genuine q sparked by the taliban post you reblogged. how do you square being a radical feminist (not radfem tumblr bullshit, with all that entails, but literally just that, a radical feminist) with being very open towards MENA immigrants from muslim countries, which you sometimes mention when posting about living in a francophone country? i know the drill, europe is evil because colonialism is evil etc., the spoils of the empire should be redistributed by the colonised etc., also europe is misogynistic in its own way etc. etc., like i agree with and believe all that, but also it is becoming increasingly clear to me (as someone who has lived in london for a long time (not bri'ish dw) and now lives in another major EU city in a heavily muslim neighbourhood) that mass immigration from muslim countries which are extremely patriarchal is becoming more and more. let;s just say. problematic. from a feminist point of view. like i have male friends who are 2nd gen immigrants from muslim countries who i genuinely consider v good personal friends and their ethnic backgrounds are 100% irrelevant to their positions on women's rights and all that jazz but with ever more news about sex crimes committed by muslim migrants in a country i spent a v long time in (UK), and also now living in a heavily muslim neighbourhood where i go out at night and it's almost entirely all men hanging out in the squares/streets as far as the eye can see... not even bothering me or anything but just entirely men in public areas because their wives etc. are at home and only men are allowed to chill and hang out in public areas or w/e... it's becoming a bit of a weird vibe. idk how to orient myself towards this as someone who believes both european chauvinism/colonialism and patriarchy are equally bad. idk !!!!! what do you think
Very simple
1) I genuinely believe that those men are, on average, not more misogynistic than western men. You put a man of any ethnic background in Afghanistan (Afgh isnt MENA but its the worst place for women right now i guess) and he will use the laws to his advantage and abuse and rape women without consequences. You put MENA men in a place where regulation is tighter, they learn to behave the same way as western men (hiding their misogyny and enacting it only in private)
2) What is MENA in this context? A Lebanese person is extremly different from a Qatari person and they're both very different from a Maroccan person or an Egyptian person.
3) The most important of it all... okay so what? They should just stay in Syria where the women that they abuse will have no access to resources that they have access to in the west? Realistically, there will NEVER be a mass immigration policy that would allow only women and no men. And even if did, the women in abusive situations wouldn't be able to come here alone. So what, better to leave them where no one can help them? This is the most important point because any time people bring this up, they only bring up MENA men. Ok, what about MENA women? How will YOU make sure that those women are safe? Every single question like this always posits the lives and safety of MENA women as an afterthought, the priority always being on western women. You think they deserve rape and abuse more than you? You think it's more important to me that you don't get assaulted rather than them?
The thing is, this kind of question can only ever be racist because it always always always forgets MENA women or treats their safety, well being and hapiness as secondary to western women's safety, well-being and hapiness. Let me be very very clear : your life is not worth anything more than a muslim woman's. There's no reason why we should prioritise your safety over hers.
Also despite claiming culture, when you talk with people who have this argument (and I've done it before), after a while, they do always end up admitting that they think that MENA men are inherently (not just as products of a culture) more misogynistic than white men.
I'm answering this question once and once only, and only because this has been brought up several times online in relation to me and I guess it's fair to answer at least once. But do trust me, I think this is deeply racist.
jimmyeatworldofficial
stormborns
gummygunk
turnnoffyourmind
discoholicmusic
gracieabrams
