Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving Summary

937 Words4 Pages

Nicholas Sosa
Professor Evans
Anthropology 210
February 2, 2015
Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? What is the definition of saving? Lila Abu-Lughod states that, “When you save someone, you imply that you are saving her from something” (Abu-Lughod 215). This phrase brings up a very crucial discussion in this article. In the article Lila Abu-Lughod focuses and describes that we as human beings need to understand cultural differences. A couple Issues that Lila Abu-Lughod does address is the political view of the veil and burqa, and also the rhetoric of salvation. The reason Lila Abu-Lughob brings up the discussion with the veil and burqa is because they hold contemporary concerns about Muslim women. She shares in her article that is has come …show more content…

What happened in Afghanistan under the Taliban is one regional style of covering and veiling, that associates with the respectable but not elite and was imposed by everyone being religiously appropriate. She also states that the burqa was not invented by the Taliban, but was used long before by the Pashtun women which they wore before they went out signifying a women’s modesty and respectability. It also marks the symbolic separation of mens and women’s spheres, the general association of women with the family and home, and not with public space. Lila Abu-Lughob also exclaims that the burqa was a sort of “portable seclusion” for these women and if they we supposed to take them off their protection would dissipate from the harassment that the men would cause in the public scene. That being said Lila Abu-Lughob states that these women once being free from the Taliban were certainly not going back to jeans and short tee shirts and that the importance of covered clothing needs to be known. With this divided view on the situation Lila Abu-lughob describes it as being an idea of East versus …show more content…

The new Burqa is being described in the article, consisting of embroidered eye hole, chadors which are large scarfs and the new modest dress known as the hijab. These cover up clothing were similarly associated with social class. The burqa was designated for good people, the hijab for students in the medical field and the scarfs for teachers.
Lila Abu-Lughob writes that Cultural Relativism is certainly an improvement on the racism and ethnocentrism that underline this problem. Meaning the national character that we perceive of these people can be the opposite of the truth, and that there are many forms of cultures with long history around the