Bridging cultures through education and understanding

Last month, the world’s media circulated a news story of a student stripping to her underwear on a university campus in Tehran, Iran. International Western media described her as a brave, courageous young woman, defying the abusive restrictions on women’s clothing and expressed a major concern over her fate. Local Iranian sources, on the other hand, portrayed her as a distressed, recently divorced mother in dire need of mental health support. Social media was fueled with a wide range of views from people from diverse backgrounds. Typically, in Western cultures, where women are expected to have the freedom of how to dress, people supported the stripping woman. Western feminism is a movement seeking to empower and emancipate women from male dominance and has served as an avenue to break down patriarchy in all its forms e.g. the traditional family structure, religious values, the social roles of gender, etc. Women’s lifestyles have gradually shifted towards modern trends, where wearing less clothing has become a norm and a non-negotiable right. Which Western feminism extends to be considered as a global right.  

Being familiar with Western feminism, I found the applauding of the West of the stripping woman rather expected. I have already addressed my critiques of Western feminism on various occasions. Numerous feminist scholars have also conveyed their perspectives, labelling Western feminism as narrow, “othering”, ethnocentric, overlooking cultural differences, post-colonial, hegemonic etc1. In my opinion, both Western feminism and Western media have contributed to shaping people’s cognitions as to what constitutes the rights of equality and freedom. The latter may have had a stronger impact on people’s perceptions of both women and men in other cultures. As descried in the film analysis of Shaheen, J. (2003) “through repeated and consistent media images, people’s minds have created pre-defined categories of the different2. Although stereotypes can be positive, most of the images of people of color in Western media are negative. Shaheen noted that “Muslim Arabs have been the most maligned group in the history of the cinema, characterized by excessive stereotyping that exceeded negative images of Blacks, Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Jews.” Western media has played an important role in leading Western feminists to conclude that women of color are better off with Western cultural standards. With that perspective in mind, migrant women are expected to assimilate, relinquishing their cultures of origin in favor of a full incorporation into Western society, they should strive to empowerment and liberal rights. 

Have Western women attained their rights? Western feminism commenced in the 1960s and to this day there is no evidence of the full realization of women’s empowerment. In addition, new categories of gender have emerged demanding equality. The traditional family structure is being replaced with different definitions despite the lack of evidence as to the benefits of the new forms and the disadvantages of the traditional one. Western cultures, as I view them, are undergoing an experiment that has no pre-measured variables. The Western scientific thought, being based on neutrality, objectivity, and rationality, has infiltrated the heterogeneity of the socio-cultural layers. 

Socio-psychological analyses reveal that assimilation leads to better socio-economic satisfaction, whereas integration has more favorable psychological outcomes. Contrary to assimilation, which involves discarding one’s cultural heritage, integration requires the identification of both host and native cultures and promotes self-esteem. Aboriginal communities are a vivid example of the outcome of forced assimilation. Even today, their descendants endure damage, which is diagnosed as “intergenerational trauma’’, the torment of the loss of their identity, history, cultural heritage, and social roots. According to statistics, drug and alcohol misuse are serious problems among indigenous communities and the prevalence is higher among women compared to men. Throughout the history of colonialism, forced assimilation has been employed to compel the original inhabitants to adapt to new social systems. Colonizers perceive their cultures as superior. 

Feminism in Western academia was put forth by white men and has been reproducing the “white-supremist, capitalist patriarchy”1. The application of Western feminism on women of color, such as African American and Asian American women is being questioned. Researchers have criticized Western feminists, who perceive themselves as rescuers of women of color. Nonetheless, Western feminism is experiencing its third wave, global feminism. It has been developing and spreading out without proper consideration of the voices and genuine concerns of women across the world. 

Returning to the stripping student in Tehran; would she receive the same level of sympathy if she stripped on a university campus in North America? Would Western media interpret her behavior as rebellious? To my knowledge, students in Western university campuses are required to conform to dress codes. On their websites, some universities state that “Pajamas, bathrobes, bras, lingerie, and boxer shorts, worn in public spaces and/or as outerwear” are strictly prohibited on campus4. According to them, the students’ dress code policy plays “a major role in instilling a sense of integrity and an appreciation for values and ethics.”5  

Having said that, if students in Western universities are not permitted to strip under any circumstances, why was it brave to do so in another culture? Would it be wrong of me to say that ‘Western feminism not only does not consider or respect the values and ethics of other cultures; it also does not shy away from double standard’? 

Still, my comments here are not intended to convey a shock or surprise at the responses of Western feminists and Western media. To me, they were all too predictable. I, however, was taken aback by the voices of Arabs and Muslims that have adopted the Western perspective. In fact, I was disturbed by it!

Alas! The stifling of the Arab and Muslim worlds in science, education, knowledge, and technology has led to a major cultural decline. Attempting to catch up with modernity, people in the Arab and Muslim region have voluntarily assimilated to Western proposals and are gradually losing ties to their history and culture. Social media culture, employed by global feminism, has replaced the traditional roles of family and institutional education. Intellectual philosophy has been absent in Arab academia since Medieval Times. Instead of innovating, Social Sciences disciplines in Arab education rely on regenerating Western scientific theories. The intellectually lazy, conveniently import Western knowledge and reproduce it instead of building on it. 

Civilizations travel across the world throughout history. During the times when the Muslim civilization was enlightened with science and philosophy, the West was experiencing its Dark Ages. Arab and Muslim scientists at that time used to wear turbans as a symbol of scholarly integrity. In which case why do Muslim women today need to strip off in their universities to pursue cultural enlightenment? 

References

1. Ten Brink, Anna-Sophia. Seminar: Postcolonial Theory and Short Fiction a Critical Introduction to Western Feminism – Liberation or Domination? . 2021.
2. Dr. John Caruso, Jr. “Film Review: Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People.” International Journal of Multicultural Education, vol. 10, no. 2, 26 Nov. 2008, ijme-journal.org/index.php/ijme/article/view/179/221. Accessed 28 Oct. 2023.
3. “Assimilation or Integration: Similarities and Differences between Acculturation Attitudes of Migrants from Central Asia and Russians in Central Russia.Psychology in Russia: State of the Art.” Psychologyinrussia.com, 2018, psychologyinrussia.com/volumes/?article=4636.
4. “Dress Code | Virginia Union University.” Vuu.edu, 2024, http://www.vuu.edu/vuu-student-handbook/dress-code. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024.
5. Dress Code – Hampton University Activities. home.hamptonu.edu/activities/dress-code/.

Date: Dec 24, 2024