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“Hijab as Commodity Form: Veiling, Unveiling, and Misveiling in Contemporary Iran,” Feminist Theory
- Author(s):
- Rebecca Ruth Gould (see profile)
- Date:
- 2014
- Group(s):
- Feminist Humanities, Gender Studies
- Subject(s):
- Critical theory, Feminism, Feminist criticism, Feminist theory, Islam, Communism, Socialism, Marxian school of sociology, Women
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- clothing, women and gender, Gender, Gender and sexuality, Marxism, Marxist sociology
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6GZ85
- Abstract:
- This article considers how state-mandated veiling and unveiling reinforce modern capitalism. State regulations regarding veiling incorporate the female body into the political economy of the commodity form. In addition to serving as an empty signifier to be filled with exchange value for the male observer, the veil operates as an ideological apparatus of the state. In showing how the fault lines of political agency are inscribed into the veil, I argue that subverting its commodity function radically relativises its meaning. Because the veil is an empty signifier lacking intrinsic content, its meaning must be determined contingently. By combining a critique of secular discrimination against veiling with a critique of state-mandated veiling, I show how the veil is incorporated into the capitalist world-system.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 5 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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