What freedom is won? - Week 4

Fanon writes about the Algerian Woman in the context of colonization and the particular focus that her dressing received under the colonizer’s lens. According to Fanon, the dressing of the Algerian Woman (that of the veil) was not something that was a result of individual agency but rather a symptom of the cultural mindset and values held by the Algerian society. Throughout the text there are references of how the veil becomes necessary after maturity, so that the Algerian Woman may guard herself from the male gaze and thus keep her honor intact. “The veil covers the body and disciplines it, tempers it, at the very time when it experiences its phase of the greatest effervescence. The veil, protects, reassures, isolates.” (Fanon). Due to the conspicuous nature of the veil and its heavy contrast with European society, it comes off as no surprise that the Colonizer began to associate the Algerianess of the Colonized with this image of the veiled Woman who then become the unintentional symbol of National resistance. What was once a cultural norm taken for granted now becomes the symbol of National identity for the Colonized, and thus gets endowed with more importance than it had to begin with. 

By no means does this mean that the veil is not indicative of the cultural values of the society. Indeed it goes hand in hand with what Jomo Kenyatta had to say in defense of the practice of clitoridectomy which was that, it was not merely a medical practice but a traditional ceremony that symbolized and upheld many values central to the community’s organization. It can be said that the veil was a result of patriarchal ideals and values which were at the center of its practice. Coming back to the point about the symbol for National resistance, one must ask, where does the Algerian Woman fit in this symbolism? Does she choose the veil, or has it been chosen for her?

The Colonizer sees in the veiled Woman how much she is not like the European Woman and hence in dire need of its civilizing services. The Algerian man sees the letting go of the veil as a cultural rape committed by the Colonizer aimed at corroding the Algerian society’s backbone. One must ask, is the Algerian Woman fighting for her freedom, or is the fight for freedom being fought through her? One must ask, if the Algerian Woman is fighting for her freedom, then against whom? One must ask, even if the Algerian Woman wins her fight against the Colonizer, what freedom has she won?