Western Modernism and the Fetishization of the Hijab: Deconstructing the Movie Hala | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 13, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2042-1869
  • E-ISSN: 2042-1877

Abstract

9/11 became the cursor in converting millions of Muslims into one homogeneous society – what Edward Said describes as the “Christian picture of Islam.” This ongoing process scrutinized mainstream Muslims irrespective of their context/origins. Practicing Muslim women who adorned a headscarf, popularly known as hijab, came to be interpreted as being oppressed, irrespective of their social-economic or ethnic status since it went against the notions of western feminism, which extensively preached the idea of being liberal and free in all senses. This article attempts to discuss the obsession with the “unveiling of the veil” through the movie (Baig, 2019) and explores how the degradation of Islam produces smeared representations, thereby justifying and glorifying western ideals and civilization as whole.

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2022-03-01
2024-04-19
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