Feminism is resurgent in Germany as a whole, though not in every culture, explains Sineb El Masrar: Muslim communities are still wary of the idea.
But today, a great many women, girls and queer people identify as feminists. Feminism is omnipresent now, even in places where it used to be conspicuous by its absence, from the fashion and porn industries to religious groups. It’s also in present-day politics, as policymakers ask whether foreign policy should adopt a feminist orientation.
Feminism is hip in Germany these days. Not that it didn’t make headlines in its heyday, for example in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was shaking up values and norms believed to be set in stone, like a woman’s supposedly God-ordained place in the home and at the hearth or doing volunteer work for the congregation of the local church or mosque.
Not to forget: bearing kids for nine months, giving birth and raising them, of course. Many Muslim immigrant men at the time saw eye to eye with conservative German society about all that. With rallying cries like “My body belongs to me” and “Women's rights are human rights”, women shook up traditional society around the globe.
Feminism in the Muslim World
Although feminism is primarily a European and North American project, its ideas also found fertile and enthusiastic ground wherever women were suffering from discrimination. So it’s not surprising that feminist movements developed even in the Muslim world as well.But in most cases, their hopes for self-determination and liberty were – and continue to be – nipped in the bud. Even, not infrequently, by women themselves, who deliberately or unwittingly make themselves complicit in reactionary policies. In Islamic countries, feminism is perceived as a menace to internal security. It is said to destroy the family first, then to fuel immorality by challenging traditional values of honour, national pride and unrestricted allegiance to Islam, thereby threatening the prevailing order and its rulers.
Feminism is viewed as an ideology imported from the West, and many nations to the South of Europe and North America haven’t had the best experience with the West in the past due to colonialism and what is perceived as its imperialistic foreign policies. Women’s expectations of more democracy and freedom have been dashed time and again. And Western countries have deliberately swept under the carpet their own share of the blame for these disappointments.
Patriarchal religions
Like the right wing in the West, Islamist and reactionary Muslims demonise feminism because they see it as a threat to their patriarchal and moral values. Conservative and even liberal Muslims tend to be of two minds because they are concerned about what remains of Islam if Muslims internalise feminist values. Islam, like Christianity, is a patriarchal religion with its traditions and binaries. So Muslim women in Germany, like women all over the world, make the most of already existing feminist achievements such as access to the education and employment of their choice that are met with the least resistance within the family. But all matters relating to women’s sexuality, such as love, sex, and physical and gender self-determination, remain bones of contention even today in 2022, involving struggles and negotiations carried out behind closed doors more than in the public sphere. Simply because, once again, a great many Muslim communities in Germany see feminism as destroying the family and Islam.“Frankly ...”
On an alternating basis each week, our “Frankly …” column series is written by Sineb El Masrar, Susi Bumms, Maximilian Buddenbohm and Marie Leão. Sineb El Masrar writes about migration to and the multicultural society in Germany: What strikes her, what is strange, which interesting insights emerge?
April 2022