What are the two frames through which Zine suggests the killing of Aqsa Parvez could be seen? Why is framing important?
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The first frame through which Zine suggests the killing of Asqa Parvez could be seen through is the ‘honour killing’. Whereby, a disobedient brown girl is brutally murdered by her father for refusing to comply to his wishes of her wearing the hijab. This narrative becomes an extremely dangerous one that leads to the false pretence that as a Muslim girl, Asqa had little personal autonomy which was ultimately shown through her murder. This frame is the one more commonly conveyed especially by western media as it reveals the so called ‘threat’ of Muslim men which exacerbates the already pertinent fear of Islam in the West. Frame one neglects to mention the family friend’s version of the story which stated that “her problems with her parents were based on broader desires for autonomy.” A normal battle in almost every culture regardless of religion or race. Telling the story without this context changes the narrative thus highlighting the importance of framing. This evidently opposes the notion that it was the Muslim identity of the family, which incorporates a violent and sexist culture, that allowed this murder to happen. This framing of the incident neglects other reasons that the second frame does not, including emphasising religion which may not have been nearly as influential in the murder as western media portrayed it. The other frame through which Zine suggests the killing of Aqsa Parvez could be seen through is that of a dominant male abusing his power, both as a parent, and a physically strong man who therefore has the ability to kill his own daughter. These factors alone are enough to explain the reasons for Aqsa’s terrible death. However, neither of these factors mention race, ethnicity or religion and therefore is deemed the less popular frame. This may be because Asqa’s identity as a Muslim, who did not wish to wear the hijab, could be used as an easy scapegoat for western media to use as a cause of the murder as opposed to patriarchal outrage. If portrayed in this light it becomes a male issue not a Muslim one. As Aqsa grew up in Canada with her parents, who also lived in Canada, there is intrinsically Canadian aspects of their lives. Thus, there is also an element of responsibility on behalf of Canadian culture that comes with that, blaming the incident on pure Pakistani culture or religion would be unjust and false as it omits the fact that in Canada such male domestic violence was able to fester.
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This is a really good summary of Zine's position and I'll certainly ask @anya_valimahomed to recapitulate it in class if there is time. Please do cut your discussion posts into shorter paragraphs for the sake of my old-man eyes.