The image of the “liberated woman” has been carefully crafted and disseminated through media, often serving hidden economic and political agendas. A recent analysis of the Supreme Leader’s speech highlights how this manipulation has historically extended, from the Industrial Revolution to modern times.
✍| By Ms. Fateme Hasanzadeh
The “Hidden Gold Mine”: A Deceptive Promise
They call them the “hidden and undiscovered gold mine of the economy” and constantly talk about their high potential for the country’s growth and development.
Beautiful words, seductive promises, and the depiction of dreamy prospects. However, for anyone who has heard the whispers of such talk throughout the history of women’s lives in the centuries following the Industrial Revolution, it is nothing but lies, deception, and a call for submission and the enslavement of women’s vital force.
The Supreme Leader’s Critique of Western Motives
Highlighting and clarifying this issue with tangible historical examples was one of the notable points of the Supreme Leader’s meeting with women recently.
Ayatollah Khamenei said in this regard: “Capitalism and the politicians who follow it, with their control of influential media around the world, use dishonesty and lies under the guise of a philosophical and humanitarian theory to conceal their criminal and corrupt motives for interfering and directing the affairs of the global community of women and gaining illegitimate benefits.
This is the dishonesty of Westerners and Western capitalists who dominate the world today. This dishonesty exists in various cases. For example, about a century ago, they raised the issue of women’s freedom and financial independence.
Historical Parallels: From Slavery to Factory Work
[These talks] had a good appearance, but what was their essence? Their essence was that their factories needed workers; there were not enough male workers, and they wanted to bring women to work, with wages lower than men.
They concealed this under a humanitarian guise, claiming that women should have financial independence and freedom, etc. Another example, which is not related to the issue of women, is the issue of the liberation of slaves in the late nineteenth century in America. They chanted the slogan of freeing slaves, and that was the apparent issue.
They helped smuggle slaves from the South to the North of America, and there was a war between the North and the South. But that was not the essence of the matter. The essence of the matter was that the Southerners were dominant in agricultural work, and there were agricultural lands, and the slaves worked in these areas for free and barely surviving.
The Northerners had just entered the industry and needed workers. There were not enough workers, and they wanted to use these slaves as workers in their factories. The way to do this was to tell them that they were free and to come here and work in these factories. They dragged them from agricultural and farm slavery to factory slavery. That was the essence of the matter.
Today is the same. Behind the scenes of the world’s current controversies regarding women, the issue of feminism and women’s rights are the appearances, and behind these, there are unhealthy motives.”
Deconstructing Modern Slogans: Hidden Agendas
These remarks by the Supreme Leader are a good excuse to become more sensitive to the slogans given these days about women’s issues and to pursue the real motives and intentions behind those who say them.
Interestingly, in many cases, when we follow the clues of this kind of talk regarding women, we encounter the same literature and slogans of the early twentieth century.
The repetition of phrases such as “women’s rights,” “gender equality,” “women’s empowerment,” “financial independence,” and the like, although they seemingly carry a positive meaning, in essence, we must discover the motives of those from whose throats these cries are heard.
We must see if these cries are for liberating the vital force of women or are merely colorful rhetoric intended to conceal the violent and exploitative programs and goals of capitalism for gaining more profit from this delicate being.
Protecting the Mental Image of Muslim Women
In addition to paying attention to and trying to discover the motives behind these slogans, we must not neglect the issue of protecting the mental image of Muslim women.
This is an issue that, with the increasing spread and progress of visual media, Westerners have used to try to deprive Muslim and Eastern women of their self-confidence and authenticity to complete another aspect of their profiteering puzzle.
The Two-Part Strategy: Consumption and Colonialism
What was the other piece of the puzzle? Both the instrumental use of women for promoting mass consumption and the transformation of Eastern women from productive beings into consumers.
This issue is doubly important because, during these last two centuries, this issue has become an important media weapon, a tool of pressure, and an excuse to justify the occupation and colonial presence of Westerners.
India: A Case Study in Colonial Propaganda
Among the very thought-provoking historical examples in this regard is the image that Western imperialism created and established in global public opinion about women in the Indian subcontinent.
To understand the intensity and impact of this mental image, it is enough to mention that even pro-independence Indian feminists, based on this portrayal by the colonizers, agreed to the British presence to save Indian women. Many historical examples of this kind are among the dusty pages of colonial history.
To discover more historical examples of injustice against women around the world, follow us.
From: qudsonline