I’m reading the Charter of Feminist Principles that came out of the African Feminist Forum in late 2006 and is making waves in the women’s funding movement.
I went from having my mind blown open by Naomi Wolf and Ms. to pulling away when I eventually realized that, as a brown Purelandi Muslim woman, I wasn’t really reflected in their rhetoric.
Over the years some definitions expanded as I began working with grassroots organizations largely staffed by and focused on people of color. But the faith angle still didn’t fit into the framework.
The schism between faith and feminism left women attached to both feeling as if they had to choose in an environment where bringing up faith was a surefire way to get a feminist to curl her lips in disgust at that “patriarchal crap.”
Recently though, I’ve discovered a whole subset of women working at the nexus of faith, feminism and philanthropy. And by doing so I’ve had to once again re-evaluate my identity politics.
The F-word, feminism, may be due for a comeback.
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February 14, 2007 at 3:55 pm
kaleidomuslima
i find it interesting how many times when the f-word is brought up in muslim circles, the brothers seem to turn red and emit steam from their ears, while the more “modest” sisters avert their eyes and pretend like they didn’t hear what you said.
i’m not sure — are there truly any MUSLIM feminists who are represented and/or respected at women’s conferences? to me it seems they only live in anthologies at barnes & noble, borders, and amazon.