ANTH 23 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Female Genital Mutilation, Honor Killing, Foreplay
Document Summary
Anth 23 lecture 10 muslim americans and islamophobia. Radical islamic ideas developing during cold war era: soviet occupation of afghanistan -> taliban. Power vacuum after fall of soviet union. Using culture to explain 9/11, taliban, women"s rights in afghanistan: misses the point. Not products of discrete foreign culture, results of historical interactions. Extreme interpretations of islamic law thrive in resistance to capitalist and communist. Islam expedient tool to unite people divided by colonial powers secularism. Veiling common among wealthy arab women, became required of muhammad"s wives: symbol of devotion and modesty. Conservative islam holds that men and women inhabit separate spheres in public. Public places sites of corruption and filth: covering up allows woman to be in public without soiling herself. Coverings allow women greater mobility: vs being secluded at home. Many muslim women choose to cover heads as sign of devotion and modesty: others see as cultural practice not required by islam. France, belgium, italy ban face-coverings in public.
