Tahmena Bokhari is a Muslim, a Canadian, a feminist, a social worker, an educator and holds the title Mrs. Pakistan 2010 (not to be confused with Miss Pakistan World). Bokhari’s accomplishments are as varied as they are impressive, and perhaps seem contradictory to many. She holds a Master’s degree in social work and has worked at a number of women’s shelters and on a series of humanitarian initiatives. She currently teaches social work at two different colleges, and also acts as a diversity consultant, all the while competing in beauty pageants.
The media seems to enjoy highlighting what it perceives as Bokhari’s seemingly incongruous identities. A Toronto Star article leads with the following:
Tahmena Bokhari is Mrs. Pakistan 2010. She was crowned in a Mississauga motel in December. The Canadian Muslim is also a diehard feminist. Get your head around all that. “It sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?” she says from the couch in her family’s spacious Woodbridge home.
Similarly, an article profiling Bokhari which appeared in her community newspaper refers to her in the headline as “A World of Contradictions,” and proceeds to enumerate these co-called inconsistencies in her identity:
She’s Canadian, but Pakistani. She’s Muslim, but also a feminist. She is a Seneca College professor, a social activist, married and, to top it all off, Mrs. Pakistan World.
Alright. We concede that in mainstream media beauty queens are not usually associated with feminism, Islam is not typically identified with feminism or beauty pageants, and one would assume that a competition titled “Mrs. Pakistan” would take place in Pakistan, not Canada. So yes, there are certainly apparent contradictions – or, at least, surprises – in all of the labels Bokhari carries.
However, the heavy handed focus on the supposed discrepancies (emphasized by both journalists and, at times, by Bokhari herself) begins to resemble the unhelpful “Wow! Look at those Muslim women breaking stereotypes!” trope. Such focus reinforces existing stereotypes by pointing to the fact that this woman, with all her seemingly conflicting identities, is a contradiction, and she is the anomaly that she is because of her exceptional nature and ambition. We can then let ourselves off the hook and leave our prejudices unexamined.
And even if Bokhari truly does embody an unexpected combination of qualities, we, as human beings, are by definition complex beings who carry multiple identities. The repeated “but” in the local newspaper article ignores the fact that there are thousands of people who are Canadian and Pakistani, and even more who are Muslim and feminist. We should not assume these characteristics to preclude each other.
In contrast to the above mentioned articles, a Change.Org blog does a much better job of toning down the sensationalism, and accepting the multiple facets of Bokhari’s identity. It begins with an acknowledgement that “women don’t have to fit into neat little role boxes,” and that “Bokhari refreshingly sees continuity between being a Muslim, a feminist, a beauty queen, an activist, a scholar, a consultant, a writer, and an advocate for contesting the media’s portrayals of Muslims, Islam, and women.” The article suggests that attempts to pigeonhole women into categories is something to be overcome. Neither the media nor the public should view stereotypes as neutral realities to be overcome only by the exceptional few. The writer concludes with:
What a concept: beauty doesn’t have to exclude intelligence, feminism doesn’t have to exclude Islam, passionate work and activism don’t have to trump family life, sexuality, and cultural ties. Women can embody all of these things without having to slap any particular label on their foreheads. Liberation, indeed.
This writer demonstrates, at the very least, we can celebrate a person’s accomplishments without reinforcing the stereotypes which make the person’s achievements appear unlikely. We can even take our celebration one step further by delving deeper and scrutinizing the systems and structures which lead people to see the person as a contradiction or as an exception to an unexamined rule.
Krista Riley is a graduate student in sociology and equity studies, currently living in Toronto. An unedited version of this piece was previously published at Muslimah Media Watch.
The article talks about how a female personality can embody multiple facets of identity without impeding accomplishment. I concur although it was an idea doubted not too long ago. Moreover, just because a person doesn’t practice Islam in a certain way, it doesn’t mean that they should give up their faith or be prohibited from discussing Islam for fear of their identity being butchered into pieces. Sadly this has become a fact though.
Admittedly I was less serious before I moved, don’t know why. Still I think its humorous that Muslims are sometimes dubbed as “The Chinese”. You may know that the Chinese New Year is coming up and that this is the year of the Tiger (Perhaps like the Asian tigers?)
On the subject of competition it would be helpful to discuss what competition is supposed to be. Should it destroy relationships? I don’t think so. Does it mean trying to “unlock” someone’s head and make copies.? It simply not fair to have access to only one person’s ideas.
Competition should be healthy, porportional, and represent a consensual sharing of ideas. Mentorship and education are a separate issue and something naturally done when a freindship is established. At its best it doesn’t carry along hostility, and carries a benefit by making people want to become better.
People often cite the Quranic verse about competing towards the good things in life. However, the preceding verse talks about not competing with money and children, presumably against people who don’t have those worldy goods. Also, Muhammad Asad explains in the corresponding note that the problem usually comes from a factionalized strife.
In that sense, while Americans may not all want to be divided between red and blue, the same may go for Muslims during elections unless they choose to vote a certain way because of issues they care about or because they are calling for a referendum on change. That said we probably want both parties to care about civil rights.
I love this article and really am a big fan of Tahmena Bokhari. She really is a remarkable role model and I do feel like we are lacking a diversity of Pakistani woman images in the public. I also want to say that when a person becomes public, a lot of things get twisted and taken out of context. Suddenly the person is not speaking for themselves but are spoken for and about by media…the media makes them what they are to the rest of us. So we always have to take what the media is saying about a person with grain of salt. The images of all public figures has been constructed for us, that is what media and public life is all about. With regards to Ms Bokhari, it is interesting how different reporters have told her story. I did not like the Toronto Star article as much as I felt their was much hidden bias. I love the change.org article. It showed Tahmena in a more real light. Truth is that Tahmena is a multidimensional person and Tahmena’s message is that really we all are multidimensional…we just have to see it.
Check out http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tahmena-Bokhari/19226142858
people are different. they have different natures. everybody has strengths and weaknesses. does islam recognize this? if it does, then our perceptions of what qualifies as a muslim are terribly distorted.