{"id":2386,"date":"2009-01-12T00:00:23","date_gmt":"2009-01-12T08:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muslimahmediawatch.org\/?p=2386"},"modified":"2012-01-21T14:06:17","modified_gmt":"2012-01-21T18:06:17","slug":"debating-the-morality-of-rachida-dati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2009\/01\/debating-the-morality-of-rachida-dati\/","title":{"rendered":"Debating the morality of Rachida Dati"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Ms. Rachida Dati, France\u2019s first female Muslim minister, has been criticized for returning to work<\/a> only five days after giving birth to a baby girl. The media seems to favor the public view that Dati\u2019s decision is a reckless political stunt that makes light of the responsibility of mothers everywhere. Dati, half-Algerian and half-Moroccan, is the second of 12 children. She\u2019s been the center of media attention, primarily because she\u2019s style-conscious, attractive and single, ever since France\u2019s President Nicolas Sarkozy appointed her justice minister in May 2007. This would be problematic if Dati did not crave the attention, but her decision to agree to fashion shoots in popular French magazines is evidence of her belief that femininity and politics can go hand-in-hand<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n

(Coincidentally, Sarah Palin, another influential woman known to mix glamour and politics also chose to go back to work less than a week after giving birth).<\/p>\n

\"Pierre-Philippe,
Rachida Dati. Photo: Pierre-Philippe, Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The media\u2019s focus on her now is no surprise, although the nature has changed from tabloid gossip about her designer duds and competition with Sarkozy\u2019s wife, to her morality. Did she do the right thing<\/em> by going back to work so soon after giving birth?<\/p>\n

Some blogs claim she set a bad example for women<\/a> by neglecting her daughter. Others accuse Dati of undermining the feminist movement<\/a> by refusing to take the 16-week maternity leave working mothers are entitled to.<\/p>\n

The debate over Dati\u2019s decision is valid and warranted, especially since gender equality in the workplace is far from perfect. It also brings attention to the plight of single women, less privileged than Dati, who are forced to take maternity leave because they can\u2019t afford daycare. I\u2019m very curious about one question the media doesn\u2019t seem to be asking: Isn\u2019t it bizarre that a <\/span>Muslim woman in the public sphere has given birth out of wedlock? <\/span><\/p>\n

The media has not focused on the reaction of Muslim women for example, or whether her family, who once forced her to marry, has accepted the child.<\/p>\n

In raising this question, I don\u2019t intend to reduce Dati\u2019s accomplishments: that a Muslim woman from an oppressed immigrant community can rise to become not only the first woman to hold the Office of Justice Minister, but the first North African to do so is extraordinary. <\/span>Normally, this would be a HUGE success for Muslim women and the somewhat ghettoized Muslims in France. Yet Dati\u2019s success cannot be so easily celebrated, because <\/span>her actions are not consistent with mainstream Islam: according to shari\u2019ah, sex outside marriage (zina)<\/em> is forbidden in Islam. <\/span><\/p>\n

To the Muslim community, her sin is emphasized whenever the media speculates about her baby\u2019s daddy<\/a>.\u00a0 Dati does not seem to be concerned by this traditionalist view of her pregnancy, and from her rush to return to work and show off her daughter to fans, it is obvious she is not embarrassed by what she calls a \u201ccomplicated situation.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Should she be?<\/span><\/p>\n

Should Muslims undermine her success because of her obvious disregard of Islamic law, or should it be celebrated as revolutionary, in terms of a Muslim woman\u2019s fundamental liberty?<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the painful question boils down to this: Is Dati courageous or is she ridiculous? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ms. Rachida Dati, France\u2019s first female Muslim minister, has been criticized for returning to work only five days after giving birth to a baby girl. The media seems to favor the public view that Dati\u2019s decision is a reckless political stunt that makes light of the responsibility of mothers everywhere. Dati, half-Algerian and half-Moroccan, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13,14],"tags":[166,481,820,1103],"class_list":["post-2386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culturesociety","category-news","category-politics","tag-baby","tag-france","tag-maternity-leave","tag-rachida-dati"],"yoast_head":"\nDebating the morality of Rachida Dati<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ms. Rachida Dati, France\u2019s first female Muslim minister, has been criticized for returning to work only five days after giving birth to a baby girl. 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