Veil Obsessed

Discussions surrounding the veil often run along essentialist and ahistorical lines, associating Islam with oppression, shame, and honor. Contributing to these stereotypes, the media in both the East and the West obsessively condemn or valorize practices of veiling. In Veil Obsessed, Umme Al-wazedi and Afrin Zeenat present a range of essays to complicate and challenge the dialogue around the veil, exploring its symbolic, religious, and cultural significance. Scholars from a variety of fields analyze and critique the use of the veil in literature, film, television, and the fine arts. Considering the multiple perceptions of the veil, this volume shows that the meaning of hijab can be natural or constructed, real or metaphorical, and religious or political, when it is presented through the media, in the teachings of Islam, and in upholding it as a national symbol of a nation-state. There are inherent tensions among the ideas concerning the power of hijab. Does wearing it give agency to women or does it represent oppression, thereby creating and perpetuating stereotypes? How an individual sees their relationship with the self, family and community, and the nation-state dictates their choice of whether to wear the veil. In exploring the wide range of portrayals, the editors pose critical questions about perceptions of the veil and the dangers of ignoring its multiplicity.

A raw, unflinching, convention-defying memoir of substance abuse, depression, and guilt In his genre-bending memoir, Rick Moody, author of The Ice Storm, delves into not only his own tormenting struggle with depression and alcoholism but also the pathos inherent in American society. Beginning with his childhood and widening his gaze to his ancestral past, Moody elegantly details the events that led him to admit himself to a psychiatric hospital. Seeking explanations for his inner demons, Moody traces his lineage back to Joseph “Handkerchief” Moody. In early-eighteenth-century Maine, Joseph accidentally killed his childhood friend and wore a handkerchief over his face for the rest of his life as a self-imposed punishment. His story stirs within Moody a drive to understand his own failings through a study of American violence from colonial times to the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. Remarkably broad in scope and full of Moody’s witticisms and brilliantly crafted prose, The Black Veil is an extraordinary exploration of both personal and cultural shame that transcends the expectations of a memoir. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rick Moody including rare images from the author’s personal collection.

Why Muslim women should not wear the veil Across much of the world today, Muslim women of all ages are increasingly choosing to wear the veil. Is this trend a sign of rising piety or a way of asserting Muslim pride? And does the veil really provide women freedom from sexual harassment? Written in the form of letters addressing all those interested in this issue, Questioning the Veil examines the inconsistent and inadequate reasons given for the veil, and points to the dangers and limitations of this highly questionable cultural practice. Marnia Lazreg, a preeminent authority in Middle East women's studies, combines her own experiences growing up in a Muslim family in Algeria with interviews and the real-life stories of other Muslim women to produce this nuanced argument for doing away with the veil. Lazreg stresses that the veil is not included in the five pillars of Islam, asks whether piety sufficiently justifies veiling, explores the adverse psychological effects of the practice on the wearer and those around her, and pays special attention to the negative impact of veiling for young girls. Lazreg's provocative findings indicate that far from being spontaneous, the trend toward wearing the veil has been driven by an organized and growing campaign that includes literature, DVDs, YouTube videos, and courses designed by some Muslim men to teach women about their presumed rights under the veil. An incisive mix of the personal and political, supported by meticulous research, Questioning the Veil will compel all readers to reconsider their views of this controversial and sensitive topic.

"Few issues have captured media headlines over the past two decades like Islam and Muslims, and much of what the Australian public knows about Islam and its followers is gleaned from the mass media. Islam and the Australian News Media tackles head-on the Australian news media's treatment of Islam and Muslims. This incisive collection brings together the research and insights of academics, editors and journalists on the representation of Islam and its impact on social relations, the newsworthiness of Muslim issues and the complexities of covering Islam. Importantly, Islam and the Australian News Media also explores how Muslim communities in Australia are responding to their image in the Australian news media. This book is a must-read for all those interested in the relationship between media and society."--Publisher description.

Secret identities, criminal conspiracies, and forbidden love converge in this “whimsical and at times heartbreaking look” at the Muslim communities of Rome (The New York Times). The Italian secret service believes that a group of Muslim immigrants is planning a terrorist attack. Christian Mazzari, a young Sicilian translator who speaks perfect Arabic, goes undercover in Rome’s Egyptian neighborhood, Viale Marconi, to infiltrate the group. Posing as a recently arrived Tunisian in search of a job and a place to sleep, Christian soon meets Sofia, a young Egyptian immigrant whose arranged marriage is anything but fulfilling. While Christian attempts in vain to uncover terrorist activity, Sofia is on another kind of secret mission—in defiance of a husband who forbids her to work. In alternating voices, Algerian-born Italian author Amara Lakhous examines the commonplaces and stereotypes of life in modern, multicultural Italy. Divorce Islamic Style mixes the rational and the absurd as it depicts the conflicts and contradictions of today's globalized world.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The veil can be an instrument of feminist empowerment, and veiled anonymity can confer power to women. Starting from her own marriage ceremony at which she first wore a full veil, Rafia Zakaria examines how veils do more than they get credit for. Part memoir and part philosophical investigation, Veil questions that what is seen is always good and free, and that what is veiled can only signal servility and subterfuge. From personal encounters with the veil in France (where it is banned) to Iran (where it is compulsory), Zakaria shows how the garment's reputation as a pre-modern relic is fraught and up for grabs. The veil is an object in constant transformation, whose myriad meanings challenge the absolute truths of patriarchy. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Until now the bulk of the literature about the veil has been written by outsiders who do not themselves veil. This literature often assumes a condescending tone about veiled women, assuming that they are making uninformed decisions choices about veiling makes them subservient to a patriarchal culture and religion. “Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil” offers an alternative viewpoint, based on the thoughts and experiences of Muslim women themselves. This is the first time a clear and concise book-length argument has been made for the compatibility between veiling and modernity. Katherine Bullock uncovers positive aspects of the veil that are frequently not perceived by outsiders. “Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil” looks at the colonial roots of the negative Western stereotype of the veil. It presents interviews with Muslim women to discover their thoughts and experiences with the veil in Canada. The book also offers a positive theory of veiling. The author argues that in consumer capitalist cultures, women can find wearing the veil a liberation from the stifling beauty game that promotes unsafe and unhealthy ideal body images for women. This book also includes an extensive bibliography on topics related to Muslim women and the veil.

This open access book seeks to understand how politics is being made in a pluralistic sense, and explores how these political struggles are challenging and transforming gender, sexuality, and colonial norms. As researchers located in Sweden, a nation often cited as one of the most gender-equal and LGBTQ-tolerant nations, the contributions investigate political processes, decolonial struggles, and events beyond, nearby, and in between organizations, states, and national territories. The collection represents a variety of disciplines, and different theoretical conceptualizations of politics, feminist theory, and postcolonial and queer studies. Students and researchers with an interest of queer studies, gender studies, critical whiteness studies, and civil society studies will find this book an invaluable resource.