Let’s be honest here. It actually sucks that it’s 2017 and we still have to fight for equal rights for women, and that we even need a term called feminism. There shouldn’t be a term for it because the movement itself shouldn’t have to exist – it should have been equal to begin with, without needing to constantly lobby for equal rights for hundreds of years. You should be the outlier if you are someone who doesn’t believe in equal rights for women and men. It’s actually crazy that we’re in the 21st century and we still need to actively chase after equal pay.
Feminism is respecting women’s rights and becoming conscious of the position of women in this patriarchal society. Feminists look at society and try to improve it by first improving their own behavior and then trying to improve the patriarchy. A lot of Muslims consider themselves as feminists. In fact, someone said that “If you are Muslim, you should be a feminist,” because the notion of women’s rights is so ingrained within Islam that if you believe in the religion, you should automatically believe in women’s rights.
Islam recognized women as human beings much earlier than other civilizations did, and brought this concept to a culture that would kill baby girls just because they were female. It brought in respect for women. It gave women rights that men didn’t have and gave both men and women separate rights – which may not be equal, but comes into the threshold of being fair. A mother is given three times the weight of a father because a father could never replace what a mother does. Islam empowers women to be strong, independent, and well educated. This is in the very history of Islam where historically, through hadiths (the sayings of Prophet Muhammad) and Quranic revelations, it was shown to exist at that time period. In fact, the first wife of the Prophet was a businesswoman.
However, due to cultural influences and the influences of strong patriarchal societies, these values can get muddled to the point that they aren’t even evident in society. If you holistically look at Muslim majority countries, this notion of women’s rights isn’t immediately evident – though there are glimpses of it there. This, however, may just be skewed due to the media. But because of these deep cultural and patriarchal biases, the Muslim community is struggling to tie in with current-day feminism as a whole. When you grew up with certain cultural values that may be more conservative, it’s hard to let go.
However, living in the US, which is largely liberal, there’s a lot of feminism evident in the Muslim community here. There is always a female panelist in any panel discussion and a lot of input is taken from women. A lot of the first and second generation kids have started to look to the Quran to reconcile their identities as Muslims, and have started to become more vocal about all these values. However, activism is still one sector where the Muslim community lags behind on, because there are much fewer activists and people who are vocal within the community compared to other communities.
Some still believe that current day feminists go overboard. While the intentions are right, some of the things that they are going towards no longer fit into society as a whole. There is some disagreement on family leave after a child is born – it is unfair that women and men get the same time off, even though the woman is the one with the larger burden (namely, the act of childbirth itself and breastfeeding). Giving equal time to both genders actually becomes unfair on the woman, even though it is considered feminist.
There is always a lot more work that needs to be done towards equal, or just rights, for women. This can only be done through massive social changes – within the Muslim community and outside of it. Men need to recognize that within a religion, men and women are held equal, if women are not held higher in regards to men. This can only be done through increased awareness and education. A lot of this change needs to occur from higher up – within communities and political structures. People learn from example, and if you have a president who doesn’t respect women, it’s just going to be so much harder.
Want to keep up with HCBU? Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, check out our Pinterest board, and read our latest Tweets!