the niqab is misogynist is the right wing, Islamophobic, xenophobic racists. My point all along has been that it is possible to talk about misogyny within my own community and also call it out in the right-wing racist community that tries to use my words against Muslim men.
Almost an entire chapter is about your opposition to the niqab. Are you worried that in coming out so strongly, you might alienate women who consider themselves feminists and believe that wearing it is their choice?
This idea of the niqab being feminist is an idea I totally reject. I think it directly contributes to erasing women and it directly contributes to a very dangerous idea of piety, equating it to the disappearance of women. I know there are some who oppose my position on this vehemently, and that is their right. And it’s my right to say: Just because a woman does something doesn’t mean that I have to...[read on]