Mouth to Mouth: How Pakistani Senator’s Comments Overshadow the Real Story

September 2, 2008 By fatima

Ramadan Mubarak everyone! I spent the first day of Ramadan at the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities protesting the 2,342,343,253 ways (roughly) that our lovely ruling party has screwed over the world. But maybe that’s another story for another blog. This post might be a little shorter than usual because, honestly, marching all day and holding up signs (‘Stop Hating Brown People!!!’) in the hot sun with robocops on the sidelines definitely takes a lot out of me.

My country of origin, Pakistan, is yet again making headlines because a senator in Balochistan has publicly defended the murders of five young women who decided to have court marriages with their own free will. The women were BURIED ALIVE in the name of honor.

We have covered honor killings before on MMW, probably more than we would like because they happen so much. But a person who has institutional power openly and proudly stating his support of honor killings?? That is just out of my sphere of understanding….and unfortunately, it makes Pakistan look ridiculous.

However, the coverage of the issue on the PakTribune is amazing. Since it is a Pakistani news source, the coverage is not condescending or paternalistic. It doesn’t have a feel of “Pakistan is backwards because of this ONE senator’s opinions”. Instead, the author acknowledges the shock that most Pakistanis would feel if they knew that the senator said what he did. They also do something that is INTEGRAL to the positive portrayal of Muslim women in the media, and that is recognizing the radical work that Muslim women are doing to create change in the communities in which they live.

The article speaks of the women as revolutionaries who were brave enough to break down cultural norms to do what they needed to do to live happy lives. It is because of their strength and courage that they were seen as a threat to the tribal customs and thus, dehumanized, tortured, and ultimately buried alive.

So many news articles about honor killings refuse to acknowledge that most of the time, the acts that women engage in that are considered to be ‘shameful’ are done as acts of resistance against the norms. The women were not meek or timid…they were starting a revolution of their own and gave their lives for the cause. In order for their deaths to not be in vain, news outlets must recognize their bravery and their defiance instead of making them look like weak and submissive little girls.

Too many people in the ‘Western’ world want to make assumptions about Muslim women….we know this all too well. We are NOT weak and we are NOT submissive. We ARE strong, powerful, able-minded revolutionaries in our right. Many of us fight our fights simply by living our lives and many of us protest in more intentional ways. None of these acts should be overlooked. So the next time you hear about an honor killing on BBC or CNN, remember that the woman who died was killed because she was seen as a threat to patriarchy…and she was a hero in her own revolution.

Editor’s Note: Fatima does a great analysis here, but I wanted to point out something extra.

Notice in both stories, the focus is on what the senator said (or didn’t say). Even in this story from the BBC, that highlights the fact that the Pakistani senate has condemned the killings and called for action to be taken against the perpetrators, the focus is on politics.

The horrific murders of these women happened in July, over a month ago. We reported on it in our Friday Links for August 15, which was the same week we learned of the story, and we could only find one source (via Raquel Evita Saraswati) for that story. There was nothing in major Western news outlets about this.

But as soon as a senator says something horrible about the incident, there are three stories within a week. As if what the senator said in defense of the murders is more newsworthy than the murders themselves.

May Allah grant these murdered women peace and justice.

Muslimah Media Watch thanks Kawthar for the tip!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , ,

Mother Knows Best: CNN’s interview with an alleged suicide bomber

August 26, 2008 By fatima

Sometimes I wonder why I even browse CNN.com anymore. However, it does tend to make for a good story for MMW each week :)

This story about an Iraqi woman being detained because she is an alleged suicide bomber is pretty ridiculous….more so than what I’m used to seeing on there. Anytime mainstream news sources cover the ‘phenomenon’ of female suicide bombers, they regard it just as such: a PHENOMENON. Like it is impossible for women to be violent? Like women are only violent when they are avenging the deaths of the men in their lives? God forbid that women have their own political motivations for engaging in militaristic actions to prove a point.

I don’t condone suicide bombings…obviously (well, I hope it’s obvious, at least. I’m an anti-violence worker!) But, like many progressive-minded people who try to think outside the box, I do think that instead of viewing the bombings as independent acts of violence, we should try to understand what we can do to limit the violence besides demonizing an entire culture.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way…

To be honest, I didn’t even read the headline of the story until I finished the actual article. After I saw that the headline was “Iraqi mom ridicules cops over suicide bombings”, I thought it seemed a bit sensational, to say the least. The article is supposed to be about a woman, Umm Omar (pictured left), who is accused of being an aspiring suicide bomber. The writer is sitting in on an interrogation of this woman. The evidence presented is a letter addressed to Umm Omar saying that her sister, Fatima, carried out God’s wishes as a suicide bomber and thus she should, as well.

Anyone who knows anything about names in the Middle East knows that Umm Omar means ‘mother of Omar’. Furthermore, Fatima is one of the most common Muslim names out there. (Hello! My name is Fatima and my older brother’s name is Omar! I mean, it’s REALLY common). That letter could be addressed to half of the Muslim population! Frankly, I think that CNN really needed a sensationalist story on Muslim women being violent.

But beyond my superficial frustrations with the article (though I’m still really annoyed about the names…) there are deeper issues at hand here. Why is it that Muslim women are either portrayed as weak and oppressed or demonized as terrorists and violent people? And why are all of these perceptions of us based on the MEN in our lives?

The article said that most women who are suicide bombers are doing so because they have lost their fathers, brothers, and sons, and that they must avenge their deaths. REALLY? Well…then why are the men doing it? Are Muslim women really that daft and weak-minded that they can’t even make the decision to kill themselves on their own – it has to be because of the men in their lives?

Some people might say that I am looking into this too much. I can sense those responses in my future. But I think that our perceptions of the world are strongly influenced by the subtleties and nuances of the media – it is the things that we don’t even realize are there that are hitting us the hardest. Even though the image of Iraqi Muslim women is painted as both oppressed AND violent in a subtle way, it is still very powerful and harmful for us.

It scares me that the war in Iraq was started with a lot of talk about liberating the Iraqi women from the tyrannical powers of Islamic law. A lot of people supported the war in the name of women’s rights. So when articles like this about Iraqi women are published, how do you think it informs public opinion on the war?

You can see the video of CNN’s Arwa Damon interviewing Umm Omar here.

Filed Under: News, Politics Tagged With: , ,

A New Kind of Jihad

August 12, 2008 By fatima

Is it possible to capture the lives of queer, gay, lesbian and bisexual Muslims in the span of a 81 minute film without essentializing their lives into either “oppressed” or “liberated”? Is it possible to do so while representing other aspects of their identities? Is it possible to recognize the vast differences in the experiences of gay men and gay WOMEN?

Apparently, it is in A Jihad for Love. Parvez Sharma’s film (trailer shown below) has been getting a lot of attention from mainstream media in the past few months made its debut in Chicago, where I live, a few weeks ago. Of course, I went to see the film the first chance I had and was definitely moved by it.

YouTube Preview Image

First and foremost, the title is striking. I appreciate Sharma’s attempt at creating awareness about the true meaning of “jihad”, but for the most part, I found that it seemed like a joke to most non-Muslims that I mentioned it to. That aside, what is actually IN the film is probably more important to discuss.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the mainstream LGBT community tends to focus more on the “G” than anything else…that is, it is highly male dominated. My fear going into the theatre to see this film was that all the stories would be revolving around Muslim men’s issues with being gay. I was delighted (yes, delighted!) to see women from all different backgrounds portrayed in the movie.

One of the women, whose name I cannot remember (one negative criticism: Sharma stuffed WAY too many stories into one film – but still, they were all incredibly valuable in their own ways), was a practicing Muslim who wore hijab and was trying to reconcile her sexual identity with her religious one. She ultimately decided that it is against Islam and is an urge that she should try not to succumb to.

Many of the people portrayed in the movie were searching the Quran and hadith trying to find some validation for being themselves. Two women who are partners in Turkey went to Jummah prayer together and were then shown going to meet one of the women’s mothers. Though living in a country dominated by Muslims, they felt comfortable being themselves and loving each other openly. Sharma’s portrayal of these women made it seem that they were some of the lucky few who had reconciled their religious identities with their sexual identities.

Sharma did a great job of not trying to argue whether or not Islam prohibits so called ‘deviant’ sexual identities. Instead, he just showed how other people are negotiating those contradictions in their lives. He also showed such a wide array of Muslims from many different backgrounds living all over the world. Some stories were absolutely heartbreaking and horrific, while others were lighter and less stressful. All the stories were hopeful about what the future of LGBT Muslims looks like. The people in the film were never portrayed as faceless victims, but as individuals with unique personalities who are overcoming the rampant homophobia that is not only present in Muslim countries and within Islam but throughout the entire world and most major religions. Of course there is a lot of work to do before all people who identify as LGBT and/or Muslims can live their lives free of fear, hatred, and shame, but Sharma shows us that there are countless courageous people who are pushing the limits of sexuality, questioning long-standing unrealistic religious ideals, and fighting for freedom just by being who they are.

(A Jihad for Love is touring around the country until November 1. Check here to see when it is playing your town.)

Filed Under: Cinema
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