Saturday, October 03, 2009
Zionist colonial feminism
There is no question that the only reason this former feminist (only her first book, the Beauty Myth can be considered a feminist work) is praising the Jordanian monarchy is the King's relations with Israel. Do you think that people like her would be praising the Jordanian autocratic rule of the Hashemite if it promoted resistance to Israeli occupation. And you wonder why Arab feminists are most disgusted by Western colonial feminism? Look at this: "I was so sure that Muslim women should be allowed to speak for themselves because of the faces of Muslim feminism I encountered in recent travels – notably in Jordan, a country fascinatingly poised between tradition and innovation, developing under a forward-looking monarchy that is seeking to modernize and, to an extent, democratize. For those Westerners who worry about Islamic fundamentalism in the Arab world, surely Jordan is a worthy model to understand, support, and engage." (thanks Marcy)