La influencia del resurgimiento religioso en el papel social de la mujer musulmana en Turquía (2007-2011)

El presente estudio de caso tiene como objetivo explicar la influencia del resurgimiento religioso en el papel social de la mujer, en el Estado de Turquía, dentro del periodo tiempo comprendido entre el año 2007 al 2011. Este proceso se ha podido evidenciar a través del islam político y las demandas culturales, en este sentido, se tendrá en cuenta el Partido de la Justicia y el Desarrollo para describir la situación de la mujer musulmana a partir del feminismo islámico; de esta manera se podrá entender su participación en el ámbito público y privado. El análisis de fuentes primarias y secundarias será el método principal para la recolección de información, de igual forma se desarrollarán entrevistas, lo que permitirá un acercamiento con las mujeres y su estilo de vida, a partir de sus prácticas religiosas. El resultado de esta investigación demostrará que el resurgimiento religioso le ha permitido a la mujer musulmana identificarse con su religión en el escenario público y tener mayor relevancia en las diferentes áreas del Estado.

”Varför tar man för givet att feminismen måste vara sekulär?” : En studie om muslimska feminister i svensk kontext

The purpose of this study is to examine how two Muslim feminists perceive themselves to betreated by the Swedish majority society and within the secular feminist movement. Thesurvey was conducted using qualitative method with a total of two interviews. For the study'stheoretical perspectives, I have used postcolonialism and postcolonial feminism. The result ofthe survey and the analysis show that the informants say that they face an image of Muslimwomen as considered being under oppression. The informants believe that this stereotypicalimage has its origin from the colonial period. The question that is most important for themwithin feminism is to be treated as a feminist and as a Muslim without being questioned. Theyfeel like it's hard to identify with the Swedish secular feminism, but they also feel that thegroup of Swedish secular feminists have a difficulty identifying themselves with Muslimwomen too. Consider this, one of the informants does not feel welcome among Swedishsecular feminism while the other one never had an interest in becoming a member of itbecause she did not consider them to strive for the same goal as herself. The informantsclaims that there are opportunities for them to speak in the public debate, but as Muslimfeminists they are facing a bigger struggle.

Power, Arab media Moguldum & gender rights as entertainment in the Middle East

Discourse is a giant field of research and gender related rights are still a disputed area of thinking. Thus, when Arab transnational satellite televisions produce dialogues, images, stories and narratives about the disputed “universal” gender rights in the Middle East, the big questions remain how and why. According to De Beauvoir (1949), one becomes woman and to Butler (1990) one is not born a gender at all but is “done” and “undone” to become one via discourse. Islamic feminism speaks of a cultural/religious specificity in defending women rights and even gender diversity based on new Quranic interpretations. The gender, “Al-Naw’u”, remains synonym to sex “Al Jins” as gender and queer theories never developed in Arabic in tandem with the European institutions or the theories of the19th century– especially those ideas emerging from studies of the mental asylum. This research tries to understand gender related “rights” and “wrongs” as manifest in the discursive institutions owned by media mogul Prince Al Waleed Ben Talal Al Saud. The trouble of such a study is lexical, ideological and institutional at the same time. Since we lack a critique of the discourses and narratives addressed in the pan-Arab satellite channels, in general it is difficult to understand their significance and influence in everyday life practices. What language is used to speak of gender rights or wrongs? Which ideology is favoured in this practice of legitimisation and/or policing? Using case studies, CDA of social and religious talk shows, narrative analysis of Arabic cinemas, this research adapted triangulation to show the complexity of conversing and narrating gender related content at the micro and macro levels within an institution of power. Using semi-structured interviews from fieldwork in Egypt (2009) and Lebanon (2011), archive research and online ethnography, the research exposes the power structure under which gender discourses evolve. It emerges that gender content is abundant on the Pan Arab satellite space, “manufactured” on talk shows and plotted tactfully in the cinematic “creative-act”. The result is a complex discourse of gender content that scratches the surface calling for interpretation. So how and why do gender rights and wrongs find place on Prince Al Waleed’s Media Empire?

President Rouhani and Iran’s ‘Woman Question’ after one year in office

Is the Islamic Republic capable of accommodating gender reform? What does the election of reformist President Hassan Rouhani mean for the country’s women? And after one year in office, has his government offered a meaningful response to the ‘woman question’? This paper examines the socio-political climate around women and their position in Iranian society inherited by the Rouhani administration, and analyses the extent to which Rouhani has the authority to oversee real policy change on women’s status. Through a critical review of Rouhani’s first year in office, the author argues that there are some promising signs of change, but these are up against a culture of patriarchy that is entrenched amongst Iran’s political and clerical elite, whose view of women is that of the homemaker and caregiver, with limited public agency.

Women's rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran: the contribution of secular-oriented feminism

A cornerstone of the conservative gender ideology of Iran’s clerical eliteis the conviction that biological differences between men and women arecause for them to have different roles and functions in society. Differentroles and functions translate to different (read unequal) legal rights.Notwithstanding the discriminatory gender policies of the state, Iranianwomen have refused to renege on their claims to equal rights. In the faceof intense political pressure to withdraw from the public arena, women inthe Islamic Republic have maintained a foothold in the political, socialand legal realms.

Identity politics, justice and the schooling of Muslim girls: navigating the tensions between multiculturalism, group rights and feminism

This article focuses on the concerns expressed by three female Muslim educators who are support staff at an English comprehensive school. Consistent with the debates associated with multiculturalism, group rights and feminism, the article illuminates spaces of gender constraint and possibility within the discourses shaping these women’s lives and the lives of the Muslim girls they educate. With reference to an initiative at the school designed to support these girls’ greater self-determination – an Islamic discussion group – the article highlights the significance of a justice politics that begins with overcoming relations of status subordination rather than on differentiated group identity.

The “Iranian ART Revolution”: infertility, assisted reproductive technology, and third-party donation in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Infertility is a social onus for women in Iran, who are expected to produce children early within marriage. With its estimated 1.5 million infertile couples, Iran is the only Muslim country in which assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) using donor gametes and embryos have been legitimized by religious authorities and passed into law. Th is has placed Iran, a Shia-dominant country, in a unique position vis-à-vis the Sunni Islamic world, where all forms of gamete donation are strictly prohibited. In this article, we first examine the “Iranian ART revolution” that has allowed donor technologies to be admitted as a form of assisted reproduction. Then we examine the response of Iranian women to their infertility and the profound social pressures they face. We argue that the experience of infertility and its treatment are mediated by women’s socioeconomic position within Iranian society. Many women lack economic access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) technologies and fear the moral consequences of gamete donation. Thus, the benefits of the Iranian ART revolution are mixed: although many Iranian women have been able to overcome their infertility through ARTs, not all women’s lives are improved by these technologies.

Rethinking Prostitution : feminism, sex and the self

Prostitution is a difficult issue, particularly for feminists. Are prostitutes victims of exploitation or the most honest of women? Are clients perverts or just acting instinctively? Should prostitution be eliminated or supported? This book examines these contemporary questions and offers a way of thinking about the issues, which does not rely on these inappropriate and often ineffectual options. Repositioning the institution and its main players outside the confines of the prostitution debate offers new and exciting ways of thinking and acting for all those interested in moving this discussion into the twenty-first century.