Fatema Mernissi (Arabic: فاطمة مرنيسي, romanized: Fāṭima Marnīsī; 27 September 1940 – 30 November 2015) was a Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist.
[3] She returned to work at the Mohammed V University in Rabat and taught at the Faculté des Lettres between 1974 and 1981 on subjects such as methodology, family sociology and psychosociology.
Beyond the Veil has become a classic, especially in the fields of anthropology and sociology, on women in the Arab World, the Mediterranean area or Muslim societies in general.
Through a detailed investigation of the nature of the succession to Muhammad, she cast doubt on the validity of some of the hadith (sayings and traditions attributed to him), and therefore the subordination of women that she sees in Islam, but not necessarily in the Qur'an.
[17][18] In these essays, she mentions how technology is quickly spreading – one of the main sources being the World Wide Web – and analyses the roles and contributions of women in this movement.
[20] Whether she analyzes women in Moroccan society or in the West, she claims that they must live up to stereotypical, culturally imposed standards, such as dress sizes.
Western stereotypes ostracized Muslim men who did not fit the white, masculine, hegemonic mold dominating the first world society, developing racist ideas towards a religion that was believed to oppress women.
Mernissi broke down the ethnocentric approach Western Feminism had been utilizing and wrote to bring more clarity to the diversity necessary within the global Feminine movement.
Mernissi's legacy is revolutionary because she created a space within an initially predominantly Western movement that allowed Muslim women to participate without compromising their religious practices.
She was fundamental in contributing to the overall academic literature on women's visibility in Islamic history outside of their traditional roles by highlighting their involvement in politics, religion, and cultural change.
In her work, she explores the idea of sexual identity and gender roles in the Islamic world and helps to redefine the narrative surrounding it.
Mernissi raises questions around the uncertainty Muslims feel towards a form of government that is “unislamic” and may compromise their Islamic way of life, including morals and values, such as modesty.
[25] Moreover, she explores issues such as the fear of the Islamic religion, democracy, the United Nations Charter, freedom of thought and individualism (Mernissi, 2002).
For instance, she looked at how fundamentalism controlled what a woman would be able to wear, so a democratic society that freed women to dress as they pleased could appear threatening to a hyper-masculine culture.
[26] She brings to light the contributions of women to the economy and acknowledges the roles that affect how females are viewed within Islamic cultures.
[27] Mernissi's acceptance speech, The Cowboy or Sinbad?, covered the topic of globalization, and was recognized for her pensive take, considering both the issue and effects of culture.