Mipsterz and the Future of American Muslim Aesthetics

This week has been an amazing week for American Muslims with the debut of the Mipsterz: “Somewhere in America” video. The video sparked a huge critically engaging discussion about the interaction of Muslims with American culture, gender norms and misogyny in the Muslim community, modesty and fashion, and the purpose of aesthetics. I’m so proud of the creators and women involved for being brave enough to share their experiences with the entire world.

I joined in the online discussion on Facebook and Twitter and got into some meaningful conversation and also polarizing debates with other Muslims about the message and significance of the Mipsterz video. My tweets were even featured on BuzzFeed and HuffPostLive! Pretty cool to get 2 huge media hits in one week. I guess it really pays off to use hashtags:)

To put it briefly, I am of the perspective that this video was a wonderful showcase of a micro-community/subculture of American Muslims that has every right to assert their existence. Not everyone agrees with me of course. Sana Saeed is concerned that the women involved are promoting an “Islamofashionista” culture in order to prove to Americans that “hey I’m cool, I’m normal, please like me!” and aren’t actually fighting stereotypes because they are equating “being normal” to “being superficial.”

But if you actually listen to the women involved in creating and appearing in the video, you see that is not the case. They are being authentic to who they are as Muslims and American and they are not saying they are defining the “normal” that all Muslims need to adopt as a superficial construct that is all about physicality.

The Mipster video is a snapshot of real people somewhere in America showing what normal is for them and whether you like it or not, our physical appearance is a part of that. Why is anyone surprised or upset? We’re born in the U.S. so we’re going to look and act American, while retaining our Islamic beliefs and values–something this country gives us the freedom to do as we please. The video is not a comprehensive examination of what it means to be an American Muslim nor is it an oppressive, objectifying representation, therefore we have no right to hijack their experience and replace it with our own paternalistic, condescending viewpoint that these women have no agency in the way they present themselves.

If you do not enjoy the aesthetics of “mipster” culture or share the same interests/hobbies/activities of the Mipsterz, then congrats, you are not one of them nor do you have to be. Saying that the acceptance of Muslims hipsters in America is going to result in rejection for non-hipster Muslims is a fallacious argument. That’s like saying the acceptance of niqab-wearing Muslim women in America is going to result in rejection of Muslim women who don’t wear niqab. Why is this a zero-sum game?

Sana repeats throughout her critique that she’s not trying to shame the women’s dress or behavior but rather critique the video’s message and purpose. But honestly when you break her argument down, that is essentially what she is doing. She says in order to break down stereotypes, we need more than just our image, we need us. It seems that “us” she means is a representation that includes her, not the individualized experiences of the women in the video who she sees as being caricatures. Some people relate to different identities such as hipster, prep, athletic, bohemian or hip-hop etc. etc. It doesn’t mean they are becoming stereotypes necessarily or that their ability to articulate their Muslim identity to the rest of the society is somehow diminished. That’s a really pessimistic way of seeing the outcome of cultural exchange and also diluting the strength of Muslim agency as well.

Hijab fashion has existed for decades in America just as Muslims in sports, music, literature and more, but suddenly now, we think it’s a problem that we need to step back and criticize? I have a theory that there are so many Muslims intellectuals on the Internet now trying to build their brand that in order to stand out, they need to call out other Muslims in the public sphere and put out all these social critiques to be seen as visionary and thought-provoking.

Two great pieces to read: A post by Rabia Chaudry who very eloquently describes the problematic shaming of Muslim women and negativity emerging around the video’s aesthetics. Instead of forcing our narrative onto the Mipsters in the video, we should be listening to what they actually think and believe, so please take time to read this piece by Amina Sheikh, one of the women who participated the video.

I also understand people who would have liked more diverse women shown or to have the women speak or show what they do in the workplace. Those are all great concepts for further videos and people should go out and make them, because I’d love to see that! It’s the YouTube era, so we have that power to create and distribute our own media! The best thing that could come out of this video is that more Muslim are inspired to share their ideas with the world and tell their own stories instead of having the media do it for us. No one is trying to deny anyone else’s lived experience and freedom to be Muslim and be American. It’s a balance we are all trying to find.

Let’s be real folks, Muslims are the true hipsters of the world. We discovered stuff before everyone else did and mainstream society will not appreciate nor recognize our contributions till we’re long dead. I hope we are not afraid to continue creating art and critically engaging and exploring the intersection of culture and religion. We should not lose that part of our tradition, especially when so many people outside of Islam accuse us of being unable to flourish in this realm of the aesthetics. The Mipsterz are just one of many groups of Muslims in America trying to support this progressive movement and I’m grateful they are around, so I can find like-minded individuals who do care about many of the same issues and ideas I feel are being sadly ignored by the majority of Muslims. Check out what they’re up to on the official Facebook page.

Be kind to one another. We are all hipsters fighting against our own mainstreams. Peace.

Driving While Female: Saudi’s Biggest Fear

It’s amazing how much historic change we are witnessing right now in the world and how passionate people are to promote it as well as prevent it.

I’m sure you have heard about the arrest of Manal Al Sherif, a Saudi woman, who is encouraging her fellow Saudi sisters to drive their cars on June 17 in protest of the kingdom’s custom of not allowing women-both citizen and foreign- to drive.

Al Sherif organized a Facebook campaign called Women2Drive, which tells women to demand the ability to drive to protect themselves, give them more freedom and just because! She even filmed herself driving in the streets and uploaded it to YouTube to rally more support.

Unfortunately, her campaign was cut short when she was arrested on May 23, removing the figurehead of this widely spoken about movement. The Facebook and Twitter page were both deactivated as well.

It sounds absurd, but what’s more absurd is that this ban on women’s driving isn’t even part of Saudi law, so it’s not illegal. The act of a woman driving is only discouraged because of a religious edict by some conservative clerics in the country who think that driving will cause women to go out and meet “strange men.”

Obviously, the Qur’an and Sunnah do not have any mention of women not being able to drive cars. They don’t have mention of men being allowed to drive cars. Saudi Arabia is thus the only country in the world to have such discriminatory custom and respect it as a legal code. It is simply impractical and impossible to prevent women from driving when they cannot all afford drivers and cannot all wait for their husbands/brothers/uncles etc to take them where they want to go. It’s demeaning, inefficient and unnecessary. It is not a Muslim law or prohibition–contrary to what some may think–as Muslim women enjoy that freedom to drive in every other part of the world (I include myself in that.)

King Abdullah himself said that driving is a social issue, not a religious issue, however the problem is that too many people in that society have confused those. Saudi Arabia is a unique country in that it is constantly used by many Westerners as an example of a backwards, repressive, unequal regime and the ultimate representation of what a country would look if Muslims were to run it. Oooo, scary!

People use Saudi Arabia as their counter argument to why Muslims should have to be treated differently from people of other faiths, because they see Saudi Arabia as the epitome of an Islamic country, so therefore inequality should be answered with inequality. It makes sense if you don’t think about it…

King Abdullah is known for being a reformer, or at least trying to be, but his efforts to modernize and advance his country are continuously challenged by certain religious Wahhabi scholars pulling the strings from behind the curtain. Two steps forward, one step back as they say. I do find his comment interesting in a Barbara Walter’s interview in 2005 where he said the following:

I believe strongly in the rights of women. My mother is a woman. My sister is a woman. My daughter is a woman. My wife is a woman. I believe the day will come when women will drive. In fact if you look at the areas of Saudi Arabia, the desert, and in the rural areas, you will find that women do drive. The issue will require patience. In time I believe that it will be possible. I believe that patience is a virtue.

Patience is a virtue, I wholeheartedly agree, but if this country is so concerned with virtue, how can it also allow something like the Iqal campaign to emerge?

The Iqal campaign was created on Facebook by some men as a response to Al Sherif and rallied men to beat women drivers with the iqal, or cord connected to the Saudi traditional headdress. The page has been taken down as well, but not without word spreading across the Internet of course to show what kind of intimidation the Saudi women are facing.

They don’t need to be treated like “queens” or “jewels.” Women needed to be treated as humans who do human things like work, drive, walk around when and where they want. It’s not a compliment to be treated like a queen actually if you have to be controlled and micromanaged your entire life. Why aren’t Saudis concerned about their “kings” going out all day and possibly meeting “strange women” in the kingdom or outside on a “work trip?” It’s ridiculous how women have to be obedient in order to maintain public order, but men never have to be made examples of.

At the same time, I caution from overreacting by all the media coverage about the Iqal campaign and Al Sherif’s arrest, simply because there will always be this kind of uneducated and boorish behavior to any group’s struggle for their rights. Think of the abolitionist movement, civil rights movement and suffrage movement in the United States. We had our fair share of ugly, twisted reactions and we shouldn’t consider ourselves superior in that sense. I know plenty of people who so easily forget our history and our flaws and then lord over other countries who are now dealing with that conflict. Plenty will also mistakenly add this to their arsenal of attacks against Muslims and think, “See they really aren’t peaceful. Those people are in the Dark Ages compared to us civilized folk.”

We want so desperately to be able to solve the world’s problems and have everyone enjoy the same freedoms as we do so that we can sleep better at night and not feel guilty about our lifestyle. We want the whole Arab world to be rid of its dictators and join us in the wonders of democracy and liberty. We want Saudi women to be able to drive, vote, work and live without the restrictions in which they must currently.

I understand this, really, I do, but I believe it’s going to take more persuading, prodding and negotiating to end the domination of Wahhabi influence on the royal family. One day, they will wake up and release there is no legitimacy in a kingdom in an Islamic country, especially one propped up by an ignorant, misguided group of men with a monopoly on religious knowledge and power. We as non-Saudis just don’t hold any weight in their eyes to criticize them even if it is constructive and not out of spite.

For now, there is a petition you can sign to call for the release of Al Sherif. There are lots of Facebook pages you can “like” to support the end of the ban on women drivers. I’ll keep tabs on this issue, because I suspect some kindling within.