The limits of force/choice discourses in discussing Muslim women's dress codes

As the question of Muslim women’s dress codes comes under intense media and political scrutiny, two competing discourses have emerged. The first of these discourses centres around the veil (in whatever form) as a symbol of patriarchal force. The second discourse has emerged largely in response to the first, and asserts that covering is an exercise in women’s choice and a symbol of female empowerment. This paper argues that neither of these discourses adequately describes the complex negotiations that Muslim women employ with regard to dress. I discuss the discourse of ‘force’ with regard to media imagery of Taliban era Afghanistan, and ‘choice’ with regard to contemporary Australia, grappling with the issue of how to challenge the representation of the Muslim women’s dress as a symbol of oppression without reinforcing its standing as a symbol of cultural loyalty

Not Eating the Muslim Other: Halal Certification, Scaremongering, and the Racialisation of Muslim Identity

Campaigns against the halal certification of food in Muslim-minority societies reveal the shift in the representation of Muslims from a visible, alien presence to a hidden, covert threat. This paper uses one such campaign in Australia as a point of entry for analysing the ramifications for Muslim identity of this ‘stealth jihad’ discourse. Muslims living in the west are increasingly targeted not for ‘standing out’ as misfits, but for blending in as the invisible enemy. The scare campaign against halal certification closely parallels previous campaigns against kosher certification, highlighting the increasing resemblance between contemporary Islamophobia and historical anti-Semitism

Pushing the limits and crossing the boundaries: Muslim women in the post 9/11 age

Adelaide Festival of Ideas session, Basil Hetzel Lecture Room, 2:30pm, Friday 10th July, 2009. Chaired by Riaz Hassan.http://www.adelaidefestivalofideas.com.a

Challenging the myth of the happy celibate: Muslim women negotiating contemporary relationships

In recent decades, the age of marriage in many minority Muslim communities has risen so that significant numbers of Muslims in these contexts are remaining unmarried into their late 20 s and beyond. As with other communities in Western contexts, Muslim communities have also experienced a rising divorce rate, leading to many more single women. These social and demographic changes, combined with traditional attitudes towards female sexuality and virginity, have led to a rise in the number of women who have either never had a sexual encounter or who no longer have sexual encounters. Cultural discourses surrounding virginity and female celibacy frequently conflate the virtue of refusing sexual encounters outside of marriage with happiness and satisfaction at 'choosing the right path'. However, these discourses negate or downplay women's sexual desires and result in women often feeling trapped into having to perform the 'myth of the happy celibate'. To disrupt this myth is to unleash the potentially destructive power of female sexuality, while to openly challenge it is to risk being positioned as a 'slut'