Mona Haydar: blending Islamic and hip-hop feminisms

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on Mona Haydar, activist, poet, Syrian-American, Muslim, feminist, and emerging hip-hop artist. Using critical rhetoric alongside a respondent interview, we conduct a cultural study that examines Haydar’s recently released music videos, “Hijabi,” and “Dog,” examining relationships of power and the politics of difference along racial, sexual, religious, cultural and transnational lines. As a cultural study, we address the traditional trio of producer, media content, and audience. Our theoretical foundations are the blending of hip-hop feminism and Islamic feminism; we posit that parallels exist in these two schools of feminist thought, and Haydar, through her activism and music, blends these projects, in order to address her feminist concerns to a global audience. After a brief introduction to Haydar, our argument unfolds in four parts: first we note the role Islam has played in American hip hop; next we unpack the premises of both hip-hop feminism and Islamic feminism; finally, we demonstrate the ways in which Haydar—through our analysis of her music videos—embraces and blends both forms of feminism to resist masculine hegemony, educates her audiences, and, as a byproduct, revitalizes an Islamic feminist spark in hip hop.