Society and Culture Atlas

How People Live Together
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Social Theorist

Fatema Mernissi

Also Known As Fatima Mernissi
Sociology

Fatema Mernissi (1940-2015) was a Moroccan sociologist and a leading voice in Islamic feminist scholarship, known for combining empirical sociological fieldwork with historical and textual reinterpretation to examine gender, sexuality and power in Muslim societies. Her Beyond the Veil (1975) analyzed the social organization of gender in Morocco, while The Veil and the Male Elite (1987) argued that many restrictive readings of Islamic scripture regarding women reflected the political interests of later interpreters rather than the Prophet's own teaching, contending that religious texts have long been manipulated as part of the structural practice of power in Muslim societies. Her later memoir Dreams of Trespass (1994) and Scheherazade Goes West (2001) extended her analysis into autobiography and comparative cultural criticism. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Birth DateSourced to the subject's own account
1940-09-27 1
Birth YearSourced to the subject's own account
1940 1
Death DateSourced to the subject's own account
2015-11-30 1
Death YearSourced to the subject's own account
2015 1
BirthplaceSourced to the subject's own account
Fez, Morocco 1
Death PlaceSourced to the subject's own account
Rabat, Morocco 1
Nationality / CultureSourced to the subject's own account
Moroccan 1
Defining ContributionSourced to the subject's own account
A leading figure in Islamic feminist sociology, examining gender roles, sexuality and the manipulation of sacred texts to justify patriarchal power in Muslim societies through both empirical field research and historical reinterpretation. 1
Notable WorkSourced to the subject's own account
Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Muslim Society (1975) 1
Notable WorkSourced to the subject's own account
The Veil and the Male Elite (1987) 1
Connections

Associated With

Mernissi Beyond the Veil analyzed how patriarchy is organized and justified within Islamic societies, drawing on both sociology and Islamic textual sources.

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Fatema Mernissi
Wikipedia
  • The Veil and the Male Elite section
    Not only have the sacred texts always been manipulated, but manipulation of them is a structural characteristic of the practice of power in Muslim societies.
  • Infobox: Born
  • Infobox: Died
  • Infobox: Nationality
  • Concepts section
  • Works section
  • Article title/spelling variant
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.