Mm, mm, mm, mm, Feminismmmm

"alQaws strives for the social change and liberation that result from directly challenging and breaking oppressive social structures. We therefore view the adoption of 'feminism' as a means to break existing power relations and challenge hegemony in society to be a must. Hence we reaffirm our rejection of all forms of oppression in its various manifestations, whether these be patriarchal, economic, nationalistic or ethnic, in order to ensure genuine inclusivity in our community and for other marginalized groups."

This excerpt from the alQaws website totally speaks to me. Every society on Earth has repressive elements within it. Specifically in this week's readings we can see examples of behavior or traditions in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community that are restrictive of women and men alike. For example, women are socially prohibited from participating in politics and must wear extremely modest clothing, and men are socially pressured to spend their lives dedicated to the study of the Torah and the passing down of spirituality and religious piety/observance to later generations. I'm sure you're all aware of the heavy press that surrounds the oppressive activities and behaviors of certain sects or certain observance levels of Islam, such as the honor killings that were criticized in DAM's video and the practice of wearing Hijabs or modest clothing that many people criticize, most harshly in France with actual legislation banning certain types of religious clothing. 

This calls into question what feminism really means in terms of religious observance. I was raised in a very liberal, sex-positive, feminist environment. My family and I used to be religiously observant(of Judaism) and my mother, sister, and I would wear more modest clothing, often skirts, because it was customary. I didn't feel spiritually enlightened by the practice so it slowly became something I no longer did (the story is the same with going to synagogue and being religiously observant in many of the traditional ways). However, many of my Jewish friends feel a strong religious and spiritual connection to Judaism through the practice of modest dress, traditional prayers, and observance of "mitzvot"(commandments from the Torah) and holidays, etc. Similarly, many of my Muslim friends say that they enjoy wearing their hijabs and other sorts of traditional or modest dress because it is a way of connecting to their faith through tangible means. For some modest dress means focusing energy inwards and upwards, to the self and to the divine, not outward to appearances or attracting attention from others through superficial characteristics.

When discussing the issue of wearing makeup and still calling oneself a feminist (a question that my friends and I struggle with), a friend of mine once said that to her, "feminism means doing whatever makes you feel good". Immediately a million qualifications to that jumped out at me, like "what if that thing makes you feel good because it makes you feel more accepted by society and not necessarily by your true self?", "what if that thing somehow hurts other women or women's position in the world?", etc. 
Is feminism in a religious context doing whatever makes you feel connected to whatever god in which you believe? 
What are the limitations of this? 
Does something that makes you feel good have the potential to be oppressive or harmful to the way the world views and treats women?