Gender and Patriarchy in Muslim Cinema: A Filmographic Study of 21st Century Features from Eight Countries

2017 | Gender Studies

There are 49 Muslim majority countries in the world and Islam, the religion which Muslims follow, is the second largest religion in the world. Despite the significant world presence of a Muslim populace, many in the West are misinformed about Islam and about Muslim worldviews. Issues related to gender and gendered practices are especially subject to misconceptions as to the role of Islam and as to Muslim practices. Given challenges in understandings of the constructions of gender in Muslim dominant countries, the medium of film is uniquely positioned to provide a conduit into gender issues that characterize diverse Muslim cultures. This filmography provides analyses of gender issues featured in 57 contemporary feature films indigenous to the majority Muslim countries of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Turkey. Gender issues include such practices as female genital mutilation/cutting, gender inequality in divorce and custody laws, child marriage, virginity testing, eve teasing, and honor killings. Given these practices, a common question concerns their legitimization by the Islamic religion or by a country's laws.

This filmography is distinctive in its provision of commentaries that detail the ongoing debates among scholars as to current legal, cultural, and religious sanctioning of these practices within a given country. Films featured in the filmography are available to viewers in the United States.

Patricia R. Owen (Author)