Alienation in the lives of Arab Women
Alienation: al·ien·a·tion ( l y -n sh n, l - -) n. The act of alienating or the condition of being alienated; estrangement; isolation or dissociation.
Alienation is a concept that is universal to all people of all cultures in the world and throughout all time periods. These feelings of alienation, in some form or another, have affected every human begin that has ever taken a breath and will until the race is extinct. It is these feelings of alienation that influence so many of our activities, our thoughts, and the way we shape our lives and the manner in which we form our societies. It is these reactions to alienation that have played such a large role in the shaping of cultures and societies and for this reason it is important to study the alienation that is being discussed here. It is necessary to choose a group first of all and for our purpose here it will be women in the Arab culture. This is a very diverse culture and therefore we cannot deal with any specific society too in depth and so therefore we will look at examples provided from Arab women’s novels as well as look at the culture as a whole and over a large geographic region. We will be primarily concerned with the sources of alienation that bring these feelings and/or situations of alienation about and focusing on a socioanalytic evaluation of these sources. Also important in this discourse are the situations of the present that we will examine by looking at a few examples from the Arab women’s novels, but also the in-depth analyses of the situations and experiences. Finally, we will look at what these situations and analyses mean for the future of Arab women and the circumstances they may be provided with in years to come and how they might deal with new forms of alienation and at the same time different forms of dealienation or situations of being able to enter parts of society and the world that they have not been able to for numbers of years, and in some cases parts they have never experienced—historically speaking. In short, the purpose of this discourse is to understand the alienation that is a part of the lives of Arab women. This is not supposed to be a definitive analysis, but rather the introduction
This book differs from most ethnographies in that it was not authored by an anthropologist. Fernea originally set out to accompany her husband as he completed research for his doctorate in social anthropology from the University Chicago. Henceforth, Fernea did not enter the field with any specific goals, hypotheses, or particular interests. In many ways, Guests of the Sheik reads as a personal narrative, describing Ferneas struggles integrating into a society that has vastly different expectations and guidelines for women. Fernea recalls the culture shock she first experienced as well as her eagerness to overcome it. Her goals were mainly of a human nature: she wanted to feel a sense of belonging, to have friends, and to establish a life in El Nahra. The first part of Guests of the Sheik largely mimics Fernea's own journey to feeling accepted as it introduces readers to the various groups of women who soon become Fernea's close friends and confidants, most importantly Laila, who will later introduce many aspects of Muslim culture to Fernea. Throughout the book, each chapter emphasizes a different aspect of life as Fernea discovers it, or details an important event. As such, readers experience Ramadan and Eid, two staples of the Muslim culture, Weddings and marriage arrangements, discussions of monogamy and polygamy, the Pilgrimage to Karbala, and many other customs
Stonehenge was built in several different phases beginning with the large white circle, 330 feet in diameter, surrounded by an eight foot-high embankment and a ring of fifty-six pits now referred to as the Aubrey Holes.(Stokstad, p.53; Hoyle) In a subsequent building phase, thirty huge pillars of stone were erected and capped by stone lintels in the central Sarsen Circle, which is 106 feet in diameter.(Stokstad, p.54) This circle is so named because the stone of which the pillars and lintels were made was sarsen. Within the Sarsen Circle were an incomplete ring and a horsesho...
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
Notably, before the walls creation, Germany was a political mess. It was a mess for many reasons, but the main being that “West Germany (governed by the Allied powers- the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) and East Germany (governed by the Soviet Union)” (“Cold War”). Of course, the Allied Powers and the Soviet Union were polar opposites; the Soviet Union was Communist while the Allies were anything but, and despised the very idea of Communism. Therefore, The Wall was constructed in 1961 by the East German government. The walls main purpose was to stop the emigration of East German citizens, because in “1953, the number of refugees doubled- more than 400,000 people left”, all of whom were heading to West Germany (Dowling). They wanted to stop the “skilled workers and professionals”, which were in high demand at this time, from leaving (“Berlin Wall”). These young men were valuable to the economy, because of the various products and services they could provide. However, they were trapped against their will in East Berlin;...
In 1945 Germany divided Berlin into four zones. The Soviet Union, United States, Britain, and France all had a zone. From 1945 until 1961 Germans were free to go from East to West Berlin. On August 13, 1961, groggy citizens watched as workers began digging holes and jackhammering sidewalks, making way for the barbed wire that would eventually divided the East and the West. Armed troops stood guard at the crossing points between the two sides. By the morning of August 14, Soviet troops surrounded the city and by the end of that night the freedom to move freely between the two sections of Berlin ended. But even before the wall went up East Berlin had tried to push West Berlin away by cutting off all food and supplies to them. On June 27, 1948, the Berlin Airlift occurred. The United States and Britain combined their zones and came together as o...
In the field of academia, ethnographic studies are often overlooked as a serious source and reviewed as literature for the mass populace. Because of the often common language, fluid writing styles, format, and production of typical ethnographies, it is much more appealing and attainable to popular culture than the research within a scholarly journal or anthology. Although, perhaps instead of deeming ethnographic work unworthy of a scholarly title due to the appeal it possess, historians should relish in this relativity new form of research for its popularity. Ethnographic studies provide readers with a rare and untarnished micro historic view of the customs of a particular culture or individuals within said culture. Opposing most academia, these studies can sometimes be void in political agenda and personal biases, providing the audience with more objective material. Ethnographies often allow readers to see private and intimate moments within the milieu of the subject which is not often reserved for public life, which is the typically sphere of scholarly study; because of this tendency, individuals and groups which lack a strong public voice are frequently the foci of ethnographic studies. Throughout history women have often been the victims of such marginalization, with a recent focus on Eastern and Islamic women. Considering the previous, Muslim women and gender have been the center of contemporary ethnographic studies, giving a voice to non-Westernized Muslim women and providing a natural research of gender relations with little bias or political agenda.
Camus and Daoud use similar words to describe alienation. One example was when both Meursault and Hauraun were imprisoned and lost their sense of romantic love. Both of them missed their partner’s presence as well as physically touching them. They wanted companionship but could not have it because they were imprisoned and isolated from the world. In The Meursault Investigation, Harun describes the following about his alienation to love:
“The Harem Within” is a pioneering work that opens discussion of women’s rights in Islamic societies. With her humble life story Mernissi gives not only a voice to Moroccan women, but stands her advocacy for individual freedom and battle against the harem within. The narrative is a literature example that figures the women discrimination and appeal for
In the last fifty years the German Democratic Republic has been a nonstop changing country. In Germany, the terms “East” and “West” do not just represent geographically regions. It runs much deeper than that, and there is still a large gap in the way of life, and political and social conditions of the whole country. While most German’s were sleeping on the night of August 13, 1961, the East German government began closing its borders. In the early morning of that Sunday, most of the first work was done: the border to West Berlin was closed. The East German troops had begun to tear up streets and to install barbed wire entanglement and fences through Berlin. Between 1961 and today, the Berlin Wall saw many changes, and so did the people that it entrapped.
individuals, society, or work. Some sociologists believe that alienation is inevitably produced not by the individual but by the shallowness and the lack of individuality in modern society. The concept of alienation has been held to account for behaviour patterns. as diverse as motiveless violence and total immobility. Alienation is a state in which the creations of humanity appear to humans as alien objects.
In the book, Women in the Middle East, a Saudi Arabian proverb states, "A girl possesses nothing but a veil and a tomb" (Harik and Marston 83). The key words, "veil" and "tomb" lend evidence to the fact that many Middle Eastern women lack identity symbolized by the “veil” and lack the right of ownership except for their veil and the tomb. This statement further enforces the notion that many women in the Middle East are expected to serve and tolerate the oppression of the men in their lives throughout their lives on this earth. Moreover, it confirms that many of these women do not get the opportunity to obtain education, join the work force, and even participate in the political affairs of the country. This arrangement further helps the Middle Eastern men to view women as their properties, servants, or even as slaves. Ultimately, there are three main reasons why Middle Eastern men engage in the act of oppressing their women.
Stonehenge, the most famous Neolithic monument, had a great significance to the ancient people of England. The monument, which is located in the Salisbury Plain, was built and reconstructed many times starting in about 3200 BC to about 1650 BC. The stones that were used to construct the monument weighed anywhere from 25 to 50 tons apiece, in some cases the stones had to be dragged to the plain from up to 20 miles away.(Marvin Perry,19) Stonehenge went through three major phases, the first of which was when the ancient people created a bank of chalk and a ditch, inside the bank there was 56 pits. The second phase was when 82 blocks of bluestone, about 4 tons each, were brought to the site. Using the bluestone the ancient people made a double circle in the bank and they formed an avenue leading to the River Avon. The third phase was the ancient people removed the bluestone and replaced it with sandstone, weighing 25 to 50 tons each.(Stonehenge,1) The main reason for Stonehenge being built by the ancient people of England was as a calendar because they needed a way of keeping track of important dates.
On August 13, 1961, the communist government of East Germany built the Berlin Wall to divide the East and West Berlin. Building the wall caused a short term crisis in U.S. Soviet blockade relations, and the wall itself began to symbolize the Cold War. Throughout the 1950s and into the East Berlin crossed over into West Berlin to reunite with families and escape communist oppression. The government of East Germany on the night of 1961 began to seal off all points of entrance into West Berlin from East Berlin by putting barbed wire and guarding it. The Berlin Wall succeeded in sealing off two sections of Berlin. This angered the U.S., and West Berlin began to make plans to bulldoze the wall, but failed when Soviets had armored units into position
While The Berlin Wall symbolized the Cold War division of Germany, the east side of Berlin they were treated wrong. That's why they were always trying to flee to the west side. On the west side you were given more freedom to do what you wanted; the east side are communist while the west are capitalist.
...e as a sacrifice or just for food (Balter, 2014). This means people would have traveled potentially long distances to reach these special events. Rituals at Stonehenge, Durrington Walls, and Woodhenge were likely a huge deal at this time, big enough to attract people all over the region. The people of Late Neolithic Britain were kinship based people who highly revered the dead and honored them with building great structures. These structures remain today and researchers constantly discover new things and ask new questions about them. The solstitial alignments of Stonehenge, Woodhenge, and Durrington Walls made them each a huge part of a ritual that was significant for the peoples’ culture. It shows their advances in knowledge of the rising and setting sun, and they used those events to create magnificent structures that attract the awe of thousands of people today.