Assignment 10 – Abu-Lughod
In Lila Abu-Lughod’s essay “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” she argues that the “saving” of Muslim women has become the main building block and/or stepping stone for debate and communication of human welfare in Afghanistan. This is a problem because it has made Muslim woman the focus of an on going “messy” political battle. It is my understanding that she feels as though American people have decided to take the historical Muslim culture of women and try to change it based on their beliefs and they have done so without taking into consideration the differences of all women around the world. Lila Abu-Lughod also references to Transnational Feminism, which we have touched on before in previous readings. In her essay she makes a point that feminist and activist didn’t take much notice of the “women of cover” also known as Afghanistan women until after the events of September eleventh two thousand and one. During a radio show Lila Abu-Lughod noticed that all the questions being presented were trying to pin point some underlying issue or cause of both the horiffic and tragic events of September eleventh two thousand one. However. all the questions were not just speaking to Afghanistan women but to there religion of Islam and/ or Islam. Lila Abu-Lughod was trying to understand as well as make us aware of the fact that the United States of America had been trying to understand the maltreatment of Muslim and Islamic women and its connection with nine eleven, instead of focusing on why and/ or what caused Afghanistan and Osama Bin Laden to plan and execute a terrorist attack on the United States of America. During this time the United Stated or America and the late first lady, Laura Bush decided to intervene and try to “save” the Muslim and Islamic women. Stating that Afghanistan “women were rejoicing at their liberation by the Americans”, but was this truly the case or just a fallacy created but the United States of America. Lila Abu-Lughod brings up a very controversial issue of the Burqa and the covering up of Afghanistan women. She speaks on the “veiling” of these women and what the United States of America fails to recognize. They fail to recognize that covering up or the “veiling” of Afghanistan is a choice made by these women not a “maltreatment” forced upon them by Afghanistan men. The Afghanistan women are clearly misunderstood not in the need of saving.
