The objectification and dehumanisation of the female identity is by no means a new phenomenon in western liberal culture. However the media agenda to use and abuse the image of women was admitted in no uncertain terms during a conference at ‘Advertising Week Europe' this month. In a panel discussion on the 19^th of March 2013, Alex Bilmes, high profile editor of the men's magazine ‘Esquire' said that, "The women we feature in the magazine are ornamental... I could lie to you if you want and say we are interested in their brains as well. We are not. They are objectified....[Esquire] provide pictures of girls in the same way we provide pictures of cool cars."

Although the content of his comments confirms what most of us understand about global popular culture, it is the uncompromising and unapologetic nature of his quotes on the entertainment industry that has caused international controversy.  In a flimsy attempt at justifying his role in the exploitation of women, he suggested that women's magazines were worse than men's magazines in their "stereotyped and negative images of women" that focus on unrealistic body types and are racists as well as ageist in their content. Fellow female panellists were quick to express outrage at his remarks but there was no way for them to effectively deny his caustic honesty about the social status of women in the west.

In March alone, the media reported on yet another gang attack on a woman in India. This time the victim was a Swedish tourist. In this same month, a new film was released in Lebanon depicting the explosion in plastic surgery in the region and calls for liberal democracy to save Muslim women from the threat of Islamic revival. In light of these on-going issues, there are real and present questions that need to be addressed regarding the way forward for women's security and the preservation of a decent future where young girls have positive role models and healthy life goals to aspire to.

All of the current Muslim leaders represent the same misogynistic attitudes as Alex Bilmes as they permit advertising, tourism, and the Bollywood, Turkish and Egyptian entertainment machines that spew out sickening, toxic representations of women. The lesson for Muslim women here is that when you have leaders of the worlds' media openly expressing that it is perfectly normal to view women in one dimensional animalistic terms in order to maximise economic profits, we should really question how these liberal secular values can deliver any hope for our security and wellbeing when they have clearly failed women in well-established democracies, all of which have growing and active women's liberation movements. We should openly challenge our leaders' adoption of cosmetic policies that will only add fuel to the social firestorm of the women's rights struggle. The time is long overdue to abandon the assumption that liberal secular values, even with their so called ‘cracks' and ‘flaws' are infinitely better for women than the so called ‘iron oppression' of sharia law as some feminists describe it. With more young non-Muslim women than ever before choosing Islam as their way of life, the fact is that, it is actually only thorough embracing the Islamic social system that women can be truly elevated in status and be allowed to live according to their natural disposition, without fear of legal punishment or social consequence. Unlike the written and unwritten codes of western culture, the Sharia law is not designed by the corporate elite competing with each other to enslave us in a system that facilitates the great hoax of what it is that they can give us to make our lives better. The Shariah is designed by the Creator of the humans and as such the political system that comes from that will serve the human interests in a neutral manner that truly delivers justice and fair treatment for women as defined in the saying of the Prophet (saw);

"اسْتَوْصُوا بِالنِّسَاءِ خَيْرًا"

"I urge you to treat women well."

The high value of women is also evident even at the time of conception when Allah (swt) condemned the widespread practice of killing the girl child, an issue that is still unresolved and growing today. The Islamic State would not allow women to work in jobs that exploit their beauty and the role of mother and wife would be supported through the Islamic state's policies as this role is considered to be of great service to society and a matter that deserves respect and immense reward. As such, degrading images of women in the media or even education system cannot be tolerated by an Islamic leader. In the Quran, verbal slander of women is considered a judicial crime. It is only the return of the Khilafah "Caliphate" system, with Islamic laws implemented on every level of society, privately and publically, that will allow women to see comprehensively how they can have an alternative to the daily onslaught of western social rules that erode their dignity and drain them of their potential to be worth more than the money they contribute to the economy.

Imrana Mohammed

Member of The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir