Drawing on political theorist Bhikhu Parekh’s work, which lists the twelve most
common cultural practices that give rise to clashes between cultures, Seyla
Benhabib raises an important question: “How can we account for the preponderance
of cultural practices concerning the status of women, girls, marriage and sexuality
that lead to intercultural conflict?” Here she is referring to the overbearing weight
that gender carries in relation to “hot” issues such as female circumcision, polygamy,
arranged marriages, withdrawal of Muslim girls from school activities, the
wearing of hijab by Muslim girls, and the subordinate status of women and all that
it entails. This seems to suggest that cross-cultural conflict appears on the scene
largely when it concerns issues of relations between the sexes, or of women’s and
girls’ roles in particular communities. Practices of reproduction, family life, and
sexuality are all coded, to a large degree, through our cultural systems of meaning.
|
