’Liberating Muslim Women’ as Colonial Discourse: Gendering the US Conquest of Afghanistan.

Abstract Western constructs of a non-Western ?other? have been used to justify conquest and colonialism in the Muslim world for over two centuries. These constructs have been both racialized and gendered and continue to function with remarkable consistency in contemporary times. This paper will use the case study of Afghanistan to demonstrate hegemonic reinforcement of contemporary anti-Muslim rhetoric in the US, specifically focusing on its gendered dimensions, which served as the central rationale for the US invasion and occupation of Afghanistan in 2001. We give primary attention to the use of the veil in constructing the ?subjugated Muslim woman? in the West, and the discursive use of ?liberating Muslim women? as a euphemism for Western cultural, economic, and military conquest of the Muslim world. In addition to being forwarded by the media, these discourses have been repackaged as ?feminist? and ?womens issues? and forwarded by female leaders across the political spectrum, who were instrumental in garnering support for the invasion. The US conquest of Afghanistan was devastating for Afghan women and we seek to analyze these discourses in hopes of exposing the economic motives behind the invasion, debunking the myth of ?liberation through occupation?, and moving towards an anti-racist feminism that can support the survival and self-determination of Afghan women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]