As a feminist of Egyptian and Muslim descent, my life's work has been informed by the belief that religion and culture must never be used to justify the subjugation of women.
Mona EltahawyRead
It is the harassers and assaulters who make us 'look bad,' not the women who have every right to expose crimes against them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that accountability lies with the perpetrators of harassment, not with the victims who speak out.
Mona Eltahawy's quote highlights the importance of supporting women who expose harassment and assault. It asserts that the true wrong lies with those who commit these acts, and society should not shame the victims for bringing these issues to light. Instead, we must recognize the bravery of those who confront such injustices.
Themes
HarassmentVictimEmpowermentAccountabilityJustice
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for women's rights, one might say, 'It is the harassers and assaulters who make us look bad, not the women who have every right to expose crimes against them.'
More from Mona Eltahawy
All quotes βI'm no fan of Sarkozy, but I support a ban on face veils because they erase women from society and are promoted by an ultra-conservative ideology that equates piety with the disappearance of women.
Mona EltahawyRead
I can write about my culture and religion because I am a product of both. Even when I'm accused of giving ammunition to the Islamophobic right, in the struggle between 'community' and 'women,' I always choose the women.
Mona EltahawyRead
I believe at the heart of any revolution for social justice and human dignity are consent and agency, the unequivocal belief that I own my body - not the state, not the church/mosque/temple, not the street and not the family.
Mona EltahawyRead
I will never ally with Islamophobes and racists. But in the choice between 'community' and Muslim women, I will always choose my sisters.
Mona EltahawyRead
I detest the niqab and the burka for their erasure of women and for dangerously equating piety with that disappearance - the less of you I can see, the closer you must be to God.
Mona EltahawyRead
Similar quotes
To win any battle, you must fight as if you are already dead
Miyamoto MusashiRead
I'm not afraid to look like an idiot on TV.
Anthony BourdainRead
The V sign is the symbol of the unconquerable will of the occupied territories, and a portent of the fate awaiting the Nazi tyranny.
Winston ChurchillRead
We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience... But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done...in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children, and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit: so let it be done!
John BrownRead
My mother was this White woman from Texas, from a racist town raised to believe in the inferiority of others by her community, not necessarily by her parents, but certainly by the community around her. And she fled it.
Maya WileyRead