My summary of this week's reading

[cathy_ndiaye2]

In her article, Professor Zine mentioned many things that made me see what could be described as systemic Islamophobia from another perspective. I used to only see it as systemic discrimination that comes from white supremacy, liberal ideas and the wish to dominate, but it seems more complex than that. I feel like it is mainly about the fear of becoming a minority (culturally and in numbers) in their nation. Especially if we take the example of Quebec, with Bill 21 and also The Code of Hérouxville mentioned in the text. We could also take the example of the hijab ban in France in school settings since the early 2000s or even more recently with the prohibition of wearing an abaya (which is not even a ‘’religious’’ dress, contrary to what French media and politicians say). Also, Professor Zine mentioned the paradox in which Western societies talk about Muslim women as being oppressed because, amongst other things, they wear the hijab. At the same time, those same Western societies are pressuring those women to adopt a certain way of presenting themselves in public that would be more aligned with the way a woman should present herself according to them.
Also overall, throughout her article, the author depicts mainly that the West and more particularly Europe see Muslims as a threat to the culture and identity.

From E. Patrick Johnson’s essay
I find the concept of Performative gender in Judith Butler’s work interesting. In my understanding, it is a little similar than saying that gender is a social construct. Some theorists talk about racial performative as a concept. But the question that comes to my mind is what would performative race look like? Also, the idea of performance of the self is a little bit like the expression ‘’ Fake it until you make it’’

From Professor Hoodfar work:
To those who said ‘’ She does not act like a veiled woman’’, my question is how is a veiled woman supposed to act? Also when it comes to the hijab, I feel like sometimes we talk about all the Muslim women who wear it in the same way as if they were going through the same challenges. Women in patriarchal Afghanistan do not have the same relationship with hijab than women in the West. It is not because some hijabis are oppressed that the hijab is the tool of oppression.