-
Essay / Islamic Feminism in Selected Poems by Mohja Kahf
As an Arab American, Muslim, and writer, Mohja Kahf challenges stereotypes and misrepresentations of Arab and Muslim women. His style is always marked by humor, sarcasm, anger and confrontation. “Wonderful Women,” “The Dear Woman,” “Hijab Scene No. 7,” and “Hijab Scene No. 5” are examples of Kahf's anger at stereotypes about Muslim women and his attempts to fight to eradicate them. to his encouragement to the women who help him and fight for their rights. In “Wonderful Women,” Kahf praises women who have a strong desire to fight for their rights and eliminate the patriarchal system. She also describes how women's stories and experiences help her write poetry, which is her way of confronting stereotypes about women. Mohja Kahf opens the poem by describing the situation of women in society. She says: “All women speak two languages” (2003: 51). First, women speak “the language of men” (51) because of the patriarchal system since women do not have a voice in society and cannot express their opinions and thoughts. Second, women speak “the language of silent suffering.” (51). Their stories give them a voice, especially those about inequality and injustice. However, Kahf's wonderful friends speak a third language, which is the language of queens because they are strong, brave and wise. In the second stanza, the poet says that women are the cause that pushes her to write poems because of the stereotypes against them. which gives him a strong desire for challenge. That’s why she takes women’s stories and writes them into poetry. She describes herself as a "seamstress" and without women's dresses, she would be a seamstress without a job, but her friends give her their dresses (their story...... middle of paper ....... 2003. Encyclopedia of Philosophy, February 7, Accessed April 2, 2014. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-topics/. Tai, Teresa 2012. “Blog spot.” .com/2012/11/in-lines-what-else-do-you-need-to-know.html “First Wave Feminism,” Accessed April 11, 2014. .wikipedia.org/wiki/First-wave_feminism. "Second-wave feminism." Accessed March 11, 2014. http://en.wikipedia org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism. feminism". Accessed March 28, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism.Wingfield, Marvin and Bushra Karaman 1995. "ADC". Accessed April 1, 2014. http://www.adc.org /index.php?id=283.