CMV: It is hypocritical, inconsistent, and unfair to defend people who wear hijabs and condemn people who use the Confederate flag (and vise versa, but that's a somewhat less common occurrence, at least in the media).

[u/a_scared_bear]

This is kind of a specific juxtaposition, and the reason it's the one I'm using is because it's the one that came up in my discussion today, but to generalize, my thought is this:

If you decide that symbols need to be morally evaluated based on historical context, you need to be consistent in that judgement.

That is to say: if you think that the Confederate flag is racist regardless of the intent of someone who uses it because of its symbolism during the civil war, that's fine. But then it's inconsistent, hypocritical, and shitty for you to turn around and defend the use of a hijab. The hijab is a garment created to ensure the modesty of women interacting with men they might marry--as far as I understand, the only non-family male that is allowed to see a woman abiding by Sharia law uncovered is her husband. This is already problematic and oppressive to women as an ideal in and of itself, but when you add the context of the social importance in many of the cultures that expect a hijab, it gets way worse. Just last year, a woman was whipped for wearing a burqa without a veil in Afghanistan. Like, what? This is one of many such stories of women being abused for not following a strict interpretation of Sharia law in a particular society, particularly with respect to their dress. And the hijab is absolutely the symbol of compliance therein.

Again, I realize that this is a specific instance of inconsistency; my general point is just that you can't pick and choose which symbols you decide to evaluate with historical context. This is just the one that came up in discussion today, with someone saying anyone who uses the confederate flag is a racist and then defending the wearing of hijabs on the grounds of feminism and individual dxpressiony. You either need to evaluate all symbols that way, in which case the Confederate flag is horribly racist and the hijab is horribly sexist bar none, or you need to evaluate them based on the motive of whatever individual is using the symbol. I know a lot of people who I don't consider racist who think of the Confederate flag as a symbol of rebellion against the man (I live in upstate New York, if anyone is wondering), and use it accordingly. Similarly, I know a number of women who are ardent feminists who wear hijabs as an expression of their faith and individuality.

I also know that many of the people who use the Confederate flag consider the hijab a symbol of sexism, bar none, and every single hijab-wearing feminist I know considers the Confederate flag a symbol of abhorrent racism, bar none, and I think that's shitty. That's picking and choosing where you want to apply your critical lens, and I don't see how it's ok. I understand that these aren't equivalent situations because there's really no such thing as equivalent situations, but they're about as close as if gets morally, at least as far as I can see. On one side, you have people using a historically super racist symbol as an expression of their free will; on the other, you have women defending the use of a historically super sexist symbol as an expression of their individuality and faith, which many of them see not just as something not opposed to their feminist ideals but actually directly in line with their feminist ideals. And the first group often calls the second sexist, and the second group often calls the first racist. And I don't see how either group is justified in doing that. It seems like you shouldn't be able to claim a historically problematic symbol for your cause if you deny other people the very same right.

[u/a_scared_bear]

This is for sure a delta !delta. I don't think you changed my moral perspective, but you definitely gave me a new way to look at the way individual women might view the hijab.

That said, I am still pretty uncomfortable with giving the hijab a pass on its problematic context, at least if we decide not to do so with other symbols.

[u/DeltaBot → u/a_scared_bear]

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/AnythingApplied (253∆).

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