This Essay is based on the topic Women and Community
Step 1: Read carefully the following essays:
Zine, J. (2008, Spring). Honour and identity: An ethnographic account of Muslim girls in a Canadian Islamic school. Topia, 19, 35–61.
Mcmurray, A. (2008). Hotep and hip-hop: Can black Muslim women be down with hip-hop? Meridians: Feminism, race, transnationalism, 8(1), pp. 74–92.
Both authors draw attention to the double standards within their own Muslim community as a problem for Muslim women living in an environment where Muslims are a minority. Some of their concerns relate to:
Rigid regulation of gender-based structures
Gender inequity
Policing of young Muslim women’s bodies.
Control of young women’s mobility
Imposition of a single ideal type to which all young Muslim women are expected to conform
Step 2: Summarize the main arguments of each author. Clearly note down some of their criticism of the double standards for women and men within each community.
What reasons do the authors give for these double standards? What are some of their concerns about the effects of these double standards on young Muslim women?
Step 3: Do you agree that young Muslim women in Canada face double standards of the kind noted by these authors? Provide examples. Do you agree or disagree with the authors’ criticism of such controls and limits on young Muslim women? Explain why or why not.
Step 4: At any point in your paper you must refer to at least one incident or event reported in print, visual, or social media from 2015–16. This event should be used to support either the argument of the authors or your own arguments. Be sure to provide full citations.
Step 5:
Objective: Your essay must demonstrate that you have read and clearly understood the arguments of both authors. You may, but are not required to, use any other reading from this course to support your arguments. However no outside reference is permitted except for the news event.
Length: 2,000 words
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