Combating Epistemic Violence With Islamic Feminism: Qahera vs. FEMEN
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Abstract
Certain forms of protest have the ‘‘potential to put pressure on a too-limited view of feminist rhetoric’’ (Flannery 127) and Qahera, an Islamic superheroine wearing a traditional hijab, attempts to do just that. Created in 2012, Qahera’s eponymous comic is the brainchild of Egyptian artist Deena Mohamed, who sought to find a way to inspire young girls to fight against her country’s sexist views of women while addressing stereotypes about Muslim culture. Mohamed posts comics featuring her superheroine on the blog aggregate Tumblr, where she also answers questions from people who want to learn more about Qahera or Mohamed’s culture. Qahera represents a love for and commitment to Egyptian=Muslim culture while still examining and protecting it from outsiders who critique it. Qahera wears the hijab not to conceal her identity (as many superheroes do) but to project her identity. Indeed, her power seems to come from her traditional dress, as she is empowered by her choice to wear the hijab despite critiques of the possibilities of Islamic feminisms. By positioning Qahera as a Muslim=feminist superheroine, Mohamed directly combats what Spivak calls ‘‘epistemic violence.’’ Epistemic violence is ‘‘the construction of a self-immolating colonial subject for the glorification of the social mission of the colonizer’’ (Spivak 127). This type of knowledge is cast as violent due to the erasure and dehumanization that comes with depicting ‘‘third world’’ others (Ayotte and Husain). Because Mohamed not only expands the boundaries of what Islamic feminism can look like, as well as answers questions from individuals wanting to learn more about her culture, she works to disrupt assumptions about Islamic culture gained through media consumption. Perhaps one of the primary signifiers used by the media to symbolize the oppression of Muslim women is the wearing of traditional head coverings such as the niqab (the garment that only leaves an area around the eyes uncovered), the burqa (the garment that covers the entire body), the hijab (the veil used to cover the head and chest), or other forms of traditional dress. The focus on the physical plight endured by some Muslim women (forced veiling, domestic violence, segregation, etc.) is only exacerbated by activist concentrations on the material, corporeal issues within the movement (Ayotte and Husain), yet the significance and roles of these items are both socially constructed and complex. In fact, the cultural practice of head covering was used prior to the rise of Islamic traditions, even as an