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Justice or “just us”?

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Jul 21, 2008

How’s this for irony: In the name of defending egalitarian values, French courts are taking cues from conservative Islam.

Judges in France recently brought down two landmark verdicts. One decision lets a Muslim man divorce his wife because she isn’t the virgin she claimed to be.

A second court decision denies French citizenship to a veiled Muslim woman because her version of Islam is at odds with gender equality and other essential principles of the republic.

Problem is, the husbands of these women are getting off scott-free. Yet they’re complicit in upholding a culture that insists women’s worth is measured by their hymens or their dress.

As my fellow Muslim feminist Mona Eltahawy wonders, “why not also go after the Muslim men” who live according to the retrograde principles of women-only chastity and women-only modesty?

By punishing women and women only, French courts are adopting the tribal norm of “honor,” which places the burden of accountability exclusively on one gender: females.

And, says Mona Eltahawy, “that’s cultural relativism at its worst.”

These days, among the biggest barriers to human rights is cultural relativism — the doctrine that states there’s no universal standard of human dignity or human decency. Therefore, the oppressive traditions of minority groups don’t need to be reformed. That’s just the way things are for “them.” As long as their traditions don’t apply to “us,” we’ll be fine.

But who’s “us” and who’s “them”? In an age of mass migration — read: an interdependent world — is there really such a thing as “other” people’s business?

That’s the theme of a speech I gave this month to the National Organization for Women, America’s largest feminist group. In my next blog entry, I’ll post highlights of the speech. Stay tuned.