This paper explores the Plight of Muslim Women. We started this course with attention to two interlinked discourses that seem to have captured Western— especially U.S.— public consciousness: “the plight of Muslim women” oppressed by their culture/religion

The plight of Muslim women.

Islam and Women… We started this course with attention to two interlinked discourses that seem to have captured Western— especially U.S.— public consciousness: “the plight of Muslim women” oppressed by their culture/religion, and a “mission” to rescue them from being subjected to uncivilized practices of their religion/culture such as veiling, forced marriages, sexual enslavement, or other practices implying passivity and inferiority of women. Leti Volpp, points out that when “violent or abusive behavior” occurs in “minority or alien cultural, racial, or national groups” it is systematically billed as “cultural” that is, an occasion to denigrate an entire community.

The plight of Muslim women.

How do you analyze the two interlinked discourses by reference to course readings and discussions. Give particular attention to Wadud’s Qur’an and Women, Sanday’s Women at the Center, and Carolyn Rouse’s, Engaged Surrender? Feel free to use other course readings to support your analysis. (2 pages double-spaced) According to scholars of the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the subsequent attempts (and failure) to institute “freedom” and “democracy” there, have been interpreted in the region as a “neo-imperialist intervention” and a “direct assault” on Islam. https://youtu.be/4lYoG88A1g8

The plight of Muslim women.

Resulting in a new legitimacy for radical Islamist groups and an attendant undermining of progressive forces. (Mir Hosseini, 631). In this regard insider “so-called experts” (neo-orientalist) are helpful in convincing the public of the backwardness of Islam and Muslim culture (as if it is a monolith). 2. How do you analyze figures such as Ayan Hirsi Ali and the space and voice they are provided in western media for demonizing Islam as a religion and culture? Substantiate your points by reference to ANY of the course readings. (1 page, double spaced) DO NOT USE ANY SOURCES NOT LISTED HERE

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