Sexism is very real, even in the least patriarchal societies of the world. From a western hemisphere point of view, the lives of women and young girls that are described in Nawal el Saadawi’s “In Camera” and Hanan al-Shaykh’s “The Women’s Swimming Pool” is almost unbelievable. Although these stories do not tell the whole story of women’s lives in these areas, it gives readers a general idea of how politics, social opportunities, and male privilege is overbearing in their way of life. While “In Camera” is has a more dark, and mature theme than “The Women’s Swimming Pool,” it is obvious that both relate in the way that their protagonists both suffer from the unnecessary and unexpected burden of being born a female. In “In Camera,” el Saadawi …show more content…
In Hanan Al-Shaykh’s “The Women’s Swimming Pool,” a young girl convinces her grandmother to take her to Beirut so she could swim in the women’s swimming pool and see the sea. The youthful, curious point of view that this story is in shows the readers that women are expected to act and dress in proper ways that are acceptable to the testosterone driven society from such an early and innocent age as the protagonist. The grandmother is so worried about the certainty of the pool being for women only that she tells the young girl “if any man were to see you, you’d be done for, and so would you mother and father and your grandfather, the religious scholar- and I’d be done for more than anyone because it’s I who agreed to this and helped you.” (Norton Anthology of World Literature, pg. 1168) The grandmother is so worried that she makes the young girl swear by her mother’s grave. This, and the fact that Islamic custom requires girls and women to keep their hair, arms, and legs covered despite the sweltering heat, shows just how conservative the life for the young girl and her grandmother is. Although the young girl is able to see how beautiful the sea truly is, she is not able to swim in the pool that she traveled all that way for because it was time to pray. As her grandmother begins to pray, the young girl realizes that Beirut is a different world than what she is used to, and that she is bound to her traditional …show more content…
Both el Saadawi and Al-Shaykh both show how perception and expression are both affected within the confines of politics, social opportunities, and male privilege depicted in their stories. Whether the reader is a follower of the feminist movement or not, it is very clear and easy to see that these women are not being treated with the respect that any human being deserves. The misogynistic stranglehold on society, especially in this part of the world, is excessive and avoidable in today’s world but it is very likely that the traditional, conservative ways of the past will continue to control and inhibit women from being able to be fully treated as equals for many years to come, perhaps even after this generation has
It is precisely this point, which proves the argument of this paper. The well intentioned attempt of Western feminist to write a feminist book in order to help, both women in the East in an exchange of ideas and stimulation of still more ideas and women in the West in providing knowledge with which to further aid the women of the East. On both counts it fails. In the West it gives further ground to the false generalizations and assumptions of women in the Muslim and more generally the developing world who are seen as oppressed and in need of “liberation” while in the East it serves to colonize and dehumanize the women. These good intentions did not create what can be construed as a positive contribution.
The oppression of women in society plays a huge role in how mothers raise their young daughters for the cruel world that waits. In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl”, Kincaid lists multiple stereotypical roles of the “typical” women in her short text. Without question, Kincaid defines roles of women in a way that may seem sexist and put a strong limit on what women can and cannot do. Moreover, Kincaid’s piece does come to empower women and evokes various degrees of power, freedom and the control of women.
It revolves around the issues of gender oppression, sexual assault, and importance of social status. Alifa Rifaat manages to express her opinions towards these themes by writing about a typical Egyptian marriage. She puts in focus the strong influence that a patriarchal society has. She also manages to prove how important social status is in society. The uses of literally elements such as theme and irony help express this view. It shows that in a typical Egyptian society women are commonly oppressed by all males in society
Cultures throughout the world encompass a diverse array of lifestyles by which societies are led by. These cultures, in a typical sense, are created by the subset of a population that follows a particular set of morals and ideals. An individual’s own identity, as a result, is dependent on many varying factors of their lifestyle in these culturally regulated regions. In the stories, “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran,” by Azar Nafisi, and “The Naked Citadel,” by Susan Faludi, the authors depict the impact made on an individual’s identity by male-dominated communities prejudiced against women. The discriminations described in these stories contribute to the creation of cultures that oppose the idea of seeing women as equals to men. Hence,
In the novel She and in the stories of The Arabian Nights, both Haggard and Haddawy explore the expanding gender roles of women within the nineteenth century. At a time that focused on the New Woman Question, traditional gender roles were shifted to produce greater rights and responsibilities for women. Both Ayesha, from Haggard’s novel She, and Shahrazad, from Haddawy’s translation of The Arabian Nights, transgress the traditional roles of women as they are being portrayed as strong and educated females, unwilling to yield to men’s commands. While She (Ayesha) takes her power to the extreme (i.e. embodying the femme fatale), Shahrazad offers a counterpart to She (i.e. she is strong yet selfless and concerned with the welfare of others). Thus, from the two characters emerge the idea of a woman who does not abide by the constraints of nineteenth century gender roles and, instead, symbolizes the New Woman.
Middle Eastern women need to stand up for their rights and get educated to reverse the notion that they are servants and properties of their men. Furthermore, they need to rise up to their potentials and prove beyond doubt that they are equal to men. This practice would lead the path for future generations to follow and protect the inalienable rights of women. Finally, these women need to break the cycle of oppression by addressing these deeply rooted beliefs, gaining the tools to fight back, and joining forces to make lifelong changes.
In the text, we see different examples of how women are treated. The Vizier tells his daughter a story of a man who beats his wife because she wants to know his secret. We also see women being killed for infidelity, women who curse men, and women who are portrayed as heroes, such as our young protagonist. (Puchner, Akbari, Denecke, & Fuchs 2014) How then, does this relate to the current times and how women are treated in the Islamic culture? The common picture, is a woman hidden behind a veil, silent, submissive. The web article “Women in Islam” explains that this was once the case in Islam’s dawning days. It quotes “in the tribal culture of Arabs, women were not equal to men with respect to many social and personal conditions and systems…Women did not have businesses, own property, or have independent legal rights…In Arabia, female infants were often abandoned or buried alive; and the practice of polygamy was common.” The article then goes on to explain how, over time, this has changed. The pursuit of knowledge is now the law, and what gender someone is does not stop this. Women also have the right to own land and buy businesses. It is said that during the time of the Islamic prophet SWA, women were encouraged to take place in social, military, and political affairs. His daughter Fatima, was even highly educated and well respected. ("Women in Islam"). There are
Through these two novels, we’re able to see the quandaries that women must face when modernity and old customs come head to head. Both of these women remain brave and to try to sustain their new found freedoms, despite any difficult encounters. It is these women with their fierce ideals that would make them pioneers for all women liberation movements.
Men: they think they are worthy to hold the crown, to control everything that crosses their path, but how could they be worthy, they are all killers in a sense. They may think they are saving the world, but they don't want it to change. Women in the middle east have never had a break from the oppressive government that has annihilated any type of hope that one day women will get their chance to be free. Although they are ruled by a government controlled by power starving men they have support from others who can actually voice their opinions without harsh consequences. In most places throughout the middle east not all, bus in some, we see that people who are really trying to change the way women are treated, “MEN” are actually stepping up
To begin this paper, I want to explain a little bit about Feminist Criticism. This category of criticism scrutinizes the means in which texts have been molded in accordance with matters of gender. It concentrates on social and financial disparities in a “male-controlled” culture that continues to impede women from grasping their true potentials. There are several perceptions and theories universally shared by feminist critics. One such belief is that our society is undeniably regulated by men. Another belief is that the concept of “gender” is mostly, if not wholly, a social standard that has curtailed from the never ending masculine biases that engulf our world. This male dominated philosophy is excessively abundant in most of the writings that are deemed exceptional literature. In addition, many feminist consider females, in literature, to be represented as destructive or docile objects, while most males are portrayed as being brave and resilient leaders.
... Through both Woyingi and Davis’ understanding of gender in an Egyptian framework. The topic of gender oppression is often left to no discussion because of the idea that these narratives will be applicably understood outside negative connotations and this increased the difficulty in addressing that issue in transnational feminist discourse because it will be clouded by hegemonic understandings rooted to feminism and leaves no room to deconstruct that when trying to be intersectional.
Women – beautiful, strong matriarchal forces that drive and define a portion of the society in which we live – are poised and confident individuals who embody the essence of determination, ambition, beauty, and character. Incomprehensible and extraordinary, women are persons who possess an immense amount of depth, culture, and sophistication. Society’s incapability of understanding the frame of mind and diversity that exists within the female population has created a need to condemn the method in which women think and feel, therefore causing the rise of “male-over-female” domination – sexism. Sexism is society’s most common form of discrimination; the need to have gender based separation reveals our culture’s reluctance to embrace new ideas, people, and concepts. This is common in various aspects of human life – jobs, households, sports, and the most widespread – the media. In the media, sexism is revealed through the various submissive, sometimes foolish, and powerless roles played by female models; because of these roles women have become overlooked, ignored, disregarded – easy to look at, but so hard to see.
Throughout history, sexism and gender roles in society has been a greatly debated topic. The Women’s Rights Movements, N.O.M.A.S. (The National Organization of Men Against Sexism), M.A.S.E.S. (Movement Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexism), and many other movements and groups have all worked against the appointment of gender roles and sexist beliefs. Many authors choose to make a controversial topic a central theme in their work of literature, and the theme of gender roles is no exception. “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou, “Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman all address the gender roles that have been placed by society.
In Women at Point Zero, El Saadawi is making a statement about the need for the attitude toward women in Egypt to change. She is providing other women with a positive message of how it is necessary to the courage of protesting to the society that treats women are trash. It makes reader question the worth of women in the world and how they are perceived by men in general. At the same time, it also adds to the stereotype the western readers have about Middle Eastern women, and the society. Despite of that, this is an excellent book that allows readers to understand the struggles of being a woman not only in Egypt but all around the world during the 70’s.
...role of women in third world countries is questionable as evidenced by the way women are portrayed in the work of literature A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini