R . C l a i r e S n y d e rWhat Is Third-Wave Feminism A .docx

R . C l a i r e S n y d e r
What Is Third-Wave Feminism? A New Directions Essay
M any of my colleagues in women's studies tell me they do not
knowhow to react when copies of Biteh or BUSTsViovf up in
their facultymailboxes. They know that the magazines are
examples of some-
thing called third-wave feminism, but they are not exacdy sure
what that
is or how it differs from second-wave feminism. Do young
women have
a genuinely different version of feminism.̂ Do they have
different issues,
different solutions? Or are they just claiming they do as part of
their
rebellion against their "feminist mothers".^ What exacdy is
third-wave
feminism anyway?
This essay explores a wide array of popular and academic
literature on
third-wave feminism in an attempt to make sense of a movement
that on
its face may seem like a confiising hodgepodge of personal
anecdotes and
individualistic claims, in which the whole is less than the sum
of its parts.
While third-wave feminists do not have an entirely different set
of issues
or solutions to long-standing dilemmas, the movement does
constitute,

I would argue, more than simply a rebellion against second-
wave mothers.
What really differentiates the third wave from the second is the
tactical
approach it offers to some of the impasses that developed within
feminist
theory in the 1980s.
That is to say, third-wave feminism makes three important
tactical
moves that respond to a series of theoretical problems within
the second
wave. Eirst, in response to the collapse of the category of
"women," the
third wave foregrounds personal narratives that illustrate an
intersectional
and multiperspectival version of feminism. Second, as a
consequence of
the rise of postmodernism, third-wavers embrace multivocality
over syn-
thesis and action over theoretical justification. Einally, in
response to the
divisiveness of the sex wars, third-wave feminism emphasizes
an inclusive
and nonjudgmental approach that refiises to police the
boundaries of the
I would like to thank Jill Locke and the anonymous reviewers
for very helpful comments
on this article, as well as Mary Hawkesworth, Karen Alexander,
Miranda Outman-Kramer,
and Julie Ann Salthouse for all their help and support.
s: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 2008, vol. 34, no. 1

]
© 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
0097-9740/2008/3401-0021$10.00
176 I Snyder
feminist political. In other words, third-wave feminism rejects
grand nar-
ratives for a feminism that operates as a hermeneutics of
critique within
a wide array of discursive locations, and replaces attempts at
unity with a
dynamic and welcoming politics of coalition.
Moving beyond generational confiict
The first step in understanding third-wave feminism involves an
evaluation
of the prima facie claims of its self-identified proponents.
Seeking to pro-
vide a comprehensive overview of the movement, Leslie L.
Heywood has
put together a two-volume set. The Women's Movement Today:
An En-
cyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism (2006a, 2006b). The first
volume pro-
vides an encyclopedia of key terms and concepts from A-Z,
while the
second contains excerpts from primary documents. The second
volume
opens, appropriately, with the famous passage by Rebecca
Walker, who
reportedly kicked off the new movement in 1992 when she

declared, "I
am the Third Wave" (Walker 2006a, 5). Walker, like many early
third-
wave activists, situates herself in opposition to media-
publicized postfem-
inists (some might say antifeminists) like Katie Roiphe, Camille
Pagua,
and Rene Denfeld, who gained prominence by creating
caricatures of
second-wave feminism and then lambasting them. In contrast to
those
voices, third-wavers do not completely reject the agenda of
second-wave
feminism (Heywood 2006a, 139); they simply seek to rid
feminist practice
of its perceived ideological rigidity. As Walker explains.
For many of us it seems that to be a feminist in the way that we
have seen or understood feminism is to conform to an identity
and
way of living that doesn't allow for individuality, complexity,
or less
than perfect personal histories. We fear that the identity will
dictate
and regulate our lives, instantaneously pitting us against
someone,
forcing us to choose infiexible and unchanging sides, female
against
male, black against white, oppressed against oppressor, good
against
bad. This way of ordering the world is especially difficult for a
gen-
eration that has grown up transgender, bisexual, interracial, and
knowing and loving people who are racist, sexist, and otherwise
affiicted. (Walker 2006b, 22)

While Walker may be accused of exaggeration, she nonetheless
presents
the critical perspective expressed in much of the self-identified
third-wave
literature.
In the decade or so following Walker's proclamation, a large
number
S I G N S Autumn 2008 I 177
of popular books declared the existence of a new wave in
feminism. These
texts include Rebecca Walker (ed.). To Be Real: Telling the
Truth anA
Chanßinß the Face of Feminism (1995); Barbara Findlen (ed.).
Listen Up:
Voices from the Next Feminist Generation (1995); Leslie
Heywood and
Jennifer Drake (eds.). Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist,
Doing Fem-
inism (1997); Marcelle Karp and Debbie Stoller (eds.). The
BUST Guide
to the New Girl Order (1999); Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy
Richards,
Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future (2000);
Daisy Her-
nández and Bushra Rehman (eds.). Colonize This! Young
Women of Color
on Today's Feminism (2002); Merri Lisa Johnson (ed.), Jane
Sexes It Up:
True Confessions of Feminist Desire (2002); Rory Dicker and
Alison Piep-
meier (eds.). Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the

21st Century
(2003); Michelle Tea (ed.). Without a Net: The Female
Experience of Grow-
ing Up Working Class (2003); and Vivien Labaton and Dawn
Lundy
Martin (eds.). The Fire This Time: Young Activists and the New
Feminism
(2004). Heywood helpfully includes excerpts from most of these
books
and others (excluding The BUST Guide and The Fire This Time)
in her
second volume.
Together these volumes present a vision of third-wave feminism
that
is hard to thematize for several reasons. First, the majority of
these texts
are loosely edited collections of first-person narratives that are
anecdotal
and autobiographical in nature. Second, many of the essays
focus on media
icons, images, and discourses rather than on feminist theory or
politics
per se, which makes a comparison to second-wave feminism
difficult.
Third, these volumes make clear that third-wavers embrace a
multiplicity
of identities, accept the messiness of lived contradiction, and
eschew a
unifying agenda; these hallmarks make third-wave feminism
difficult to
define. In fact, when asked to define the new movement,
Baumgardner
says, "This insistence on definitions is really frustrating
because feminism
gets backed into a corner. People keep insisting on defining and

defining
and defining and making a smaller and smaller definition—and
it's just
lazy thinking on their part. Feminism is something individual to
each
feminist" (Strauss 2000).
Overall, however, this popular literature contains four major
claims
about how third-wave feminism differs from second-wave
feminism—
claims that contain some truth yet overstate the distinctiveness
of the new
movement from its predecessor. First, third-wavers emphasize
that because
they are a new generation, they necessarily have to have their
own dis-
tinctive version of feminism: "We are the first generation for
whom fem-
inism has been entwined in the fabric of our lives; it is natural
that many
of us are feminists. . . . This country hasn't heard enough from
young
178 I Snyder
feminists. We're here, and we have a lot to say about our ideas
and hopes
and struggles and our place within feminism" (Findlen 2006, 6-
7, 9).
While many second-wavers bemoan the invisibility of feminism
among
young women, Baumgardner and Richards assert that "feminism
is out

there, tucked into our daily acts of righteousness and self-
respect. . . .
For our generation feminism is like fluoride. We scarcely notice
that we
have it—it's simply in the water" (2000, 17). Unlike their
mothers' gen-
eration, who had to prove themselves, third-wavers consider
themselves
entitled to equality and self-fulfillment—"the legacy of
feminism for me
was a sense of entitlement" (Findlen 2006, 6)—even as they
recognize
continuing injustices.
Third-wavers want their own version of feminism that addresses
their
different societal contexts and the particular set of challenges
they face.
For example, young women today face a world colonized by the
mass
media and information technology, and they see themselves as
more so-
phisticated and media savvy than feminists from their mothers'
generation.
A lot of third-wave literature emphasizes the importance of
cultural pro-
duction and critique, focusing particular attention on female pop
icons,
hip-hop music, and beauty culture, rather than on traditional
politics per
se. Bitch, for example, advocates "thinking critically about
every message
the mass media sends; it's about loudly articulating what's
wrong and
what's right with what we see" ( Jervis 2006b, 263). In the
newly published

bitchfest: Ten Tears of Cultural Criticism from the Pa^es of
"Bitch" Mag-
azine, the editors argue that "anyone who protests that a focus
on pop
culture distracts from 'real' feminist issues and lacks a
commitment to
social change needs to turn on the TV—it's a public gauge of
attitudes
about everything from abortion . . . to poverty . . . to political
power.
. . . The world of pop culture is . . . the marketplace of ideas"
(Jervis
and Zeisler 2006, xxi-xxii).
While every generation by definition confronts a new historical
context,
that alone does not seem sufficient to declare a new wave of
feminism.
Our media-saturated culture calls for increased attention to
cultural cri-
tique, but second-wave feminism also attended to cultural
traditions, pro-
testing the Miss America pageant and creating women's music
festivals,
for example. In fact, second-wave feminism included an entire
strand
devoted to such issues: cultural feminism. Moreover, second-
wave femi-
nism still exists and, as a recent study shows, a woman's
understanding
of what feminism means has more to do with where and when
she entered
the discourse than it does with the year of her birth (Aikau,
Erickson,
and Pierce 2007). Consequently, it is more helpful to understand
third-

wave feminism as a particular approach rather than using it to
label women
born within certain years or who occupy a certain age group.
Second, third-wavers claim to be less rigid and judgmental than
their
mothers' generation, which they often represent as antimale,
antisex, anti-
femininity, and antifun. For example, Naomi Wolf refers to
second-wave
feminism as "victim feminism" and portrays it as "sexually
judgmental,
even antisexual," "judgmental of other women's sexuality and
appear-
ance," and "self-righteous" (Wolf 2006, 14-15). She says
second-wave
feminism wants women "to give up 'heterosexual privilege' by
not mar-
rying, instead of extending civil rights; to give up beauty,
instead of ex-
panding the definition." It "believes sensuality cannot coincide
with se-
riousness" and "fears that to have too much flin poses a threat
to the
revolution" (Wolf 2006, 15). While this picture clearly paints a
popular
caricature of second-wave feminism, it also provides a
convenient foil
against which third-wave feminism can define itself.
In contrast to their perception of their mothers' feminism, third-

wavers
feel entided to interact with men as equals, claim sexual
pleasure as they
desire it (heterosexual or otherwise), and actively play with
femininity.
Girl power, or girlie culture, is a central—^yet contested—
strand within
the third wave. Its proponents argue that "our desires aren't
simply booby
traps set by the patriarchy. Girlie encompasses the tabooed
symbols of
women's feminine enculturation—Barbie dolls, makeup, fashion
maga-
zines, high heels—and says using them isn't shorthand for
'we've been
duped.' Using makeup isn't a sign of our sway to the
marketplace and
the male gaze; it can be sexy, campy, ironic, or simply
decorating ourselves
without the loaded issues" (Baumgardner and Richards 2006,
302-3).
The third-wave desire for girl power seems simultaneously
authentic, play-
ful, and part of the younger generation's project of reclamation,
which
also redeploys terms like "bitch," "cunt," and "slut."
In defining third-wave feminism as fan, feminine, and sex-
positive,
however, third-wavers unfortunately play right into the popular
miscon-
ception that second-wave feminism was dour, frumpy, and
frigid. While
second-wave feminism did split during the 1980s over questions
of por-
nography, prostitution, and lesbian sadomasochism—a topic

discussed
more fally below—it is important to note that the sex wars were
a split
within second-wave feminism. In other words, rather than
breaking with
its predecessor, third-wave feminism grows out of one
important faction
within the second wave. It is revisionist history to conflate
second-wave
feminism as a whole with the so-called antisex feminists and
third-wavers
with the prosex side. Such a depiction reinforces the commonly
accepted
180 I Snyder
caricature of second-wave feminism as antisex—a view that is
clearly overly
generalized, inaccurate, and reductionist to anyone who has
more than a
superficial understanding of the movement (Kelly 2005).
Third, third-wavers depict their version of feminism as more
inclusive
and racially diverse than the second wave. In fact, Heywood
defines third-
wave feminism as "a form of inclusiveness" (2006a, xx). Third-
wave fem-
inism "respects not only differences between women based on
race, eth-
nicity, religion, and economic standing but also makes
allowance for
different identities within a single person" (xx). It also "allows
for iden-

tities that previously may have been seen to clash with
feminism" (xx);
you can now be religiously devout or into sports or beauty
culture, and
still be a feminist, for example. Like a lot of third-wave edited
collections,
the Heywood volume of primary sources includes not only
pieces by
women on race (Morgan 2006; Wong 2006), class (Tea 2006),
or both
(Rehman and Hernández 2006) but also a significant number of
texts
that discuss the experience of living with multiple identities—
biracial
(Jones 2006; Tzintzún 2006; Walker 2006a), bisexual (Walker
2006c),
transgendered (Wilchins 2006), or multicultural (Hurdis 2006;
Weiner-'
Mahfiiz 2006). Taking multiple identities into account
complicates fem-
inist analysis, but, these authors argue, that is what has to
happen in order
for feminism to speak to the experiences of young people today.
While it is commendable that third-wave feminism makes
diversity a
central feature, it is a misconception to believe that second-
wave feminism
was composed of all white, middle-class women (Thompson
2002; Kelly
2005). Indeed, it may surprise many second-wave feminists to
learn that
third-wavers claim the writings of feminists of color from the
early 1980s
as the beginning of the third wave (Heywood and Drake 2006,
29), since

those writers were central to second-wave feminism as it
developed his-
torically. While I am not denying the importance of books like
This Bridge
Called My Back (Moraga and Anzaldúa 1983; see also Hurdis
2006, 61;
Rehman and Hernández 2006, 57) or Siner Outsider (Lorde
1984; see
also Weiner-Mahfiiz 2006, 203) to the personal development
and political
awakening of many third-wavers, claiming authors such as
Gloria An-
zaldúa, Cherrie Moraga, and Audre Lorde as third-wave denies
the im-
portant role they played in second-wave feminism; extracting
them makes
the second wave whiter than it was. As Astrid Henry points out,
that move
"enables younger feminists to present their new wave as more
progressive
and inclusive than that of their second-wave predecessors,"
which allows
them "to position themselves as superior to the feminists of the
past in
their seeming ability to make í̂ eíV feminism anti-racist from its
inception"
(Henry 2006, 126).
This is not to deny that second-wave feminism, like its first-
wave pre-
decessor, often had a white, middle-class bias, but so does
third-wave

feminism. For example. The BUST Guide to the New Girl Order
posits
the existence of "our own Girl Culture—that shared set of
female expe-
riences that includes Barbies and blowjobs, sexism and
shoplifting, Vo¿rue
and vaginas" (Karp and StoUer 1999, xv). Obviously, memories
of playing
with Barbie and reading Vo^ue probably resonate more with
white girls
than with others. And what about the class privilege of the third
wave's
alleged founder—the Yale-educated daughter of Alice Walker
and god-
daughter of Gloria Steinem—who had the resources to create a
major
foundation during her early twenties (Heywood 2006a, xvii).*
Indeed, the
authors of Manifesta—both of whom served as editors at Ms.—
base their
analysis on conversations with their friends, all of whom "live
in New
York City and mostly work in the media" (Baumgardner and
Richards
2000, 22). Thus, solipsism can affect even those with the best
intentions.
Finally, third-wavers claim to have a broader vision of politics
than
second-wave feminism, to have no "party line," and to focus on
more
than just women's issues (Heywood 2006a, 366-67). Heywood
argues
that third-wave feminism "has never had a monolithically
identifiable,
single-issue agenda that distinguishes it from other movements

for social
justice. One of its main emphases, in fact, has been on feminism
and
gender activism as only one part of a much larger agenda for
environ-
mental, economic, and social justice, and one of its main
arguments is
that it is counterproductive to isolate gender as a single
variable" (Hey-
wood 2006a, xx). Third-wave feminism seems to include any
approach,
as long as it pays attention to gender issues and favors social
justice.
Here again, third-wave writers overemphasize their
distinctiveness. Sec-
ond-wave feminism did not focus only on a narrow number of
women's
issues. For example, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many
feminists
saw gender equality as inextricably connected to the struggle
for socialism.
Alternatively, the Greenham Common women's peace
encampment made
peace a feminist issue—a controversial claim that some see as
essentializing.
Indeed, the concept of the "personal is political" actually
renders almost
every issue political. Moreover, with (at least) four major
schools of
thought (liberal, socialist, radical, and cultural), second-wave
feminism
can hardly be seen as having one party line. Such an assertion
can only
come from a stunning ignorance of the historical development
of feminist

theory.
Because third-wavers frequently overstate their distinctiveness
while
showing litde knowledge of their own history, the movement
has been
widely criticized by second-wavers. For example, in Not My
Mother's Sister
182 I Snyder
(2004), Henry makes a convincing case that third-wave
feminism can be
viewed as the rebellion of young women against their mothers
and as
their desire to have a feminism of their own, even though their
political
agenda—when they have one—remains quite similar to that of
their moth-
ers. As Steinem comments, "It will take a while before feminists
succeed
enough so that feminism is not perceived as a gigantic mother
who is
held responsible for almost everything, while the patriarchy
receives ter-
minal gratitude for the small favors it bestows. . . . I confess
that there
are moments in [the] pages [of Rebecca Walker's To Be Real]
when I—
and perhaps other readers over thirty-five—feel like a sitting
dog being
told to sit" (Steinem 1995, xix, xxii).
Indeed, third-wave feminists often argue against a straw

woman—a
frumpy, humorless, antisex caricature of second-wave feminists
that papers
over the differences and nuances that existed within that
movement (Kelly
2005). At the same time, second-wave feminists can also be
overly de-
fensive or dismissive of the younger women's perspectives
(Evans 2003,
231).
Framing the third wave
Stacy Gillis, Gillian Howie, and Rebecca Munford's Third Wave
Feminism
(2007) and Heywood's two-volume Encyclopedia (2006a,
2006b) both
try to make sense of third-wave feminism by providing an
academic vision
that frames the movement theoretically. Unfortunately, the
format of these
two books plays into the lack of clarity about the nature of the
movement.
Third Wave Feminism consists of a collection of loosely related
essays,
originally written for a conference on the topic in 2002.
Heywood's En-
cyclopedia provides an alphabetized list of key concepts related
to the topic
with little overarching analysis, which makes her own viewpoint
hard to
discern.
Unless completely familiar with the entire primary literature on
third-
wave feminism, it is hard for a reader to perceive the ways in
which

Heywood shapes her own vision of feminism through the
choices she
makes about what to include in the reader. For example, it
seems strange
at first that Heywood chose to exclude The BUST Guide to the
New Girl
Order from her volume of primary documents, especially since
BUST is
frequently cited as central to the movement, even in her own
introduction
(2006a, xix). Excluding it, however, means excluding some of
the more
purely sexual, consumerist, and frivolous pieces of the third-
wave move-
ment—pieces in which individuals detail the pleasures of "cock-
sucking"
(LaRue 1999, 100), discuss the "mysterious eroticism of mini-
backpacks"
(Reling 1999, 64), glorify a history of shoplifting makeup and
then throw-
ing it away (Goldberg 1999, 200), or recount the experience of
gazing
at one's own cunt (Guzzo 1999, 16). Indeed, Stoller, one of the
editors
oí BUST, reportedly declared at a conference that "painting
one's toenails
is a feminist act because it expands the notions of what a
feminist is allowed
to do or how she may look." She reportedly suggested, '"maybe
we should
be painting our nails in the boardroom' . . . in order to bring our

Girlie-
ness into male-defined spaces" (quoted in Baumgardner and
Richards
2006, 305).
Heywood's decision to exclude such material from her third-
wave col-
lection pushes the movement in a more serious direction—which
I see as
a positive move. Her volume, along with that of Gillis, Howie,
and Mun-
ford, plays the role of nudging third-wave feminism in a more
theoretically
coherent and productive direction. Together the books suggest
that third-
wave feminism should be seen as a response to the series of
watershed
changes within feminist theory and politics mentioned above,
even though
the movement remains inchoate. The remainder of this essay
builds on
the efforts of these two works by teasing out more deliberately
the dis-
tinctive contributions third-wave feminism makes to feminist
struggle.
More specifically, it is my argument that while third-wave texts
often
exhibit certain limitations—a youthful myopia, an ignorance of
history,
and a sense of self-importance—overall third-wave feminism
does make
sense as a new yet still embryonic stage of feminist politics.
Third-wave
feminism presents a tactical response to three major theoretical
challenges

to second-wave feminism: the "category of women" debates
(initiated by
feminists of color) that shattered the idea of a shared women's
experience
or identity; the end of grand narratives through the decline of
Marxism
and the rise of poststructuralism, deconstruction, and
postmodernism
within the academy; and the sex wars that fractured the unified
political
stand of feminism on many important feminist issues. In short,
the third
wave responds to the debates of the 1980s that hobbled feminist
theory
and practice.
Feminism without "women"
Third-wave feminism responds to the "category of women"
debates of
the late 1980s and early 1990s that began with a critique of the
second-
wave contention that women share something in common as
women: a
common gender identity and set of experiences. The concepts of
"woman"
and "experiences" are closely connected within the second wave
and, along
with personal politics, form the three core concepts of that
movement
184 I Snyder
(Grant 1993). In short, classic second-wave feminism argues
that in pa-

triarchal society women share common experiences, and through
a sharing
of their experiences with one another in consciousness-raising
(CR)
groups, they can generate knowledge about their own
oppression. Once
they realize that what they thought were personal problems
(e.g., uneven
division of household labor, male-centered sexual practices,
domestic vi-
olence, etc.) are widely shared, they can see the ways in which
the patri-
archal structure of society produces such problems, and the
personal be-
comes political.
Third-wave feminists rightly reject the universalist claim that
all women
share a set of common experiences, but they do not discard the
concept
of experience altogether. Women still look to personal
experiences to pro-
vide knowledge about how the world operates and to trouble
dominant
narratives about how things should be. Indeed, the personal
story con-
stitutes one of the central hallmarks of third-wave feminism,
and the move-
ment has not moved beyond this genre over time—as illustrated
by the
recent publication of both bitchfest {]crvis and Zeisler 2006)
and We Don't
Need Another Wave: Dispatehes from the Next Generation of
Feminists
(Berger 2006).

The phrase "the personal is political" still forms the core of
feminism,
and sharing personal experiences functions as a form of CR
within the
third wave. Second-wave CR in its classic form occurred in
face-to-face
settings; however, plenty of proverbial lightbulbs went off
outside of such
gatherings as well (Evans 2003, 30-31). Many second-wavers
wrote
books—although they tended more toward ambitious theoretical
analyses
than personal storytelling—and, as Elizabeth Kelly remarks,
texts like
'"The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm' passed from hand to hand in
tattered
photocopies" (2005, 235). While the third wave lacks any
formalized
structure, similar to second-wave CR groups, the hope seems to
be that
through reading or hearing about the life experiences of a
diversity of
individuals, young women will gain insight into their own lives
and the
societal structures in which they live. Women's and gender
studies courses
provide additional markets for third-wave literature.
Many third-wave stories strive to demonstrate the gaps between
dom-
inant discourses and the reality of women's lives. Some third-
wavers, for
example, use their own experiences growing up in interracial or
multi-
cultural families to illustrate how the politics of race, class, and
gender

play out in people's lives (Weiner-Mahfaz 2006). For example,
Cristina
Tzintzún writes, "I worry about dating whites, especially white
men. . . .
I see what a white man did to my beautifal, brown, Mexican
mother. He
colonized her" (Tzintzún 2006, 195). Other essays show how
their au-
thors don't properly fit into societal or feminist categories—how
they are
misunderstood, mistreated, hurt, or angered by dominant
discourses—
which exposes the human costs of hegemonic narratives and
thus works
to undermine their legitimacy (Hardy 2003; Tanenbaum 2006).
Unfortunately, however, the critical messages embedded within
these
personal stories ofi:en remain unspoken. For example. Tea
published With-
out a Net so women could tell their stories of what it's "like to
grow up
receiving messages fi-om the dominant culture that to be a
female is to
behave in a way that will get you eaten for lunch in your
roughneck city"
(2003, xii). Most of the stories in the volume movingly convey
the dif-
ficulties of growing up poor, yet they remain personal stories,
leaving
readers to construct a critique of dominant ideologies. The same

is the
case with a good deal of the third-wave material.
When they do take a more analytical approach, third-wavers
tend to
focus a lot of attention on media images of women (Jervis and
Zeisler
2006). Many complain that they do not see themselves
represented in the
mass media because they occupy minority subject positions,
such as trans
(Serano 2006, 81) or butch (Savoie 2006, 96), for example.
Bitch editors
Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler point out, however, that no one
really sees
herself refiected: "Most of us looking to celluloid for a
reflection of our-
selves will be sorely disappointed, no matter what our gender
(even if we
see ourselves as pretty standard males or females—Hollywood
archetypes
are limited about plenty more than the strict boy/girl thang
[Í¿C])" (2006,
51). Others find themselves identifying in an unusual way: "I'm
not sure
exacdy when or how it happened, but at some point in my
childhood I
began to think I was a white guy trapped in the body of a black
girl. And
not just any white guy, either—a guitar player in a heavy metal
band. . . .
I'm a black female metalhead" (Chaney 2006, 26).
While such stories might be read as simply personal accounts of
the
struggles of growing up, this third-wave tactic implicidy reveals

the fissures
between conflicting narratives about gender. Building on Judith
Butler's
theoretical insights, Munford argues that third-wavers
sometimes "deploy
performative strategies that rely less on a dissonance between
anatomical
sex and gender identity (as in the instance of drag), than on a
tension
between opposing discourses of gender within female-embodied
sexed
identity—in particular the Madonna/whore and girl/woman
binaries"
(2007, 271)—think the Riot Grrrls, Courtney Love, or Buffy the
Vampire
Slayer. By occupying female subject positions in innovative or
contradic-
tory ways, third-wavers unsettle essentialist narratives about
dominant men
and passive women and shape new identities within the
interstices of
competing narratives. There is no one way to be a woman.
186 I Snyder
The continued emphasis on personal experiences within the
third wave
illustrates the falsity of second-wave claims that women have a
common
identity based on shared experiences. While some feminist
theorists have
wondered how feminism can continue without the category
women, the
third wave approach seems to abandon the idea of creating a

social move-
ment as the goal of feminism, which alleviates the need for a
shared identity
upon which women can act together. This does not mean an
abandonment
of all politics, however. Third-wavers tend to take an anarchist
approach
to politics—calling for immediate direct action or understanding
individ-
ual acts as political in and of themselves (Berger 2006). For
example, one
author writes, "In the year after 9/11,1 decided my activism was
the kind
of activism women of color do on a daily basis. Everything I did
to keep
myself alive—from holding down my job to painting my
toenails to build-
ing and using my altar to cooking up big pots of sweet potato
curry with
my best girlfriends before we watched The Sie^e (with irony)—
I decided
to count as feminism" (Piepzna-Samarasinha 2006, 172). To the
extent
that collective action is needed, third-wave feminist politics
should be
understood as coalitional rather than unified (Stone 2007, 22).
Feminism without foundations
The collapse of the category of women within second-wave
feminism
corresponded to a larger trend in intellectual life away from the
grand
narratives of modernity and into the foundationless world of
postmoder-
nity. Gillis, Howie, and Munford portray third-wave feminism

as a post-
modern version of feminism. Their volume Third Wave
Feminism (2007)
includes many essays that frame third-wave feminism as
antiessentialist
(Heywood and Drake 2007; Stone 2007), postmodern (Heywood
and
Drake 2007; Howie and Tauchert 2007; Stryker 2007),
poststructuralist
in orientation (Pender 2007), constructed through "hybridity and
con-
tradiction" (Sanders 2007, 7), or a response to tbe "sense of
fracture and
fragmentation in the project of feminism," illustrated by "the
category of
'woman'" debates (Moore 2007, 126). The volume's postmodern
fram-
ing, however, is more its authors' vision of what third-wave
feminism
should or could be rather than a description of what it actually
is in the
popular literature at this point.
Heywood agrees with Gillis, Howie, and Munford that third-
wave fem-
inism is postmodern in orientation: "In its emphasis on
destabilizing fixed
definitions of gender and rejection of unitary notions of
'woman' and
'feminism,' third-wave feminism is clearly informed and shaped
by post-
modern theory, as well as other anti-foundationalist discourse
such as

postcolonialism and poststructuralism. . . . Third-wave feminist
ideas
about identity embrace notions of contradiction, multiplicity,
and ambi-
guity, building on postmodern theory's critique of ideas about
the unified
self and engaging with the fluid nature of gender and sexual
identity"
(2006a, 257-58). Not assuming a unified category of women,
most third-
wavers take an antiessentialist stance (2006a, 144), rejecting
"the as-
sumption that all members of a particular race, class, gender, or
sexual
orientation share common characteristics" (2006a, 122). While
Heywood
alludes to the conundrum that feminists need to make claims on
behalf
of women even as they reject a unified category of women—
when she
mentions in passing that "many feminists are willing to take the
intellectual
risk of essentialism to critique social and economic inequities
that cut
along gender lines" (2006a, 123)—she does not actually address
this
problem theoretically, and few primary or secondary sources
even mention
it.
Third-wave feminism clearly responds to the conditions of
postmo-
dernity, yet it would be too strong to characterize the movement
as post-

modern. That is, while Gillis, Howie, and Munford's volume
depicts third-
wave feminism as a set of responses to a theoretical world
described as
postmodern, a lot of the primary sources maintain an uncritical
view of
experience, rely heavily on identity politics, and seem to
articulate a ba-
sically modern liberal position that is individualistic, subject
volitional, and
expressive. It would thus be more accurate to describe third-
wave femi-
nism as a tactical response to the conditions of postmodernity
rather than
to portray it as a new postmodernist stage of feminist theory.
Put differ-
ently, third-wave feminism is not unequivocally postmodern in
its theo-
retical approach, but it responds to a postmodern, post-Marxist
world in
which all foundations and grand narratives have been called into
question.
In its response to postmodernity, third-wave feminism strives to
ac-
commodate a wider array of identity positions than did the
second wave—
at least theoretically. For example, Heywood argues, "Because
third-wave
feminist thinking explicitly questions the gender binary
male/female and
generally has a non-essentialist approach to thinking about
gender, trans-
gender fits much more fliUy into third-wave understandings of
gender
and sexuality than did second-wave thinking" (2006a, 326; see

also Stryker
2007, 64). Moreover, "many third-wavers connect butch lesbian
expres-
sion with transgender identities and affirm that variation in
gender is
sometimes tied to sexuality but that gender and sexuality do not
depend
on each other" (Heywood 2006a, 48). This argument makes
sense, and
it allows Heywood to write transgender and butch folks into her
vision
of third-wave feminism, but it is not completely there, even in
her own
188 I Snyder
work. Heywood includes only two pieces written from a
transgender per-
spective in her collection of sixty-five primary sources
(Ruttenberg 2006;
Wilchins 2006), and nothing from a butch or femme
perspective. In gen-
eral, very few essays in the self-identified third-wave literature
come from
butch, femme, or trans perspectives either.
Nevertheless, when framed as a response to postmodernism, the
third
wave does provide a more inclusive and accommodating version
of fem-
inism with an alternative, critical way of seeing the world.
Noëlle McAfee
and I have called feminist theory "a kind of 'hermeneutic of
suspicion,'

[that] largely operates as a critique of existing theories and
practices"
(McAfee and Snyder 2007, vii). While a third-wave approach to
feminism
may not be able to generate a unified vision or inspire a mass
movement,
it does continue the tradition of feminism as critique, as a
critical lens that
should be turned on all existing discourses, institutions, and
cultural
practices.
Because it responds to a fragmented postmodern world that has
moved
beyond grand narratives like Marxism and radical feminism,
third-wave
feminism does not attempt to present a unified vision with
which every
woman can agree. Consequently, third-wavers do not feel the
need to
spend a lot of time constructing ambitious theoretical analyses
or justifying
on what grounds they are acting; they just do it. Others can
either join
them or do their own thing.
Feminism without exclusion
By rejecting a unified category of women and embracing the
anarchic
imperative of direct action, third-wave feminism necessarily
embraces a
philosophy of nonjudgment. From this position, the third wave
directly
responds to the infamous sex wars, the devastating split that
pitted fem-
inists against each other; with all its emphasis on claiming

sexuality, third-
wave feminism clearly identifies with the prosex side of that
split. As
Heywood explains, "pro-sex feminism usually refers to a
segment of the
women's movement that defends pornography, sex work,
sadomasochism,
and butch/femme roles, but it also recuperates heterosexuality,
inter-
course, marriage, and sex toys from separatist feminist
dismissals" (2006a,
260). According to Heywood, "feminist pornography for [the
third-wave]
generation is heavily influenced by marginalized or
nonnormative sexu-
alities—including gay and lesbian, transgender, butch, and sex
worker
activists—and is devoted to reducing the stigma surrounding
sexual plea-
sure in feminism and U.S. culture. As sex educator and feminist
pornog-
rapher Carol Queen asserts, 'Unless we honor the full spectrum
of con-
sensual erotic desire, none of us will be truly free to pursue our
own.' In
this sense, the emerging third-wave position on feminist
pornography
builds on the sex-positive feminism of the 1980s" (2006a, 248).
Third-
wave literature includes many stories that praise sex work,
advocate sexual

assertiveness, and revel in the use of vulgar sexual language. By
including
a diversity of views on sexuality and not judging any of them,
third-wave
feminists hope to avoid contentious splits.
While third-wavers claim the mantle of being prosex, however,
the
central issue at the heart of the sex wars—how to create gender
equality
when women enjoy female objectification (pornography), claim
the right
to make money servicing male sexual needs (prostitution), and
eroticize
relationships of inequality (sadomasochism)—has never been
resolved; it
seems to have simply dropped from sight. Ofi:entimes, third-
wave femi-
nism seems to have morphed into being all about choice with
little ex-
amination of how chosen desires are constructed or recognition
of how
an aggregation of individual choices can have a negative impact
on gender
relations at large (Wood 2006). For example, BUST editors
Karp and
Stoller praise feminist scholar Jan Breslauer for proclaiming in
Playboy,
"This boob job is empowering. . . . I know the party line on
breast
augmentation that women who have surgery are the oppressed
victims of
a patriarchal culture . . . [However,] feminism is about having
control
over life and one's body" (quoted in Karp and Stoller 1999, 3).
Karp and

Stoller themselves explain, "If bigger boobs are what she wants,
it's her
right to choose both as a feminist and as an individual," period
(1999,
3)—a position that legitimizes potentially everything a woman
chooses
to do as feminist.
Not all third-wave feminism takes the iJ{75r approach,
however. In-
deed, discussions of how the beauty industry negatively affects
the self-
image of women have been central to the third wave (Heywood
2006a,
44), yet in the end, the principle of choice, which is not a
postmodern
concept, usually trumps all. Zeisler, who specifically criticizes
the body-
shaping industry, emphasizes the importance of context in
evaluating an
individual woman's choices; she insists that breast implants can
be feminist
under the right circumstances: "It's hard to condemn someone
whose
insecurity about having small breasts poisons the rest of her
life; for her,
that amounts to a feminist issue" (2006, 260) because,
apparently, any
choice that falfills a woman's need or desire is feminist. Even if
you have
a feminist analysis of the beauty ideal, she argues, "it isn't
going to help
someone whose day-to-day life has already been damaged by
this code
and just wants to get implants and get on with living" (260).

Third-wave feminists, however, while less judgmental than
some of their
190 I Snyder
predecessors, seem no better equipped to answer the core
questions about
pleasure and danger raised during the sex wars than were
second-wavers.
Sexism may in fact be sexy to many, but what does that mean
for the
feminist dream of gender equality? For example, Joan Morgan
confesses
her attraction to the trappings of patriarchy, the rituals of
chivalry, the
thrill of objectification, and the sexiness of male dominance:
"Truth be
told, men with too many 'feminist' sensibilities have never made
my pant-
ies wet. . . . And how come no one ever admits that part of the
reason
women love hip-hop—as sexist as it is—is 'cuz all that in-yo-
face testos-
terone makes our nipples hard.>" (Morgan 2006,11). If sexuality
is socially
constructed, it only makes sense that women desire male
dominance, but
where does that leave feminism.̂ Sure, women can advocate
legal equality
and still desire inequality in their intimate relationships, but is
it possible
that inequality at home might undermine equality in the public
sphere?
Is the personal still political? Morgan has no answers about how

to balance
pleasure and danger—but, in her defense, neither does anyone
else.
In one of the few articles in Third Wave Feminism addressing
such
thorny issues, Melanie Waters examines "the third wave's
unquestioned
pro-porn stance and its proven endorsement of sexual
confessionalism"
(2007, 251). She criticizes Baumgardner and Richards's
contention that
5 Í75r magazine's use of soft porn imagery is unproblematic for
feminism
because it presents porn as "demystified, claimed for women,
debated"
(quoted in Waters 2007, 258). As Waters points out, there is in
fact no
discussion of the negative effects of porn within BUST s pages;
it is not
being debated. Consequendy, "the magazine's use of sofb-core,
'cutesy'
imagery suggests precisely the opposite; . . . that a pro-porn,
pro-sex
stance has been adopted as third wave feminism's default
position" (Waters
2007, 258). While this approach renders third-wave feminism
more pop-
ular with the young—"who have been fed the myth that
feminists are
. . . fat, man-hating, no-fun lesbians" (258)—it is not conducive
to critical
thinking: "Inclusive and nonjudgmental though this feminism is,
it none-
theless promotes an ethic of acceptance that is hostile to the
flourishing

of politicized feminist debate" (259). Because politicized debate
about
sexuality once shattered the feminist movement, third-wave
feminism
completely embraces nonjudgmentalism and choice, sometimes
to the
point of blunting its critical edge (259).
Waters's solution to the pleasure/danger dilemma draws on the
work
of Butler and others who see the "expansion of the pornographic
imag-
inary" (Waters 2007, 256) as a solution to the key problem: that
por-
nography constructs a rigid and hierarchal vision of male
dominance and
gratification as well as female submission and objectification
that degrades
and disadvantages women and undergirds patriarchal relations
throughout
society. Once this traditional vision of gender relations becomes
decen-
tered through the proliferation of alternative pornographic
subjectivities,
it will no longer be hegemonic; it will be reduced to just one
type of
relationship among many. Third-wave feminist approaches that
draw on
postmodern understandings of discourse allow for this new
solution, but
unfortunately. Waters argues, a lot of third-wavers fail to

articulate this
strategy because they seek to avoid academic jargon and reftise
to speak
for more than just themselves. Consequently, the bigger picture
gets lost
among the multiplicity of personal narratives (257).
Without the theoretical edifice for context, however, third-wave
fem-
inist confessionals often read as simply apolitical
manifestations of the
expressive individualism that characterizes our predominantly
liberal cul-
ture. The theoretical tools of academic feminism allow third-
wave scholars
to push popular articulations of women's experiences in a
postmodern,
critical direction, rendering them more radical and theoretically
sophis-
ticated. Indeed, Waters's critique of the celebratory and
dismissive tenor
of much third-wave writing on pornography suggests that many
popular
third-wave texts do not have a compelling theoretical analysis
or alternative
solution to many of the difficult dilemmas that hobbled the
second wave.
Ironically, many third-wavers criticize academic feminism for
losing its
critical edge: "The Third Wave is, in the main, rather self-
consciously
poised against the academy, even though almost all of the
[third-wave]
authors have been, or look forward to being, college-educated,
and many

tell of taking courses in women's or gender studies" (Kelly
2005, 239).
Third-wavers challenge academic theorists "to write
comprehensible the-
ory (intellectual philosophies and ideas articulated in a way that
students,
and perhaps the general public, can understand), making it more
useful
and meaningfiil to women outside of academia" (Heywood
2006a, 10).
Heywood herself calls academic feminists out for their
hypocrisy, stating:
"Some academic and second-wave feminists argue that these
[third-wave
personal] narratives are not 'academic' or 'theoretical' enough or
are solely
grounded in the personal. . . . [They] do not view the personal
as aca-
demic enough, despite the feminist mantra, 'the personal is
political'"
(2006a, 9). Third-wave collections, she insists, frame "the
personal in
political contexts" (9).
Heywood's call for clear, accessible writing is a worthy goal, as
long
as it doesn't result in the glossing over of important nuances.
The problem,
however, is that when articulated in everyday language, minus
the the-
oretical apparatus, personal accounts are often read as merely
idiosyncratic
personal stories or confessions rather than as examples of
postmodern

192 I Snyder
subjectivity that intend to destabilize dominant discourses.
Often we need
analyses such as Munford's (2007) to tease out the political
implications.
Feminist theory does need to speak to women's experiences, and
third-
wave voices challenge academic articulations that miss the
mark. At the
same time, feminist theorists need to play the role of organic
intellectuals,
pushing third-wave feminism to achieve its potential—which is
essentially
what The Women's Movement Today and Third Wave Feminism
are trying
to do.
A new wave?
Third-wave feminism continues the efforts of second-wave
feminism to
create conditions of freedom, equality, justice, and self-
actualization for
all people by focusing on gender-related issues in particular,
even as it
offers a different set of tactics for achieving those goals. Since
as many
similarities exist as do differences, why continue to use wave
terminology
(Jervis 2006a).!' The wave metaphor certainly has some
limitations. First,
the metaphor implies that the two waves of feminism are tied to
particular
demographic generations, which is counterfactual and unhelpfiil

(Aikau,
Erickson, and Pierce 2007). Second, it fuels the vision of
generational
rebellion, which is "divisive and oppositional" and obscures
more than it
reveals (Jervis 2006a, 134-35). Third, as Kimberly Springer
argues, the
entire wave metaphor is organized around the activities of white
women,
overlooking the activist work of black women that preceded and
followed
the so-called waves (Springer 2006, 33-34). Finally, third-wave
feminism
focuses almost exclusively on American feminism, often
prioritizing issues
that at best do not resonate internationally and at worst
undermine the
possibility of transnational coalitions.
Yet while there are good reasons to reject the wave metaphor,
this
terminology developed at a particular moment in time and
continues to
be used; consequently, it requires theoretical commentary. As I
hope I
have demonstrated, "third-wave feminism" does contain the
seeds of a
new approach within feminist theory and politics that I believe
has great
potential. As Fdnie Kaeh Garrison puts it, "Although it is by no
means
guaranteed, I do still want to believe the name-object 'third
wave femi-
nism' has transformational potential. However, this potential
can be real-
ised only when feminists and their allies take the lead in

defining and
demarcating its content, not in flippant, irreverent, sound-bite
versions
of intellectual wish-wash palatable to the media and the public,
but with
careñil attention to the messiness, the contradictions, the
ambiguities, and
the complexities such an endeavour inevitably entails" (2007,
195). While
distinctively American, third-wave feminism potentially offers a
diverse,
antifoundationalist, multiperspectival, sex-radical version of
feminism that
could move American feminism beyond the impasses of the
1980s and
1990s.
Third-wave feminism is not yet a social movement—and it may
never
be. Because it strives to be inclusive of all, collective action
constitutes
one of its biggest challenges, and one that it shares with other
antifoun-
dationalist discourses, such as radical democracy. In fact, third-
wave fem-

inism is not unlike radical democracy. Both require the constant
engage-
ment of participants in the struggle for a better world. There are
no
predetermined answers and no guarantees of success, just the
inspiration
for critical engagement with the lived messiness of
contemporary life.
Department of Public and International Affairs
Georße Mason University
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Hits the Mikveh,'
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Savoie, Keely. 2006. "Screen Butch Blues: The Celluloid Fate
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Serano, Julia. 2006. "Skirt Chasers: Why the Media Dresses the
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RUBRIC – RESEARCH PAPER
This rubric helps students develop a precise historical research
paper and serves as an objective grading tool for the professor.
Learning Objectives
People undertake research projects throughout their academic
and professional careers in order to:
· Answer specific questions.
· Share findings with others.
· Increase understanding of challenging topics.
· Strengthen researching, writing, and analytical skills.

Grade Points
FORMAT:
The research paper is 8 to 10 pages long, not counting the
coversheet and bibliography.
The paper’s introduction, body, and conclusion are keyed in
with double spacing and in Times New Roman 11- or 12-point
font.
It has a separate coversheet presenting title, author’s name,
course title, professor’s name, and date posted.
The page after the cover sheet begins with the title of the paper
(repeated from the cover sheet).
Only indentations indicate the beginning of new paragraphs.
(No double spacing between paragraphs)
Each page other than the cover sheet has 1” margins on all four
sides.
Pages are numbered on the top of each page (MSWord: Insert,
Page Number, Top of Page)with no other header information (no
name, title, etc., just the page number).
Subtotal
2%
2%
1%

2%
1%
1%
1%
10 %
INTRODUCTION:
The paper’s introduction is one or two paragraphs long and
written entirely in the third person.
It presents the topic, explains its importance, and designates
what to expect in the paper’s body.
It contains a thesis statement explaining the objective and
purpose of the paper.
It gives readers a clear concept of what to expect in the body of
the paper.
Subtotal
2%
3%
8%
2%
15%
BODY:
The body provides solid, factual evidence that precisely and
consistently supports the thesis.
The body is historically accurate and includes the writer’s

interpretations of its essence and significance.
The body of the paper contains no chapters or subtitles, but is
one continuous composition.
The body contains no extraneous material beyond the scope of
the thesis stated in the introduction.
The body cites a variety of research sources demonstrating the
student’s ability to do historical research.
The body is logically organized, elucidating, and interesting
enough to keep the reader engaged.
Subtotal
7%
5%
2%
3%
3%
5%
25%
FOOTNOTES: (In MSWord, click on References, Insert
Footnote to begin.)
Each footnote cites a part of the paper derived from another
source – not the student writing the research paper – and
provides readers with the information needed to locate that
source by using Chicago Style.
A footnote may also present detailed explanations from sources
that would distract from the main message of the paper if
located in the body of the paper, itself.

Each footnote is single spaced, begins with the author’s FIRST
NAME (if provided), ends with a period and is correctly
formatted in Chicago Style at the foot of the page.
(Because source information is footnoted, parenthetical
citations do not appear in the body of the paper.)
Subtotal
5%
5%
(-8%)
10%
CONCLUSION:
The conclusion briefly revisits the thesis statement, but words it
differently.
It summarizes the principal thesis-supporting evidence
presented in the body of the paper.
It logically and systematically states the significance of the
paper’s thesis to the history of the period.
It does not include information not mentioned in the research
paper, itself.
Subtotal
2%

3%
3%
2%
10%
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The bibliography begins on the page following the conclusion
and is separated from that page with a hard return. (In MSWord,
click on ctrl/enter at the same time).
It cites only scholarly books, websites, journal articles, and
primary sources. None of the citations are course materials,
encyclopedias, dictionaries, novels, or children’s books.
(Encyclopedias and dictionaries may be used when needed, but
do not cite them as they are not specific enough to be
considered scholarly.)
It contains no less than 8 research sources and no more than 12.
It is correctly formatted and alphabetized as required by
Chicago Style.
Each citation is single spaced with a hanging indentation. (In
MSWord, click on Paragraph, Indentation, Hanging)
Double spacing separates each citation from the next.
Each citation includes a single-spaced annotation written in the
third person that briefly summarizes the citation and evaluates
its significance to the development of the research paper.
Subtotal
2%

4%
5%
3%
1%
1%
4%
20%
EDITING AND PROOFREADING
Careful editing has ensured that all sections of the paper are
carefully organized and thought-provoking.
Careful and repeated proofreading has ensured that there are
very few careless errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation,
indentation, phrasing, and proper word usage.
Subtotal
5%
5%
10%
TOTAL
100%

Copyright of Journal of Women's History is the property of
Johns Hopkins University Press and its content may
not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv
without the copyright holder's express written
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articles for individual use.
RESEARCH PAPER 76
The Other Side of the Coin: A Look at Islamic Law As
Compared to Anglo-American Law – Do Muslim Women
Really Have Fewer Rights Than American Women?

Kathleen A. Portuan Miller
Professor of Legal Writing
This paper can be found in final form at:
16 N.Y. Int’l L. Rev. 65 (2003)
This paper can be downloaded free of charge from the
Social Science Research Network:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1459040
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1459040
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: A LOOK AT ISLAMIC
LAW AS COMPARED TO
ANGLO-AMERICAN LAW-DO MUSLIM WOMEN REALLY
HAVE FEWER RIGHTS
THAN AMERICAN WOMEN?
Kathleen A. Portuán Miller
ABSTRACT
It often seems as though American women possess superior
rights to that of Muslim women;
however, the answer is not so simple. The reality is that Islamic

law traditionally provides
Muslim women with a plethora of rights, but cultural extremism
has clouded this truth. Extreme
cultural practices deceive many into believing that Islam is at
fault. In fact, the extreme regimes,
such as the Taliban, do not coincide with the beliefs proffered
by the Holy Qur’an. For example,
Afghani women were prohibited from receiving an education, a
practice which is in direct
contradiction with the Holy Qur’an. Moreover, while the rights
of Muslim women are often
understated, the rights of American women are often overstated.
American women do not
possess rights equal to those of American men, and they do not
receive equal pay for equal work.
However, Moroccan women, living in a third-world country, are
receiving equal pay for equal
work. Although American women are citizens of the most
advanced country in the world, it is
incorrect to assume that their rights are more advanced than
those of Muslim women under a
traditional Islamic regime.
Reprinted with permission from: New York International Law
Review, Summer 2003, Vol. 16,
No. 2, published by the New York State Bar Association, One
Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207.

Summer 2003] Comparing Islamic Law and Anglo-American
Law 65
The Other Side of the Coin:
A Look at Islamic Law as Compared to Anglo-American Law—
Do Muslim Women Really Have Fewer
Rights Than American Women?
Kathleen A. Portuán Miller*
Introduction
Today, 1.2 billion Muslims—one out of every five people—live
around the world.1 Mus-
lims are predominately living in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia,
Mauritania, Libya, and Egypt in
North Africa; Sudan, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Ethiopia,
Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanza-
nia, and South Africa in Central and Southern Africa; Jordan,
Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and Iran in
the Middle East; Turkey, and the former countries of the Soviet
Union, including Georgia,
Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Tahkistan, Krygystan,
and Azerbaidzhan; Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and India; Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and
Indonesia (having the largest
population of Muslims); China, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Armenia,
and the U.S.2
Islam, meaning “submission to God,” is the second-largest
religion in the world, second
only to Christianity’s 2.5 billion followers.3 Over six million
Muslims (followers of Islam) live

1. See ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA BOOK OF THE YEAR
684 (2002) (quoting the WORLD ALMANAC) (listing four
million Muslims living in North America; however, the
American Muslim Council Report of 2000 lists six mil-
lion Muslims living in the U.S.) The American Muslim
Council’s office is located at 1212 New York Avenue,
Suite 4000, Washington, D.C. 20005.
2. See Jamila Hussain, The Justice of Islam, 25 MELB. U. L.
REV. 865, 865 (2001) (book review) (naming a multi-
tude of countries or areas where Muslims can be found, such as
Indonesia, China, the former Soviet Union, sub-
Saharan Africa, the U.S., Europe, Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan); T.S. Twibell, Implementation of the
United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International
Sale of Goods (CISG) Under Shari’a (Islamic Law):
Will Article 78 of the CISG be Enforced When the Forum Is in
an Islamic State?, 9 INT'L LEGAL PERSP. 25, 32
(1997) (stating that 69 countries have Muslim populations,
including sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Indonesia, Bang-
ladesh, Pakistan, India, Europe, and the United States). See
generally Raymond B. Williams, Americans and Reli-
gions in the Twenty-First Century: Asian Indian and Pakistani
Religions in the United States, 558 ANNALS 178, 185
(1998) (discussing the migration of Muslims from South Asia to
the United States from Pakistan, India and
Bangladesh).
3. See ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA BOOK OF THE YEAR
684 (2002) ; John L. Esposito, The Future of Islam, 25
FLETCHER F. WORLD AFF. 19, 19 (2001) (stating that Islam
is the second-largest religion in the world); Lisa G.
Shah, Faith in Our Future?, 23 WHITTIER L. REV. 183, 199
(2001) (claiming that Islam is the second-largest
religion in the world behind Christianity).

* Kathleen A. Portuán Miller is a Professor of Legal Practice
(Legal Research, Legal Writing and Analysis, and
Alternative Dispute Resolution) at Texas Tech University
School of Law. She has a B.A. in Spanish and Educa-
tion from the University of Pittsburgh, a Masters of Library
Science (Law Librarianship) from the University
of Pittsburgh, and a J.D. from Ohio Northern University. In
addition to teaching law, she lived in Morocco for
four years. The author gives special thanks to Bob Hu (Head of
Public Services), Salena Ayoub, Esq., Tom
Rohrig (Government Documents Librarian), and Professor Dean
Pawlowic (all from Texas Tech University)
for their assistance.
66 New York International Law Review [Vol. 16 No. 2
in the United States.4 Islam is the most rapidly expanding
religion in the world and the fastest-
growing religion in the United States.5 Islam has been called an
“American phenomenon.”6
Islamic law, or Qur’anic law, is called Shariah, and generally
governs family law in Muslim
countries.7 The Holy Qur’an is the primary authority for
Muslims. Basically, Islam is a way of
life.8 Other aspects of life are governed by the civil laws of the
various Islamic states. For exam-
ple, in the Magherib area—Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya,
and Mauritania—French code
law governs areas outside of family law.9 In countries where
British law formerly governed, such
4. See AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL, at

http://www.amconline.org; Zainab Chaudhry, The Myth of
Misogyny: A
Reanalysis of Women's Inheritance In Islamic Law, 61 ALB. L.
REV. 511, 517 (1997) (stating that the Muslim pop-
ulation in the United States is estimated to be between five and
eight million); Irshad Abdal-Haqq, Islamic Law:
An Overview of Its Origin and Elements, 7 J. ISLAMIC L. &
CULTURE 27, 29 (2002) (estimating the Muslim pop-
ulation in the United States to be between five and eight million
people).
5. See DON C. LOCKE, INCREASING MULTICULTURAL
UNDERSTANDING: A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL 207
(1998) (stating that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in
United States); see also Bernard K. Freamon, Slavery,
Freedom, and the Doctrine of Consensus in Islamic
Jurisprudence, 11 HARV. HUM. RTS. J. 1, 64 n.2 (1998)
(stating
that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world and in
America); Isha Khan, Islamic Human Rights: Islamic
Law and International Human Rights Standards, 5 APPEAL 74,
74 (1999) (claiming that Islam is the fastest-grow-
ing religion in the world).
6. See LOCKE, supra note 5, at 206 (noting that Islam is rapidly
increasing its popularity in the United States); see
also Walter H. Capps, The Revenge of God: The Resurgence of
Islam, Christianity, and Judaism in the Modern World,
CHRISTIAN CENTURY, Sept. 21, 1994, at 868 (describing the
increasing interest in traditional religion as more
than just an American phenomenon). See generally Richard B.
Turner, From Elijah Poole to Elijah Muhammad,
Chief Minister of Islam; reprinted from “Islam in the African-
American Experience,” AM. VISIONS, Oct. 20, 1997,
at 20 (claiming that Islam in America has grown from a
peripheral phenomenon to a large body of believers).

7. See Mark Cammack et al., Indonesia’s Marriage Law:
Legislating Social Change in an Islamic Society—Indonesia's
Marriage Law, 44 AM. J. COMP. L. 45, 50–51 (claiming that
the family law rules governing such things as mar-
riage and divorce have a firm basis in the Qur’an); Hossein
Esmaeili & Jeremy Gans, Islamic Law Across Cultural
Borders: The Involvement of Western Nationals in Saudi
Murder Trials, 28 DENV. J. INT'L L. & POL'Y 145, 146–47
(2000) (stating that subjects such as family law are defined by
the Sharia—traditional Islamic law); Hossam E.
Fadel, Religious Values and Legal Dilemmas in Bioethics: The
Islamic Viewpoint on New Assisted Reproductive Tech-
nologies, 30 FORDHAM URB. L.J. 147, 150–51 (2002)
(describing the relationship between the Qur’an and
aspects of family law).
8. See LOCKE, supra note 5, at 207. Previously, Shariah
governed all aspects of the law. After colonization of the
Islamic states by the French and British, Shariah and code law
governed jointly. “Personal Law,” or limited Sha-
riah is still in effect in India. See id. at 213; see also Chaudhry,
supra note 4, at 518 (stating that Islam contains
guidance for a way of life and every aspect of human activity is
governed by Allah); Shefali Desai, Hearing Afghan
Women’s Voices: Feminist Theory’s Re-Conceptualization of
Women’s Human Rights, 16 ARIZ. J. INT'L & COMP.
LAW 805, 821 (1999) (asserting that Islam is more than a
religion, it is a way of life).
9. See generally Marshall J. Breger & Shelby R. Quast,
International Commercial Arbitration: A Case Study of the
Areas Under Control of the Palestinian Authority, 32 CASE W.
RES. J. INT'L L. 185, 258 n.239 (2000) (discussing
international commercial arbitration and the fact that Algeria
and Lebanon were influenced by French law); Ann

E. Mayer, Conundrums in Constitutionalism: Islamic
Monarchies in an Era of Transition, 1 UCLA J. ISLAMIC &
NEAR E.L. 183, 208 (2002) (asserting that the Moroccan
Constitution was heavily influenced by French law);
Special Report Law, MEED WEEKLY SPECIAL REPORT, Apr.
6, 2001, at 32 (stating that arbitration legislation in
Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Syria are influenced by French
law).
Law 67
as India, Pakistan, Egypt, and other African countries, law
based on English statutory law gov-
erns non-family law matters.10
The works and deeds of the Prophet Mohammed of Islam are
referred to as sunnah.11
Hadith refers to the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed
(PBUH).12 Both the sunnah and hadith
are (anecdotal) interpretations of the Holy Qur’an; they are
likened to the Restatements, as
they are scholarly interpretations of the law.13 There are more
than 5,000 hadith.14 The Holy
Qur’an consists of 114 chapters, called surahs, which are
divided into verses, called ayahs, and it
is roughly as long as the New Testament of the Holy Bible.15
Muslims have respect for all the
prophets, as well as for the Holy Bible, Judaism, and
Christianity, and refer to Jews and Chris-
tians as the “People of the Book.”16
10. See Laurence Juma, Environmental Protection in Kenya:

Will the Environmental Management and Co-ordination
Act (1999) Make a Difference?, 9 S.C. ENVTL. L.J. 181, 183
(2002) (describing how Kenya follows British law);
Nadeem Iqbal, Pakistan: Musharraf Urged to Repeal Death by
Stoning Decree, INTER PRESS SERVICE, May 7, 2002
(stating that Pakistani criminal courts follow British law); Peter
B. Lord, Proposal Expands Claims for Dead,
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL-BULLETIN, Mar. 10, 2000, at 1B
(explaining that Egypt follows British laws).
11. See LOCKE, supra note 5, at 216 (discussing the teachings
of the Prophet Mohammed of Islam); see also Gohar
Bilal, Islamic Finance: Alternatives to the Western Model, 23
FLETCHER F. WORLD AFF. 145, 146 (describing the
Sunnah as the actions of the prophet Mohammed); Urfan Khaliq,
Beyond the Veil?: An Analysis of the Provisions of
the Women’s Convention in the Law as Stipulated in Shari’ah, 2
BUFF. J. INT'L L. 1, 9 (1995) (explaining that the
Sunnah are the sayings and traditions of Mohammed).
12. See LOCKE, supra note 5, at 207 (stating that when the
Prophet Mohammed’s name is mentioned, the words
“May Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH)” follow his name); Richard
E. Vaughan, Defining Terms in the Intellectual
Property Protection Debate: Are the North and South Arguing
Past Each Other When We Say “Property”? A Lockean,
Confucian, and Islamic Comparison, 2 ILSA J. INT'L & COMP
L. 307, 351 (1996) (defining hadiths as the words,
sayings, and actions of Mohammed).
13. See M. Cherif Bassiouni & Gamal M. Badr, The Shari’ah:
Sources, Interpretation, and Rule-Making, 1 UCLA J.
ISLAMIC & NEAR E.L. 135, 138–40 (2002) (stating that the
hadith, which are part of the sunnah, interpret the
Qur’an); see also Abdal-Haqq, supra note 4, at 54 (discussing
interpretation of the Qur’an and how outside the

Qur’an itself, the primary source of interpretation is the sunnah
as in the hadith); Vida Barnett, Religion: The His-
tory and Belief of Islam, GUARDIAN (London), Jan. 13, 1992,
Education at 6 (asserting that the teachings of the
Qur’an are interpreted through the sunnah and hadith of
Mohammed).
14. See Abdal-Haqq, supra note 4, at 48 (asserting that one
scholar had determined that there are 7,397 authentic
hadiths and another scholar’s work contains 12,000 hadiths);
see also Ali Khan, Islam as Intellectual Property “My
Lord! Increase me in Knowledge,” 31 CUMB. L. REV. 631,
656–57 (2000) (stating that the most respected scholar
of hadith, Bukhari, selected about 7,000 hadith whose
authenticity was irrefutable); Justice Stressed in Verses of the
Quran, NEW STRAITS TIMES (Malaysia), Apr. 17, 1996, at 12
(claiming that after being studied and sifted
through, there were about 7,000 genuine hadiths).
15. See Raj Bhala, Globalization and Sovereignty: Theological
Categories for Special and Differential Treatment, 50 KAN.
L. REV. 635, 680 (2002) (stating that the Qur’an is about 80%
of the length of the New Testament and is
divided into 114 chapters (surahs) and that each surah is divided
into verses (iyahs)); see also Abdal-Haqq, supra
note 4, at 45 (asserting the Qur’an is one book comprised of 114
surahs and 6,666 iyahs).
16. See LOCKE, supra note 5, at 207 (stating that when the
British occupied the Islamic states, they Anglicized the
spelling of the Holy Qur’an as Koran); see also Peter H.
Schuck, The Perceived Values of Diversity, Then and Now,
22 CARDOZO L. REV. 1915, 1920 (2001) (explaining how
Muslims consider Jews, Muslims, and Christians as
“people of the Book”). See generally Jorgen S. Nielsen,
Contemporary Discussions on Religious Minorities in Islam,

2002 BYU L. REV. 353, 362–66 (2002) (discussing relations
between Muslims and non-Muslims and the gen-
eral principal to deal in a kindly manner with those who
reciprocate such treatment).
In addition to containing the basic beliefs of Islam, the Holy
Qur’an provides Muslims
with specific guidelines for daily living.17 It forbids the eating
of pork, the drinking of liquor,
and gambling, and provides guidelines for marriage and
divorce.18 The Holy Qur’an spells out
the Five Pillars of Faith, the essential religious practices that
Muslims must fulfill:
1. The first pillar is the confession of faith, or shaheda: that
there is no god,
but God, and that Mohammed is the messenger of God.19
2. The second pillar involves prayer. Muslims perform the salat
(prayers) at
five prescribed times each day—fajr (dawn), zuhr (midday), asr
(after-
noon), maghrib (sunset), and isha (evening).20
3. The third pillar focuses on care for the poor and needy.
Muslims must
give money (zakat) to the poor annually. Two-and-a-half
percent of one’s
savings is recommended, or if camels, sheep, cattle, or goats are
involved,
the owner must give 2.5% of his livestock.21

4. The fourth pillar requires fasting during the holy month of
Ramadan, the
ninth month in the Islamic calendar.22 Fasting includes
refraining from
all eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse from one
half hour
before sunrise until one half hour after sunset. Pregnant women,
children
under the age of seven, travelers, and those who are ill are
excused from
the obligation.
5. The fifth pillar is the haj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. All
Muslims, who are
able and can afford it, are expected to make the pilgrimage at
least once
in their lifetimes. The pilgrimage, lasting up to seven days,
takes place
during the Feast of Sacrifice and commemorates Abraham’s
offering of
his son to God.23
17. See Scott L. Goodroad, The Challenge of Free Speech:
Asian Values v. Unfettered Free Speech, An Analysis of Sin-
gapore and Malaysia in the New Global Order, 9 IND. INT'L &
COMP. L. REV. 259, 263 (1998) (stating that
through the Qur’an, Islam sets out guidelines for living); Paul
Gosling, Mortgage Made for the Muslim Buyer; Paul
Gosling Finds Islamic Financial Institutions Offer an
Alternative to Bank Borrowing, INDEPENDENT (London),
Oct. 14, 1990, Business on Sunday Money Page at 19
(describing the Qur’an as a practical guide to daily living);
S.B., What Is Islam?, ESSENCE, Nov. 1995, at 108 (asserting
that the Qur’an outlines a code for living).
18. See Kenneth L. Woodward, In the Beginning, There Were

the Holy Books, NEWSWEEK, Feb. 11, 2002, Religion at
50 (referring to Qur’an-based religious laws that forbid drinking
and gambling); Kenneth L. Woodward & Will-
liam E. Schmidt, Islam on the March, NEWSWEEK, Dec. 5,
1977, Religion at 72 (stating that the Qur’an estab-
lishes norms governing marriage and divorce). See generally
Victoria Moore, Holy Wine; Drink—Victoria Moore
on What the Koran Says About Boozing, NEW STATESMAN,
Oct. 2001 (discussing various laws from the Qur’an
forbidding alcohol, gambling and pork).
19. See LOCKE, supra note 5, at 217–218; Hamid M. Khan,
Nothing is Written: Fundamentalism, Revivalism, Reform-
ism, and the Fate of Islamic Law, 24 MICH. J. INT'L L. 273,
281 (2002) (quoting the First Pillar of Islam as:
“There is no god, but God and Muhammad is His Prophet”);
Twibell, supra note 2, at 54 (stating that the First
Pillar of Islam is that one must believe there is one God and
Mohammed is his prophet).
20. See LOCKE, supra note 5, at 217.
21. Id.
22. Id. at 218.
23. Id.
Law 69
The Holy Day for Muslims is Friday.24 There are two
celebrations or Eid: Feast of Sacrifice
(Eid al Aztha) (around the time of Easter and Passover) and

Feast of Fast-Breaking (Eid al Fitr),
after Ramadan.25
The fairness of Islamic law under the Holy Qur’an, like Anglo-
American law, has been
eroded by cultural factors and tradition, as this article will
attempt to point out.
Anglo-American Law
Anglo-American law is based on numerous sources, from the
United States Constitution
to the pronouncement of municipal agencies. Both the federal
government and the states have
lawmaking powers, and in each case, the three branches—the
Legislative, which enacts the
laws, the Executive, which enforces the laws, and the Judiciary,
which interprets the laws—
share in this responsibility.26 Statutory law consists of laws
enacted by a Legislature, both at the
state and federal levels.27 Common law, created by judges, is
that part of the legal system of the
United States that consists in its entirety of a body of past
judicial decisions, called cases.28
24. See Rahman v. Michigan Department of Corrections, 65
F.3d 489, 491 (6th Cir. 1995) (citing evidence pre-
sented by an Islamic cleric that Muslim men are excused from
Friday services in cases of sickness or employment-
related duties); Samina Quddos, Accommodating Religion in
Public Schools: Must, May or Never?, 6 J. ISLAMIC L.
& CULTURE 67, 69 (2001) (noting that when Muslim men
reach adolescence, they are required to attend Friday
congregational prayer); Raj Bhala, supra note 15, at 678–79
(describing the similarities between the religious lec-
ture delivered at Islamic Friday congregational prayers and the

homily preached at Sunday Roman Catholic
Masses).
25. See LOCKE, supra note 5, at 218 (highlighting two
significant Islamic holidays); see also Jennifer Caldwell, A Day
of Joy for Muslims; But World Climate Dampens Holy Day
Services, TORONTO SUN, Dec. 7, 2001, at 12 (stating
that the El al Fitr holiday is considered the largest in the
Muslim religion); Larry Kaplow, War on Terrorism:
Afghans Savor a Meager Feast; New Freedoms Enrich Holiday
Despite Poverty, ATLANTA J. & CONST., Dec. 17,
2001, at 10A (describing El al Fitr as a time to don new
garments and share food and treats with relatives and
friends).
26. See Griffin Terry, A Critical Analysis of the Formulation
and Content of the 1993 Amendments to the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure, 63 U. CIN. L. REV. 869, 884–85 (1995)
(maintaining that although the United States Constitu-
tion does not explicitly provide a role to the Executive Branch
in the civil rulemaking process, recent presidential
administrations have taken a more proactive role in commenting
on various proposals). See generally Michael
Stoke Paulsen, The Most Dangerous Branch: Executive Power to
Say What the Law Is, 83 GEO. L.J. 217, 219
(1994) (positing that the weakest branch of the federal
government is the judiciary due to its lack of power over
the “sword or the purse” and its inability to enforce its own
judgments).
27. See Geroge Nils Herlitz, The Meaning of the Term “Prima
Facie,” 55 LA. L. REV. 391, 403 (1994) (referring to the
fact that the expanded utilization of statutes in common law
jurisdictions has been, in comparison to Louisiana’s
rich civil law history, a fairly recent phenomenon). See
generally William R. Casto, The Erie Doctrine and Struc-

ture of Constitutional Revolutions, 62 TUL. L. REV. 907, 933
(1988) (differentiating between statutory law, which
had historically been viewed “procedurally in terms of the
command of the sovereign” and the common law
which was viewed substantively as a mixture of both “divine
command and human reason”).
28. See Richard A. Posner, Legal Formalism, Legal Realism,
and the Interpretations of Statutes and the Constitution, 37
CASE W. RES. L. REV. 179, 186 (1987) (positing that the
common law is comprised of amorphous concepts that
can be expressed interchangeably by a variety of different
verbal forms); see also F. Giba-Matthews, O.F.M., Cus-
tomary International Law Acts as Federal Common Law in U.S.
Courts, 20 FORDHAM INT’L L.J. 1839, 1846–47
(1997) (defining federal common law as created by Article III
courts to ensure compliance with federal laws, the
protection of federal interests, and federal statutory
interpretation in a manner consistent with the legislative
intent of Congress). See generally Paul Lund, The Decline of
Federal Common Law, 76 B.U. L. REV. 895, 915
(1996) (stating that Erie was a seminal case in promulgating a
consistent federal lawmaking power).
American common law has been shaped by English common
law, which is unique to Anglo-
American law; most other countries have a civil law system,
based on statutory law.29 There are
also rules and regulations that are written by the agencies and
fall under the Executive branch.30
Some of American constitutional law, particularly the Fourth

Amendment, is based on
Islamic Law that Thomas Jefferson derived from the Ottoman
Empire.31 Thomas Jefferson’s
library contained at least one copy of the Holy Qur’an, and was
rich with books about ancient
civilizations, including Islamic ones.32 Moreover, the Charter
of Madinah (7th century A.D.,
Saudi Arabia) contained provisions similar to the Preamble to
the American Constitution,
including a partial Bill of Rights that protected, among other
things, the right to freedom of
religion and the right not to be found guilty because of the
deeds of an ally.33 A major right
29. See George P. Fletcher, Three Nearly Sacred Books in
Western Law, 54 ARK. L. REV. 1, 13 (2001) (maintaining that
the origin of the civil law system stems from the legal
commentary on Roman law by university professors and
students at the University of Bologna in the 13th century). See
generally Robert B. von Mehren, An International
Arbitrator’s Point of View, 10 AM. REV. INT’L ARB. 203,
203–04 (1999) (contrasting the roles and duties of com-
mon law judges and attorneys with their civil law counterparts).
30. See Alexander Dill, Scope of Rule Making After Chadha: A
Case For the Delegation Doctrine?, 33 EMORY L.J. 953,
958–59 (1984) (discussing the belief that the former long-
standing presumption of the separation of powers
doctrine, that the legislature was prohibited from allocating its
lawmaking power, impeded the development of
administrative agency regulations). See generally Lloyd N.
Cutler, Presidential Intervention in Administrative Rule-
making: The Case for Presidential Intervention in Regulatory
Rulemaking by the Executive Branch, 56 TUL. L. REV.
830, 838 (1982) (suggesting that the President exerts a great
deal of indirect influence via agency administrators

who are delegated rulemaking powers by the United States
Congress); Claudia Tobler, The Standard of Judicial
Review of Administrative Agencies in the United States and
EU: Accountability and Reasonable Agency Action, 22
B.C. INT’L & COMP. L. REV. 213, 215 (1999) (maintaining
that the notion of executive branch rulemaking
power developed from the idea that the intricacies and
technicalities of statutes are best left administered by
experts who will comply with the spirit of the legislative intent
of the provision).
31. See Azziza al-Hibri, Islamic and American Constitutional
Law: Borrowing Possibilities, or A History of Borrowing?,
U. PA. J. CONST. L. 492, 493 (1999) (stating that many of the
American founding fathers derived their ideals on
governance from the various legal systems of antiquity,
including those of Islamic civilizations); see also Michel
Rosenfeld, Human Rights, Nationalism, and Multiculturalism in
Rhetoric, Ethics and Politics: A Pluralist Critique,
21 CARDOZO L. REV. 1225, 1235 (2000) (hypothesizing that
the schematic of religious tolerance granted under
the Ottoman system is in some ways, superior to the rights
provided in the First Amendment of the United
States Constitution); Parvez Ahmed, Muslim Contributions
Paved Way For the West, SUN SENTINEL (Ft. Lauder-
dale), Feb. 14, 2003, at 23A (noting the influences of the
Ottoman Empire on early American political dis-
course).
32. See Azziza al-Hibri, supra note 31, at 493 (noting the
breadth of literature contained in the Jeffersonian library at
Monticello). But see Deborah Horan, Muslims Serve History to
Guests for Ramadan, CHI. TRIB., Nov. 12, 2002, at
1 (citing that Jefferson’s copy of the Qur’an was an edition
translated by George Sale).

33. See Azziza al-Hibri, supra note 31, at 492 (highlighting the
comparable rights and freedoms granted under both
the Charter of Madinah and the United States Constitution); see
also Farid Esack, Muslims Engaging the Other
and the Humanum, 14 EMORY INT’L L. REV. 529, 557 (2000)
(noting the manifestation of religious tolerance
provided under the Charter of Madinah via its unambiguous
mandate of a “single community with diverse reli-
gious expressions”); Kassim Ahmad, Use Ijtihad to Break Out
of Hide Bound Traditionalism, NEW STRAITS TIMES
(Malaysia), Feb. 9, 2000, at 10 (referring to claims that the
Charter of Madinah may be the world’s first written
constitution, preceding the English Magna Carta by almost five
centuries).
Law 71
mandated by the Holy Qur’an was the right to privacy. The Holy
Qur’an also protects some of
the rights mentioned in the Fourth Amendment.34
This article will attempt to compare and contrast Islamic and
Anglo-American laws
regarding women.
The Beginning—Anglo-American Law
In Genesis, Chapter 3, of the Holy Bible, Eve was deceived by
Satan and convinced Adam
to eat the apple. Thus, Adam and Eve lost Paradise and the
concept of original sin developed.35
In Christianity, a child is baptized to cleanse the infant from his

or her original sin.36 In the
Western world, women are sometimes referred to as the weaker
sex, and the concept of original
sin has even been translated into sex discrimination.37
However, this negative connotation was
replaced with the Christian concept of the Virgin Mary as the
mother of Jesus (God).38 If
woman introduced evil into the world, she also gave birth to its
savior.39
34. See Azziza al-Hibri, supra note 31, at 493 (reasoning that
the right to privacy in the Qur’an influenced the con-
struction of rights embodied in the United States Constitution).
See generally Trudy Bush, At the Mosque, THE
CHRISTIAN CENTURY, Sept. 26, 2001, at 8 (quoting an
Islamic community leader as stating that the government
and laws of the United States are attractive to immigrants of the
Muslim faith due to the striking similarities
between the freedoms delineated in the Qur’an and the rights
protected under the federal constitution); Joelle
Entelis, International Human Rights: Islam’s Friend or Foe?
Algeria as an Example of the Compatibility of Interna-
tional Human Rights Regarding Women’s Equality and Islamic
Law, 20 FORDHAM INT’L L.J. 1251, 1296 (1997)
(noting the strong accord between the rights established in the
Qur’an and the International Bill of Human
Rights).
35. See Anthony E. Cook, The Death of God in American
Pragmatism and Realism: Resurrecting the Value of Love in
Contemporary Jurisprudence, 82 GEO. L.J. 1431, 1481 (1994)
(citing classical theology’s view that the “original
sin” committed by Adam and Eve marked the beginning of
Satan’s entanglement in human relations and began a
chain of sin disseminating down through subsequent
generations); see also Timothy Patrick Brady, “But Most of it

Belongs to Those Yet to be Born”: The Public Doctrine, NEPA,
and the Stewardship Ethic, B.C. ENVTL. AFF. L. REV.
621, 624 (1990) (referring to the Garden of Eden as the
embodiment of perfection, lost due to the “original sin”
committed by the alleged founders of mankind). See generally
Paula Abrams, The Tradition of Reproduction, 37
ARIZ. L. REV. 453, 453 (1995) (noting the tradition of woman
deriving from man is based on the biblical para-
ble of Eve being created from Adam’s rib).
36. See Lynn Arave, Christian Movement Centers on Baptism,
DESERT NEWS (Salt Lake City), Feb. 28, 1998, at E09
(noting that although infant baptisms were the norm in the early
Christian communities, adults looking to
become initiated into the church were required to undergo three
years of religious instruction). See generally
Steven D. Smith, The “Secular,” the “Religious,” and the
“Moral”: What Are We Talking About?, 36 WAKE FOREST
L. REV. 487, 495 (2001) (citing the belief that the power of
baptism to cleanse the soul of original sin may have
positive effects on fostering moral behavior).
37. See Hammudah Abdalati, ISLAM IN FOCUS, at 31–32
(1996) (noting that sex discrimination is “alien to the spirit
of Islam”); see also Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Karim Al-Sheeha,
Women in the Shade of Islam, at 8 (Mohammed
Said Dabas trans., 1997) (maintaining that the Islamic religion
does not attribute “original sin” to women). See
generally Derek W. St. Pierre, The Transition from Poverty to
People: The Road to the Recognition of Rights for Non-
Human Animals, 9 HASTINGS WOMEN’S L.J. 255, 267 (1998)
(positing that many gender stereotypes stemmed
from the biological differences between men and women).
38. See Matthew 1:2; Luke 1:26-56, 2:1-40, 3:23-38 (noting that
when the angel first visited Mary to deliver her the

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