I think people really have to get out of the binary of whore/madonna which seems to dominate any discussion about women, feminism and the hijab. First, if feminists are truly fighting for the empowerment of women, they must encourage women to express themselves through any religion or attire they desire. If women wish to wear the burka or anythin else out of free will, then they should do so without comment by any feminists. Of course, feminists believe that the will to many things in life are “socially constructed.” In this way, a person making the decision to do something is not entirely of free mind and body because their brain was “colonized” by the man. If you cannot sense the sarcasm, this is one aspect of feminist philosophy which I am a bit uncomfortable with. If things are all socially constructed, then what place is there for free will? Are we mere intellectual sponges, lacking in the capacity to think? And if we have the capacity to think, is it not possible to arrive at a conclusion not based on social construction? Such is a dilemma to keep in mind as you read my comments.
From my perspective, the hijab and the miniskirt are not all that different (this is going somewhere- I promise). With the miniskirt, a woman is selling promescuity (or conforming to that standard), with the hijab a woman is sellling virginity. In both cases, the pentrability of women and her weak nature is reasserted. Sure, the hijab is called modesty, but the burden of that modesty falls on women, rather than men (which strikes me as unfair- men seem to conviniently forget about the idea of male hijab). And yes, the miniskirt is called sexually liberated, but its funny how that liberation pleases every man from Sydney to Djibuti.
In this respect, women who wear miniskirts seem to think that hijabi’s are oppressed, stupid, and unhappy. Hijabi’s in turn believe that women who wear miniskirts are prostitutes. In both cases, their is an unfair, unrealistic, and uninformed judgement of the other party.
No more generalisations for me