Stealing My Religion: Not Just Any Cultural Appropriation, by LIZ BUCAR

Abstract

Liz Bucar’s new book creatively builds on debates on cultural appropriation that regularly take place in the global public sphere. Its central argument, that borrowing the religious practices of others always carries moral risks, is illustrated by three case studies: “Solidarity Hijab,” “Playing Pilgrim,” and “Respite Yoga.” The author argues that these three case studies are examples of what many would consider positive engagement with the “Other,” while causing harm. I initially became interested in the book because Chapter 1 addressed issues that came up in my own research, and I was curious about Bucar’s take on it. It is this: Non-Muslims using the hijab as a political symbol in liberal campaigns harms Muslim communities. To illustrate this, Bucar used two examples, a poster portraying a Muslim woman wearing an “American flag hijab” and a viral hashtag #HijabForHarmony (p. 46). The poster is presumably meant to express support for all Muslim women, but it uses a very stereotypical image of a Muslim woman of South Asian heritage in a head covering. Hence, it silences Muslim women who do not cover their heads and those of other racial and ethnic backgrounds, in particular Black Muslim women. Secondly, the poster is “whitewashed”—in the poster, compared with the photograph that was originally taken of the portrayed woman, her cheekbones are accentuated, her skin is lighter, and her face is narrower. Not only is she sexualized, but in the poster rendition, she also wears a head covering made out of the American flag as if to “compensate” for her Muslimness. #HijabForHarmony encouraged non-Muslim women to wear the hijab and post their selfies on social media after the white supremacist attack on the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. Their cosplay made them the focal point of the news, while the Muslim community was erased from mainstream reporting on the fallout of the shooting.