The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan In Color
6 — Wednesday, October 7, 2020 

Let me preface this with a 

quick but important disclaim-
er. This piece is not fodder or 
proof that Islam is misogynis-
tic or oppresses women. I will 
not be feeding into the guilt-
ridden 
stereotypes 
created 

by liberals who are ashamed 
about their bloodthirst for 
innocent Afghans and Iraqis 
post 9/11 or attempting to jus-
tify drone attacks in Muslim 
parts of the Global South. I will 
also not paint for you an image 
of a weak and fragile Mus-
lim female population, for we 
are anything but frail. If you 
clicked on this based on that 
assumption, you will be sore-
ly dismayed and should close 
the page. If you would like to 
read about a strong system of 
male patriarchy in the Muslim 
world and the harm it causes 
women as well as its detrimen-
tal effect on the fight for politi-
cal resistance, please carry on. 
Also, to my Muslim brothers, if 
you feel like I have to say not all 
Muslim men, you are a part of 
the problem.

Once during Sunday school 

I had dropped something on 
the floor and bent to pick it 
up, only to quickly get scolded 
that I should not be bending 
down so seductively, surely 
I did not want to give a man 
that sort of invitation. I was 
only twelve. However horrid 
the scolding may appear, these 
microaggressions are the fes-
tering effects of the Haram 
Police, a patriarchy attempting 
to acquire power amid the rise 
of global feminism. Haram; 
meaning strictly forbidden by 
Islamic dogma and police are 
two specific words that com-
bined emphasize a growing 
male dominance on Muslim 
women. Starting off as a mere 
joke within Muslim diaspora, 
the phrase has embodied active 
misogyny hell-bent on exerting 
control over Muslim women 
and is prevalent throughout 
the entire Muslim world. The 
Haram Police, aptly named 
for the violence it has inflict-
ed on Muslim women around 
the globe, has reigned terror 
on the very women they claim 
to protect and care for. Often 
and arguably rightfully so, 
Muslim women focus on impe-
rial threats rather than looking 
among those within our spaces, 
but unfortunately the silent 
oppressor of the Haram Police 
cripples our missions with its 

deadly misogyny. Inaccurately 
masqueraded 
as 
religiously 

driven, the Haram Police con-
tinues to tear down women, 
both hurting their sisters in 
faith while hindering their col-
lective fights against political 
injustice.

The internet, like other hate 

groups, is the Haram Police’s 
weapon of choice. Facebook 
and Youtube accounts metic-
ulously 
crafted 
to 
feature 

women shaming as their main 
monetized content. Pretending 
to care about religion, the Ben 
Shapiros 
of 
the 

Muslim 
world 
log 
on 

to 
their 

plat-
forms to 
shame 
Muslim 
women 
about 
their 
cloth-
ing, their 
manner-
isms and 
if appli-
cable, 
their 
romantic 
relation-
ships. 
Often 
times, 
they 
play 
a 

video or 
clip they 
deem to 
be sinful 
— which 
seems 
awfully 
counter-
intuitive 
to 
their 

brand — and use their social 
prowess to argue why they 
believe the Muslim woman is 
a sinner. They closely monitor 
Muslim influencers on Insta-
gram and if they post a photo 
as innocuous as a headshot, 
they portray the image and 
claim that these women are 
devilish, purposefully entic-
ing men to sin. Committed to a 
brand of demonizing their own 
sisters, they do not discrimi-
nate against which woman to 
attack. Veiled, unveiled, mar-
ried, single, Arab, Desi, Black, 
their commentary is universal-
ly applied as they defend their 
argument that every Muslim 
woman who does not whole-
heartedly 
commit 
to 
their 

Islamic interpretation of femi-

ninity is a woman determined 
to rot in the depths of hell. 
While this may seem dramatic 
to a majority American audi-
ence, this type of language is 
broadcasted daily to constant 
viewers all over the world, 
with view counts as high as 
in the millions. Like all social 
commentary, it has had a direct 
impact on society and in this 
case, Muslim women are the 
chosen victims. 

A painfully prevalent exam-

ple is a current case in Egypt. 
Nine women, mostly in their 

20s, have been detained by 
Egyptain courts for “violating 
family values.” This absurd 
claim has been a raging result 
of a long standing culture war 
over belly dancers and Egyp-
tian pop stars, the TikTok 
case the most severe retalia-
tion against claims of west-
ernization. Two women have 
already been indicted and have 
been given a two year prison 
sentence, merely for enjoying 
their time on the social media 
powerhouse. 
The 
Egyptian 

prison system, like America’s, 
is a system designed to control 
every voice the government 
wants to subvert. Orwellian in 
its cutthroat oppression, the 
court system utilizes unjust 
tacticts to torture civilians 

like starvation, rape and stark 
humiliation. As they squash 
voices of opposition, the Egyp-
tian 
government 
has 
been 

determined to appear to care 
about so-called family values 
to hide their classist oppres-
sion of Egyptian civilians. In 
the eyes of a court designed 
to uphold the wealthy and 
crumble 
the 
impoverished, 

these women, similar to Charli 
D’Amelio in their TikTok con-
tent, are guilty solely of anger-
ing the conservative sect of the 
Egyptian population, a popula-

tion the government seeks to 
appease politically. Increas-
ingly heartbreaking, some of 
these women, severely affected 
by government-driven poverty, 
turned to TikTok as a money 
making mechanism to support 
their families. Their imprison-
ment does not just affect them, 
rather it leaves homes without 
their breadwinners, starving 
not only the alleged offenders 
but their families: a true viola-
tion of family values. Symbolic 
of the blatant endorsement of 
rape culture and victim blam-
ing within these corrupt gover-
ments as well as a persistent 
class war, these women remain 
tangible proof that Muslim 
women are suffocated by an 
obsessive patriarchy. In their 

attempt to quiet these nine 
women, Egypt’s government, 
in tandem with the Haram 
Police, have scarred their lives 
to purposefully and politically 
prop them up as examples for 
any woman who dares have a 
voice that does not mirror the 
patriarch’s.

The Haram Police does not 

only harm Muslim women, it is 
a double edged sword slaugh-
tering possibilities of politi-
cal resistance. Continuing the 
case study on Egypt, Donald 
J. Trump’s “favorite dictator”, 

Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, contin-
ues to reign Egypt by ruthless-
ly 
slaughtering 
political 

opponents and their children. 
With one US dollar equating to 
approximately sixteen Egyp-
tian pounds, the poverty rate is 
only increasing and infrastruc-
ture is severely lacking as the 
wealthy, including the politi-
cal elite such as El-Sisi, prof-
iting off of the labor of poor 
Egyptian citizens. Constantly 
crushing male and female pro-
testers against the regime with 
a hardened military, Egypt 
solidified itself as a military 
state and has caused irrepara-
ble damage to the nation. Men 
and women alike have fled to 
the streets aching for desper-
ate change only to have their 

blood flow endlessly, the state 
of freedom so dire that I may 
be barring myself from visiting 
my family as an Egyptian citi-
zen just writing this fact. Mus-
lim Egyptian men weaponizing 
the courts against their fel-
low female comrades are only 
strengthening the power of a 
dominating elite. By heightin-
ing government power, they 
are actively engaged in tight-
ening the noose around their 
necks, 
effectively 
cutting 

themselves from any possibil-
ity of desperate change. Rather 

than standing side by 
side as they have during 
massive political revolu-
tions such as in the Arab 
Spring, some cowardly, 
insecure men have cho-
sen to empower their 
oppressor 
to 
silence 

their allies rather than 
stand with their Mus-
lim sisters in solidarity. 
By stabbing them in the 
back, the Haram Police 
effectively cuts itself as 
well, their misogyny an 
unintentioned yet skill-
ful silencer of necessary 
political revolutions.

Egypt is only a case 

study 
as 
the 
Haram 

Police continues to ter-
rorize women who have 
already been dealt a 
politically 
gruesome 

hand worldwide. Ameri-
cans are not immune 
from the Haram Police’s 
wrath with even strong 
Muslim 
leaders 
like 

Ilhan Omar and Rashi-
da Tlaib getting harped 
on for not wearing a 
hijab, or not wearing 
their hijabs “properly.” 
Their misogyny clear, 
the Haram police is only 
furthering sexist chau-

vinism against Muslim women 
rather than promoting piety, 
deepening the Muslim counter-
part of a worldwide patriarchi-
cal system. Like other cultural 
apparatuses, the Haram Police 
have been exploited by their 
oppressors as an inner poi-
sonous dynamic. If the Haram 
Police genuinely want a more 
just world as Islam dictates, 
they need to give their fellow 
sisters their support rather 
than their venom. Until then, 
Muslim 
women 
are 
strong 

enough to look into our own 
spaces and fight two ardent 
oppressors; our brothers alle-
giant to the Haram Police and 
our colonizers.

EMAN NAGA
MiC Columnist

After the sad realization 

that I won’t be able to meet 
anyone 
new 
“organically” 

in the near future sank in, I 
finally caved last week and 
joined some of my friends on 
Tinder. I wasn’t looking for 
love: It was one of those point-
less activities I did in order 
to avoid the mass of assign-
ments I would eventually have 
to plow through at break-neck 
speed. Tinder is essentially a 
way to make dating a mind-
less game with no hard feel-
ings and no real stakes. It’s 
an innovative marvel for the 
bored and lonely community, 
of which I am a long-stand-
ing member, whose cultural 
implications instantly fasci-
nated me. Also, it was just fun.

But at some point in the 

midst of desultory swipes and 
disappointing openers, every 
person of color on a dating app 
asks themselves the question: 
Is my race affecting my match-
es? I have to come to terms 
with the fact that there are 
people everywhere, not just 
within the confines of Tin-
der, who will like me less or a 
little too much solely because 
I am an East Asian American 

woman. 

I understand it’s naive to 

assume that people are color-
blind, and I also don’t want 
them to be colorblind. I want 
my race to be recognized, 
heard and celebrated. I want 
people to acknowledge that 
my experiences are different 
from theirs and these expe-
riences have influenced the 
way I see the world, but they 
like me still, maybe even more 
because of it. I want them to 
care enough to listen to me 
and try to empathize with a 
life, an entire culture outside 
of their own. I detest people 
who “refuse to see color” 
because my color matters to 
me. I am proud of it and I need 
it to be seen.

I also don’t want to be 

considered a novelty. I don’t 
want my appeal relegated to 
an otaku’s fetish, and I don’t 
want to receive kimonos for 
my birthday. I hate feeling 
exoticized and the sneaking 
suspicion that I am just a new 
experience for these men rath-
er than a human being. Even-
tually, you learn the ropes and 
search for signs in people’s 
profiles. 
Self-proclaimed 

“sushi and boba lovers” are on 
probation and anyone who’s 
chosen to include “lets watch 

anime together” in their bio is 
an instant red flag. 

If they’re cute and they 

seem to check out, you swipe 
right, 
and 
maybe 
they’ve 

swiped right back on you. 
These matches are generally 
followed by awkward conver-
sations via in-app messaging. 
Being a woman of color on Tin-
der, you tend to amass horror 
stories. I am asked out to “pho 
or sushi” dinners, I have been 
super-liked by a man with 
“free match if your asian” in 
his bio. Non-Asian men proud-
ly text me “i like me a asian 
girl” with heart-eye emojis or 
“tbh i prefer asians to white 
girls” as if they’re civil rights 
heroes. When someone once 
told me he’d never been with 
an Asian girl before and he 
was “tryna break the seal,” I 
had to make a conscious effort 
not to throw up or throw my 
whole phone in the trash. See-
ing my heritage, my proud 
history, my rich culture, my 
parents’ sacrifices and my 
people’s 
constant 
struggle 

reduced and watered down to 
one man’s “idk something bout 
yall just does it for me” makes 
me feel sick. We did not come 
here for this. It is disrespect-
ful and just plain wrong to 
steal away our humanity with 

your tokenism.

But I am happy to report 

that my experiences with mes-
saging men on Tinder have 
largely been free of unneces-
sary mentions of my race or 
the size of their penises. Mes-
sages are, however, assailed by 
awkward miscommunications 
about intention and physical 
boundaries — “i dont do hook 
ups sorry king” — and annoy-
ing insistences on asking for 
socials. (Real adults shouldn’t 
use Snapchat, but I digress.) 
On the off chance that talk-
ing actually goes well though, 
you end up going on dates, and 
those are an entirely different 
anxiety behemoth altogether.

A good friend once told 

me that going on dates with 
strangers is “terrible — so, so, 
so terrible — but kind of fun.” 
Dating during a pandemic is 
even worse. It’s preceded by 
the awkward, yet obligatory 
“uh do you have coronavirus 
LOL” text you send to assuage 
your fears that this is a hor-
rible idea. Wearing masks is 
a necessary precaution whose 
main side-effect is creating 
situations that feel almost 
purely platonic. Dating now is 
even more difficult for women 
to navigate because our pre-
vailing logic surrounding first 

dates is to go to public spaces 
where there are a lot of people 
around for safety. As some-
one who has spent the last 
half decade on a steady diet 
of “Law and Order: SVU,” I’m 
thoroughly freaked out when I 
find myself in a secluded park 
off-campus on date number 
two.

Thankfully, no one has tried 

to murder me yet, but dates 
are often bogged down by 
excruciatingly fluffy, insipid 
conversation about favorite 
rappers and TV shows. If race 
comes up on a date, which isn’t 
often, I feel the other person 
over-compensating 
for 
our 

differences in ways that make 
me uncomfortable. I’ve heard 
that “the only race is the 
human race,” and I don’t know 
how to open my mouth and say 
that, yes, we are biologically 
the same, but we have cultural 
differences and are, indeed, 
separated by racism. There is 
more that connects us than 
divides us, but we are not one 
and the same. There should be 
nothing to fear in that gap, but 
there is so much to learn.

I know it’s pointless, but 

I still scroll through Tinder 
once in a while out of boredom. 
I feel guilty for participat-
ing in this superficial system 

and I hate swiping right on 
a guy whose best bio, of all 
the phrases in the English 
language, is “6’1” since that 
counts as personality.” Trying 
to walk that fine line between 
platonic 
and 
corny 
texts 

stresses me out, and the sight 
of sunburnt men who genu-
inely believe women go wild 
over pictures of them holding 
fish on a boat frustrates me. 
But, while I don’t take Tinder 
seriously, I do care about my 
racial identity, and I am tired 
by the knowledge that my race 
plays a factor in every experi-
ence I have, dating certainly 
being no exception. My agency 
in these situations, however, 
gives me hope: I can unmatch 
with every creep I encounter 
or aim expletives at men with 
classic cases of yellow fever. 
An odd satisfaction lies in 
this power to refuse. Online 
dating is annoyingly uninhib-
ited at times, but the ability 
to instantly pick and choose 
at one’s discretion, free of any 
consequences, is an invaluable 
tool for women of color in the 
dating realm, because the real 
world is rarely so kind to us. 
And in the words of Luke, 21, 
less than a mile away from me, 
I just think that’s “pretty cash 
money, cute little fine thang.”

 JESSICA KWON

MiC Columnist

Habib Dadkhah via Unsplash

Tinder and 
Tokenism:

Dating for East Asian American Women

The harm of the Haram Police

