If we don't tell our stories, hailstones will continue to fall on our heads Thrown by fathers for the children to see -for we are not good women Thrown by Imams, by a judge's decree -for we are not good wives Thrown by other women in our husbands' lives As they come in the morning cradling his children Calling us witch, barren, bitch And we find something to tie the chest with; Challenging words to hurl back in battle, And partners to hold us anyway, Through the things we struggle against. Abena P. A. Busia, (2010)
With the advent of the #MeToo movement many Muslim women are naming their abusers now—both in the US and internationally. First, it has opened the door for re-studying the orientalist approach to portraying Muslim women's bodies, and to challenge and critique the idea that Muslim women's complaints against Muslim men complicate race relations in the aftermath of the war on terror in the US and France. Second, this movement has created such movements as the #MosqueMeToo movement and has given birth to a very needed phase of Public Feminism that criticizes Muslim patriarchy. This chapter critically analyzes several documentaries and fictions written and directed by Muslim women and argues that this movement gives an opportunity to Muslim women to speak out against their abusers; it has given freedom to councilors in faith-based institutions and other not-for-profit organizations to talk about sexual assaults—a much needed community service that was previously unavailable.
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