Lipstick Under My Burkha: Deconstructing the Western Gaze and Demystifying the ‘Third World Woman’ Anonymous College

Subjectivity and autonomy are some of the foundational blocks in the process of self-identity for people, and for those who identify as women, it is key to establishing a sense of independence and self-worth. The process in which people are stripped of their autonomous selves is through some kind of overpowering dominant force over a period of time. In the case of the “third world”, which I will refer to in quotations because this is a concept that creates power hierarchies, the subjugation of their people was created and enforced by European colonial forces. Colonialism in the “third world” has set the stage for oppression and loss on many levels and on a large scale, but as is often the case, the impact most heavily falls on those marginalized within a social group – the women in the community.

The modern fabrication of society empowers certain kinds of women: those who are deemed modern and adaptable. The west and its neoliberal and progressive philosophy does not necessarily have the tools to understand the “third world” woman, for this kind of global imperialism has created a new kind of colonial power structure, where women of colour and women of faith are deemed secondary to the women who have best adapted to the wests...