12/15/02

Women and Sexuality in Muslim Societies provides a thorough and multi-faceted overview of the social, political, and religious conditions that affect women in Muslim societies. This text, published by Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR) in Istanbul, Turkey, is dense but accessible for a reader with some background in feminist thought and theory. The book is comprised of a variety of genres including historical essays, short fiction, poetry, sociological/statistical analysis, cartoons, and general academic essays. In essence, it provides "something for everyone." Even a reader less familiar with the theoretical frameworks used as a basis for the more academic pieces in the collection should find many of the included texts useful in gleaning a picture of the challenges and concerns of women in Muslim culture struggling with their sexual identity.

The text is divided into six parts. Part I offers a historical perspective on the social, political, and literary environment interpretations of the Islam faith have created over the centuries. Most interesting in this section is an article by Rubina Saigol in which she draws an analogy between the treatment of women and the society itself. Saigol claims that the same aggressiveness men apply towards the protection of their country and way of life is apparent in their treatment and control of the women within their society as well.

Part II, Pleasure, Desire and Love, contains poems, cartoons, and narrative accounts by Muslim women about their experiences with their own sexuality within Islamic society. This section is refreshing in its honesty and provides a nice contrast to the more strictly academic writing found elsewhere in the collection.

The third part discusses the various ways women’s marriage rights and virginity have been controlled by the patriarchy in many Muslim cultures. Part IV offers information on the resources and support available for lesbians in Islamic society. In Part V, writers discuss the problem of sexual aggression perpetrated against women both historically and currently. This section also discusses the insufficiency of the legal avenues available to victims of these crimes.

The book concludes with a lengthy section detailing the various practices and strategies many Muslim cultures have adopted with regard to controlling women’s sexuality including honor killings, virginity testing, and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Overall, Women and Sexuality in Muslim Societies is a wonderfully comprehensive look into the issues Muslim women presently face as they attempt to redefine and embrace their own sexuality. While many of the included essays depict problems familiar to readers in the Western world, this collection also introduces a number of concerns unique to women in Muslim societies. This text is an exceedingly useful resource for anyone interested in the various strains of international feminism or human rights. Though mainly academic in style, most portions of this book are suited to a general reader. The folks at WWHR have done a great service by creating this collection: Voices that have until now remained largely silent are, through this text, now audible to sisters and supporters worldwide.