legislation. This exclusion is often extended to educational establishments, where
girls are not educated in the same way as boys.- Dress As we suggested in the case study at the head of this chapter there has
been a big debate about whether Muslim girls should be allowed to wear the
burqa in French schools. Such a measure would seem benign, but some women
argue that by not permitting it the state is providing girls with a degree of
autonomy, and protection from their families.
The feminist case against multiculturalism (Susan Okin)
Susan Okin argues that multiculturalism is bad for women. She begins her critique
by defining terms. Feminism is ‘the belief that women should not be disadvantaged
by their sex, that they should be recognized as having human dignity equal to that
of men, and that they should have the opportunity to live as fulfilling and as freely
chosen lives as men’ (Okin, 1999: 10). Multiculturalism is, she suggests, harder to
‘pin down’, but:
[partly consists in] the claim, made in the context of basically liberal democracies,
that minority cultures or ways of life are not sufficiently protected by the practice
of ensuring the individual rights of their members, and as a consequence these
should also be protected through special grouprights or privileges.
(Okin, 1999: 10–11, her emphasis)
Okin argues that cultures are not monoliths, but contain internal differences, one
of the most important of which is the difference of gender. The problem is that in
liberal societies culture is treated as part of the private sphere. This requires
correction, and once corrected we have to face up to two important connections
between gender and culture. First, the sphere of personal, sexual and reproductive
life functions as a central focus of most cultures. Cultural groups are often
particularly concerned with family law issues – divorce, child custody, family
property and inheritance. Such a focus has a differential impact on boys/men and
girls/women. Second, most cultures – by which Okin actually means religions– have
as one of their principal aims the male control of women (patriarchy):
Consider, for example, the founding myths of Greek and Roman antiquity, and
of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: they are rife with attempts to justify the
control and subordination of women. These myths consist of a combination of
denials of women’s role in reproduction; appropriations by men of the power to
reproduce themselves; characterizations of women as overly emotional,
untrustworthy, evil, or sexually dangerous; and refusals to acknowledge mothers’
rights over the dispositions of their children.
(Okin, 1999: 13)
Okin argues that while discrimination and gender-stereotyping exist in Western
liberal democracies, the worst forms of discrimination have been removed – at least
at the level of law. Women from minority cultures in Western societies should not
be denied the rights enjoyed by the majority culture.350 Part 3 Contemporary ideologies