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's one thing to be groped and harassed by passers-by, but when the state gropes you, it gives a green light that you are fair game.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the severity of state-sanctioned harassment and its implications for personal safety.
Mona Eltahawy emphasizes how the harassment by authorities, represented by the 'state', legitimizes and normalizes the violation of personal boundaries, making individuals feel exposed and unsafe. This quote critiques the systemic issues that allow such behaviors to flourish while highlighting the importance of recognizing and addressing state complicity in harassment.
Themes
HarassmentStateSafetyViolationBoundaries
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on women's rights at a conference.
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
It is the harassers and assaulters who make us 'look bad,' not the women who have every right to expose crimes against them.
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
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