Le voile en Tunisie. De la réalisation de soi à la résistance passive

Abstract

Through a study of the rebirth of the Islamic veil-wearing tradition in Tunisia we identified a set of beliefs and practices that lie beneath a process of female self-affirmation and are the basis of an "ideology" of protest against social and political order. Considering these practices as a form of feminism may seem incoherent for two reasons: the dominance of the subordination / patriarchy paradigm in gender studies, and the absence of activism as such. To overcome this obstacle, I have used a comprehensive approach to determine how and under what conditions the veil has become the symbol of women's emancipation in relation to male subordination while at the same time expressing a new form of social conservatism. My article also focuses on the complex interaction processes used to develop techniques of self-worth and self-exclusion that characterize veiled women and therefore help to overcome the difficulty in having a practice socially disqualified and prohibited by the authorities accepted.

Keywords

• feminism
• Islamic veil
• personal development
• passive resistance