Gendering Virtues: Contesting Normative Behaviors
Myriad books written by Indonesian Muslim authors aim at defining Islam-based virtuous standards for women. This topic involves strategies of personal betterment, as well as issues of social control, self-policing and informal enforcement. During the past decades, women's virtues have featured in the contentious debates concerning polygyny, child brides, FGM, etc. These practices are promoted by certain radical-minded and ultra-conservative Muslims who often refer to the same sources as the Muslim activists working to counter these trends. This paper concerns the various dichotomies in defining women's virtues that arise at the intersections of these religious debates.
Biography
Nelly van Doorn-Harder teaches Islamic Studies at Wake Forest University and at the Center for Islamic Theology (CIT) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She has published widely about Islam in Indonesia, especially focusing on the debates concerning the rights and roles of women. Furthermore, she studies issues of freedom of religion and interfaith encounters. She is currently editing a volume on contested religious debates at the grassroots in Indonesia.