by Ruby Atassi
Western narratives often mispresent Middle Eastern women by prioritizing their religious identity and then attaching their struggles to Islam (Al-Sibai 2022). This photo showcases women at a demonstration who have tied their hands up to protest the unjust conditions of imprisoned Syrian women (“How Syrian Women are Fighting a War”). Attributing the oppression of Middle Eastern women solely to their religion is dangerous because it both erases the reality behind the hardships that Syrian women face and their resistance. Women in Syria have been disproportionately affected by the Civil War as they have also had to endure gendered violence, restriction on their civil rights, and displacement. Their resistance navigates gendered oppression and the gendered challenges of war.
Western media outlets often employ stereotypes that depict Muslim women as oppressed by their religion, focusing particularly on the veil. This is harmful because it takes away from the real struggles that women in the region face. The women protesting for the rights of women prisoners are not captured by western narratives of women’s resistance in the Middle East. Western narratives tend to overlook the complexity of women’s struggles in Syria, employing Islamophobic tropes that reduce their resistance to the hijab. As this photo demonstrates, by focusing solely on religious oppression, we ignore the resistance of Syrian women to the brutality of Assad’s regime.
The contrast between the women’s rather composed expressions and the chaos in the background speaks volumes. Their faces show their resistance to the Syrian regime. They are tired, they are frustrated, but they are also steadfast. The resilience of these women having endure Civil War while at the same time fighting against their oppression is remarkable. I think that this image refutes Western assumptions of Islamic oppression because it directly demonstrates feminist resistance to violence against women in Syria.
While Western narratives continue to equate the hijab with oppression, the photo refutes that by equating the hijab with strength and resistance. This photo represents Syrian women as activists fighting for their rights as women, wearing their hijab as a symbol of their identity and agency rather than patriarchal oppression. The act of tying their hands with scarves is more than just a physical gesture. It symbolizes their reclamation of their power over their own bodies and identities. It is also a critique of Western narratives that frame Syrian women as passive rather than as active agents of resistance.
It is crucial to note that while the women in the photo are presented as individuals, they are part of a much larger movement resisting the oppression of the Syrian regime. If misrepresentations of Muslim and Middle Eastern women continue to dominate western media, this will only add to the oversimplification of the complex realities behind gendered struggles and feminist resistance, especially in places like Syria. Reducing their identity to the hijab will take away from their experiences of resistance and thus ignore the true repercussions of war on women.
WGS340 WOMEN & REVOLUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST 