Young Moroccan-Dutch women on hajj:claiming female space

This contribution discusses contestations of Saudi regulations concerning gender-segregation in certain places in Mecca by a group of young female hajj pilgrims from the Netherlands. It is demonstrated how a seemingly mundane matter as sanitary arrangements during the hajj can come to stand for the much larger issue of religious underpinning of gender equality; the women object to Saudi spatial arrangements not only as hindrances to their spiritual journey but also because they contradict the women’s views on gender equality. The authors demonstrate that feelings of being denied equal access t... Mehr ...