On the Map: Liberation Won't Be Gained On Behalf of 'Others'

Love the use of Freirian concepts applied to this situation, especially as exemplified by their treatment of muslim women -- I too have heard muslim women say that hijab is in fact liberating rather than oppressive and it's a strong argument.

However, here's a question that arises for me: if the posters help to facilitate a dialogue rather than just being a rigid endpoint of speaking for women, would that shift the way you interpret it?

I would wonder if they are partnered with any feminist groups that can actually take this message and help mobilize action around it. Can't really tell from their website, but I suppose if they were using the art as a means to facilitate dialogue it becomes *less* paternalistic...

Conversely, any words without action aren't "true words" in Freire's framework, so even if they were speaking "with the oppressed", there would have to be some action component... (which leads to the conversation about whether art in and of itself is a form of action...)

Anyway, thought-provoking post...thanks!

I agree with what you've written. I once saw a performance art piece where a white woman wearing hijab started dancing around, eventually stripping down to her underwear. I think it was supposed to be an empowering statement, but it failed. Those of us who do not come from this culture, who do not wear hijab, need to listen to the women who do, rather than making blanket statements about what oppression is.

Also, how disturbing is it that in the Russian nesting doll pictured above, there's a busty blonde woman in a tube top living inside the Muslim woman?

To get artists to create for a purpose is a big deal. They are not encouraged to be polemic. I really think part of the problem with the premise is the confusion of art speak and political speak. You don't get a Guernica every day. The Guerrilla Girls did a graffiti in the early 1990s about women in Saudi Arabia not being allowed to drive, which I found no fault with.

Personally, I only go so far with religious views of women and the multicultural defense of certain practices as "liberating." I have heard this defense offered for genital mutilation of females: If you don't have a clitoris, men don't have sexual power over you. On the other hand, the women's movement and the humanitarian movement are rife with examples of privileged people directing the social movements of the "victims." In defense of posters, women's studies departments should say thank you ever morning to whoever created the poster from the late 1960s of Susan B. Anthony with the quote "Our history has been stolen from us...."

Not the most radical organization, but I bet a lot of political prisoners are grateful that Amnesty International is speaking on their behalf.

I can hardly imagine what it must be like to, as a female, establish yourself in a career in some Muslim-majority countries.
A friend of mine works in a grad admissions office, and whenever she sees an application from a female student from Saudi Arabia or Iran, she gets very happy knowing that these women are at the top of their classes and have won international scholarships to study in the US. I also secretly applaud these women and wish them so much success when they retun to their countries.