Talk by Seulgie Lim

From veiling to polygamy, Islam has been and remains connected to the oppression of women's rights across cultures and regions. What the media and superficial observations often miss however is that Islam, like any other religion, is not time-less or space-less, and especially for countries where religion forms a significant aspect of people's identity, Islam is embedded in the political and social fabrics of said society in various ways, including through gender dynamics. Islam as practiced in Senegal today, is therefore very different from Islam as practiced in Iran in the 1960s. With this in mind, this talk delves into how Islam shapes Senegalese activist women on their path to defining and redefining their role in society based on their gender identity. Whether it is through the passing of the gender parity law at the national assembly or young feminists defying their elders in the normalizing of the veil, Islam influences how women frame their arguments, activism, and place in Senegalese society.