Comments on: “It’s interesting to have a burqa”

By: Speak Your Mind: Mona Eltahawy’s Advice on Media « Muslimah Media Watch

Tue, 26 May 2009 08:07:24 +0000

[...] that almost turned the burqa pieces into some kind of trendy consumer item (and reminded me of the burqa wine-bottle covers I wrote about a while ago.) She made a great point that “Afghan women are not our gimmicks, [...]

By: thabet

thabet — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:25:47 +0000

Orientalism and consumerism are related.

By: Krista

Krista — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:30:39 +0000

Thanks everyone for the comments.

@Naeem: As you may have noticed, the wine bottle part of the story wasn’t actually the major focus. More disturbing is the commodification of the burqa and its appropriation as something that can now be a decoration in someone’s home, which is problematic regardless of whether wine is involved or not.

By: nadiaalam

nadiaalam — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:59:49 +0000

i am absolutely appalled by this article. i think it is completely “symbols of their oppression as decorations” as mentioned in this article. what is even worse is that the women of this project do not understand the implications of the things that they are creating – that they are a symbolism of oppression, of terrorism. it is truly a sad thing.

By: Naeem

Naeem — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:58:33 +0000

Bla bla bla, glad we are all up in arms about the burning crisis of the day. Burqa+Wine in same sentence. Oh my god, I can feel the fitna rushing to my head.

By: » MMW Weekly Roundup 12.5.08 Talk Islam

» MMW Weekly Roundup 12.5.08 Talk Islam — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:50:33 +0000

[...] week on MMW, we examined the commodification of the burqa, the politics of lust in the Malaysian fatwa against tomboys, pondered gender at the MANA [...]

By: Bradley Strider

Bradley Strider — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:11:30 +0000

I lol’d.

Oh wait, no, I was outraged. Yeah. Really mad, I am.

By: Umm Layth

Umm Layth — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:41:58 +0000

as salamu ‘alaykum

Such ignorance.

By: Cecelia

Cecelia — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:00:20 +0000

This is highly offensive. I agree with you Sahar, it is typical cultural appropriation. Just like so many other traditions, cultures and tribes worldwide where things are stolen and used without honor and respect. We see so much of Native American/First Nations culture appropriated in American society.

By: Sahar

Sahar — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:55:00 +0000

Krista: well analysed!

I think it’s really just typical cultural appropriation. The burqa is now part of the many relics of another’s culture for the west and its own culture of spectacle to appropriate as art and display.

It’s utterly offensive in another way. Perhaps i’m reading into it more, but the use of the burqa in this way is sending out a message of being conquered. In Western discourse the burqa is symbolic of religous extremism or Islam to be precise, and therefore associating the burqa with wine( alcohol) which is forbidden in Islam is a way of relegating Islam to a position of submission. It is now at the West’s disposal.