El Futuro del Pasado (Jun 2012)
The borders of the body. The veil, and female identity in multicultural society
Abstract
The category of gender and the concept of multiculturalism can live together? In the mid-nineties Susan Moller Okin began questioning about it, giving rise to a debate that now seems highly topical as a result of the controversy over the veil. In France, the discussion proceeds with harsh tones that reveal the difficulty of reconciling liberal theories with behavioral patterns that arouse hostility, resentment, mistrust. In fact, the controversy over the veil hides other meanings which reveal the will to mark the female identity with sharp boundaries, as a part of the socio-anthropological borders over women’s bodies. The report aims to investigate behind the positions taken, in order to understand which are the nodes of the dispute and why difference and xenophobia pass once again through the body of women, seen as a trench for the defense of values in deep opposition.
