Analysis Of Blanket Condemnations

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In “Blanket condemnations,” Erum Hasan (2010) claims the discussion involving the burqa ban is being incorrectly addressed, with activists from different realms focusing on actions that prohibit this attire rather than discussing the Muslim women’s rights. Using an anecdote, Hasan introduces the discomfort and repudiation that a woman wearing a burqa can cause in the Western society. Notwithstanding, she declares this vesture is demonized by the West, being considered a symbol of Islam and consequently an outrage to non-Muslim realms. Mentioning countries which adopted decrees against the burqa, Hasan illustrates the political actions that are being taken worldwide, with governments dictating how their citizens should wear; such actions are …show more content…
The three reasons provided by the author to support her thesis statement are: There is a stereotyping of Muslim women and of the burqa; The battle against the burqa is evident and reverberant in Western nations, but there is no involvement of Muslim women in this discussion; Burqa-clad women experience marginalization in Western cycles and in progressive Muslim communities. The first reason claimed by the writer is supported by her assumption that the burqa is considered by most people an opponent symbol of the Western values, and the women who wear it are controlled by men, they do not have control over their bodies and this garb is imprisoning all their rights. According to Hasan, the association of the burqa as a symbol of Islam is so strong that this topic receives more attention than other issues faced by Muslims. In order to support this assumption, she uses as an example the burqa ban request made by the Muslim Canadian Congress, which justified this request by declaring that the burqa is a political symbol of Islamic extremism. As a final appeal, Hasan resorts to loaded questions in a tentative to demonstrate how insensate this request is. To support her second reason, Hasan mentions different actions taken by Western nations to prohibit the burqa usage; she assumes that governments and some feminists are so obsessed with banning burqa that they did not take a time to reflect what is the relation between clothes and women’s empowerment. In the author’s opinion, by not listening what women in burqa have to tell, politicians and citizenships from Western countries are treating these women as objects, suppressing their rights. As a final assumption to her second reason, Hasan presents other reasons why women can choose wearing a burqa, such as “identity, cultural values, political symbolism,

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