When “Silence is Complicity”: voicing Muslim women’s resistance through reiteration of the veil

ABSTRACT

This research challenges mainstream discourses of the Global North through the debate between the activist group, Femen, and some Muslim women. International Topless Jihad Day (ITJD), hosted by Femen, ignited conflict with Muslim women globally. On ITJD, Femen insisted that women removed their veil since, they stated, it was the symbol of oppression used by Muslim males. Femen’s message maintained the illusions of white superiority in public space through its assumption that all Muslim women are helpless and voiceless. Responding to the protest, a group of Muslim women formed the online movement; Muslim Women Against Femen (MWAF). This paper focuses on how MWAF reiterated the veil as agency, transforming Muslim women’s online resistance. In expanding how this reiteration is embraced, this paper will lend post-colonial feminist perspectives to the contestation of the veil in public.

KEYWORDS:

• Muslim veil
• Muslim Women Against Femen
• reiteration
• resistance
• voice and freedom

Acknowledgments

I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Desy Ayu Pirmasari and Dr. Vina Adriany for the constructive suggestions and criticism.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nur Latifah Umi Satiti

Nur Latifah Umi Satiti is a junior lecturer at the Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, an Islamic private university in Indonesia. She developed an interest in Gender Studies as an undergraduate in Indonesia and this continued into her Masters degree in Media and Cultural Studies at Lancaster University, UK. She continues to research gender and communication studies.