Feminism and Islam in Germany (PDF)

Academic Paper from the year 2018 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: 1,7, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen, language: English, abstract: Feminists in the Western world have fought for a longtime against the constraints of (the Christian) religion. With the growth of the Muslim population and the increasing presence of women wearing Islamic headscarves, much is being discussed about the compatibility of feminism and Islam. The reasons and individual and social meaning of the hijab and its origins in the Koran need to be analyzed, to contribute to this discussion.

With the growth of the Muslim population in Germany, the debate on the question of the compatibility of feminism and Islam has received a significant boost. There are now a lot of Muslim women who publicly comment on this issue, presenting themselves as feminists and choosing to wear an Islamic headscarf, the so-called hijab. Especially this discussion, about the religious clothing of the Muslim woman is interesting. Especially the rights of women to self-determination and freedom of religion are here in the focus of the debate. For some, the headscarf is a symbol of male oppression, for others it is a symbol of their - not just religious - freedom. The purpose of this text is to try to answer the question of whether wearing a headscarf on a religious basis is compatible with feminism, as it is understood in Germany. The relevant arguments of the discussion should be reproduced.