How does intersectionality theory help understand “veiling” in ways outside the “dominant” western view of veiling as a form of subjugation? How do women in Mirza’s study navigate agency and resistance in relation to their transnational identity in UK?
It has been observed and argued over the years that the transnational Muslim women who come to Britain from postcolonial societies, nations, and cultures from prehistoric era find a difficult position in the intersecting and dominant faces of race, gender, and class. Therefore, in order to fully and aptly analyze and understand the impact of these dynamics of race, class, and gender on their sense of being and an ethnic identity that they carry with themselves, it is important to deploy an analytical framework which can look at how the boundaries of gender and race are produced and lived through by the transnationals. Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989) coined the term ‘intersectionality’ for understanding the domination of the cultural practices and patterns of oppression.
Any modern multicultural nation emphasizes on two main values: freedom and culture. The veiling of Muslim women challenges these notions, ending up making her a symbol of something that a nation must give up in order to be itself. Hence, it becomes easier to racially discriminate them and mark them as ‘other’. Being visually different invites a label of ‘standing out’, which leads to the feelings of rejection and anxiety (Mirza, 2012).
The women in Mirza’s study, as transnationals, along with other women, formed meaningful communities based on shared identifications and a common sense of consciousness (Bilge & Denis, 2010). Such communalization, however, challenges the widely prevailing notions of treating transnational subjects as strategic agents (Butcher, 2009). However, these women were bound to each other, not by their geographies, but by the common Muslim practices, manifested in going to the mosque, eating halal food, wearing hijab or not, and others belonging to the resistance of the postcolonial era (Smith, 2008).
Works Cited
Mirza, Heidi Safia. 'A Second Skin': Embodied intersectionality, transnationalism and narratives of identity and belonging among Muslim women in Britain. London: Institute of Education, University of London, 2012. Web.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé W. Demarginalizing the Intersection of race and sex: A black female critique of anti-discrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist policies. Chicago: The University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989. Web.
Bilge, Sirma, & Denis, Ann. Introduction: Women, intersectionality and diasporas. Journal of Intercultural Studies. 2010.
Butcher, Melissa. Ties that bind: The strategic use of transnational relationships in demarcating identity and managing difference. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 2009.
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. London and New York: Zed Books. 2008.
