Mona Eltahawy defends her article

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1. 1
   

   Gretchen

   April 28, 2012 at 4:25 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   We have to do what anyway?

2. 2
   

   Ophelia Benson

   April 28, 2012 at 4:34 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   What Mona did. Talk about it.

3. 3
   

   barbrykost

   April 28, 2012 at 5:22 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   More than thirty years ago I read a feminist article that pointed out the conversation among revolutionaries that goes, “First we will win the war for all of us, then we will work on the problems you women are having” When the revolution is over, the women are still oppressed. That is always the case, so Mona is correct in bringing up misogyny now and not letting the issues be ignored.
   Another thing Ms. Ahmed said that I object to was the incident of the female police officer oppressing the young man. That is a deplorable incident on an individual level, but it is not the point. That is similar to the white racists who always say, “Well, black people are rude to whites, too.” The system that promotes the oppression is the problem, and pointing out individual asses on the oppressed side doesn’t excuse systemic oppression.

4. 4
   

   ash

   April 28, 2012 at 10:58 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   Goddamn, what weasley theological meandering from her detractor

5. 5
   

   ash

   April 28, 2012 at 11:13 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   Wow. How is it that me, a white middle aged American male completely gets Eltahawy’s point and a muslim woman, Leila Ahmed misses it so spectacularly? I don’t get it. What information could I possibly have that Ahmed doesn’t? Someone inform me…Please. I’m not kidding…

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   Moewicus

   April 30, 2012 at 11:07 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

   The way this discussion has been talked about elsewhere made it seem like Ahmed’s criticisms were rather resounding, but I found the real thing to be very different and much less one-sided. I hear the “but a woman was involved in oppressing a man” objection way too often, and usually from MRAs: the appropriate response being, more or less as Eltahawy said, that it’s a system and not an individual (and to bring up the term that embraces these complications–kyriarchy).

   I didn’t notice any of the theological meandering ash mentions, but maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention.

   Also, here’s a compilation of critiques of Eltahawy’s article:
   http://muslimwomeninhistory.tumblr.com/post/21781756225/list-of-responses-to-mona-eltahawys-piece-why-do-they

   Goodness gracious. At the very least she has generated plenty of reading material.