The IDS 485: Arab and Islamic Feminisms class, taught by Assistant Professor of English Diya Abdo, is presenting a Muslim women film series. The film series challenges stereotypes about Muslim women by exploring the lives of Muslim women around the world. “They Call Me Muslim,” the first film in the series, was screened in Bryan Jr. Auditorium on Oct. 6. Directed by Diana Ferrero, the film examines the debate over the Muslim headscarf by interviewing two women; one in France who is forced to remove her hijab, and another woman in Iran who is forced to put it on.

A small group of students gathered to watch the film and afterwards participated in a discussion that was led by four seniors from Abdo’s IDS class. The discussion focused on how the hijab relates to oppression, identity, and anti-Muslim sentiments.

“For many women, the veil is liberating,” said presenting senior Lee Cornett, addressing the common Western misconception that the hijab is a symbol of oppression. “We all place different ideologies on the same piece of clothing.”

Competing religious, political, and feminist ideologies have singled out the hijab as a controversial piece of clothing, even though many religions have mandates for women to cover themselves.

“Even the Bible has verses about covering women,” said senior presenter Alicia Bachman. “There are other religions like the Quakers who require women to cover, yet they don’t catch nearly so much flak for it.”

The hijab is treated differently in different countries. The Iranian government does not currently recognize a separation between church and state, and women are forced to wear the hijab to comply with Shari’a law-an Islamic code of law based on the Qur’an and the hadith, which refers to a compilation of the Prophet Mohammad’s actions and sayings. France, on the other hand, a secular nation, outlawed “ostentatious” religious symbols in public schools in 1994, which included the hijab.

In the film, girls who were forced to remove their headscarves in France tell how traumatic it was, and how their sense of identity was threatened when they took the hijab off in public. “K,” the woman living in Iran also commented on how being forced to wear a headscarf impinged on her sense of identity.

“When I watched the film, I had to ask myself if there is anything that I wear that would threaten my sense of identity if I couldn’t wear it, or is there anything that I could be forced to wear that would threaten my identity? I don’t think there is.” said senior and presenter Joshua Osborne.

Manar Hmeidan said that she understands what it means to have the hijab as a part of her identity. Hmeidan was born in Palestine and chose to wear the hijab when she was 15, and she came to the U.S. with her family when she was 16. She often has to deal with negative stereotyping because of her hijab.

“I have to be careful,” she said. “I have to watch what I do because people judge Muslims as a whole based on what they see me do and say.”

Abdo said that it is especially important to discuss these issues in today’s political climate. She said that thanks to the multiple conflicts in the Middle East, we have labeled the culture as oppressive and use the rhetoric of liberation as justification for war.

“We need to dispel stereotypes,” said Abdo. “There are millions of Muslims in the world, and as many Muslims as there are, there are that many reasons for wearing the hijab. The Muslim world is incredibly diverse.”

The schedule for the rest of the film series is available on the Guilford web site at http://www.guilford.edu/about_guilford/news_and_publications/releases/muslimwomen_09films.html