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Analysis of works of shirin neshat
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Shirin Neshat is a filmmaker and photographer. She was born on march 26, 1957 in Qazvin, Iran. Because of the westernization in her family, her parents sent her to America for college. Shirin’s career of artist began after she came to America. She got her bachelor of arts and master of fine arts from University of California Berkeley. In 1990, she returned to Iran and was shocked by the change of society due to the Islamic revolution and the war between Iran and Iraq (Sheybani 1). The style and characteristics of her photographs and video installations also were inspired by her journey to Iran, which focus on contemporary Islamic cultures, women’s identity and women’s right in Islamic society (1). Shirin Neshat is passionate on photography …show more content…
In her photography series, “Women of Allah”, she used black and white photograph to reflect her understanding of women’s status in Iran …show more content…
This time, she used a new medium, the feature-length film, to express her feeling of Iranian society, and she declared that the film is telling a story rather than conveying a concept (754). In this way, the film Women Without Men tells four women’s story in islamic society, and Neshat tired to use these four emotional and sad stories to reflect women’s status in islamic society. Shirin Neshat separated the film to different sections, and each section tells a single story of each woman (754). All of them are from different social classes and backgrounds, and they meet each other in a garden where they try to live safely during the difficult time in 1953 coup (754). Zarin is a young woman from the lowest social class who is unwilling to be a prositutue, and her struggle was shown when she lost herself in brothel (754). Munis and Faezeh represent two positions of women in middle class; Munis cares about political events, however her brother always prevent her from participating in political events (Danto 223); in this way, Munis’s struggle emphasize a gender issue in Islamic society that women has to right to participate in political events. On the contrary, compare to Munis, Faezeh is a very traditional woman, however, this character in the film reflects a serious issue in Islamic society, which is sexual assault (215). Unlike other
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
In “Gender as a Social Structure: Theory Wrestling with Activism”, the author Barbara Risman explains her theory to readers about how gender should be thought of as a social structure. Thinking of it as such would allow people to examine how gender is ingrained in almost every part of society, thus putting gender on an equal level of importance with economics and politics. In society, gender dictates many of the opportunities and limitations that an individual may face in his or her lifetime. Barbara Risman points out the three aspects of the gender structure that happen at an individual, interactional, and institutional level (Risman, pg. 446). First, gender contributes to how a person will develop themselves in life. This is the “individual level”. At an interactional level, men and women face different expectations that are set by society. The individual and interactional level are linked because sometimes, changes to one level can affect the other. The third level, the institutional level, notes that gender is affected by laws, rules, and organizational practices that dictate what
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
Martyrdom as a means of Emancipation: A Comparative analysis of Grant Allen’s The Woman Who Did and George Gissing’s The Odd Women
Andoni, Lamis. "Iran's new activists seek life for women beyond the veil. (cover story)." Christian
Have you ever judge a book by the cover or made a bad first impression without getting to know the person first? Human beings need to come to the realization that everyone come from different walks of paths. We need to stop labeling people as "the other." No-Name Woman, Kingston 's aunt experienced Edward Said 's concept through the people in her village by them looking at her situation through a one-sided lens. The village that Kington 's family lived in had a preconceive notion on what the people should behave like and adultery was like a sin and a crime no matter of the circumstances.
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
Throughout American history women have been considered the inferior sex, and have endured the discrimination brought upon them by men. In the time period of 1780 to 1835 the United States underwent extensive societal and economical changes that resulted in a shift in the role of women, leading to the “cult of true womanhood.” Although the new “cult” restricted women to the virtues of piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity it also led to a rise in the influence of women on the developments of society. In “Bonds of Womanhood,” Nancy Cott focuses on the time period of 1780 to 1835 to effectively illustrates how the changes leading up to the “cult of true womanhood” restrained women together through the creation of a separate “women’s sphere,” while also restricting women to the ideologies that became prominent with “true womanhood.” Although I agree with Nancy Cott’s argument, it would have been more effective if she had included politics as one of the main aspects of her argument.
To understand the changing role of women starting during the Islamic Revolution, it is important to briefly review the lives of Iranian women and the role of Islam during the final years of the secular regime of the Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah was disliked by the majority of Iranian population, but his secular and prominent Western attitude allowed for some reforms of women’s rights in Iran. For example, in 1963 he created a reform program which would eventually be known as the “White Revolution,” which included suffrage for women (Beck and Nashat 114). This decision led to a violent reaction, especially from strong Islamic leaders such as Ayatollah Khomeini, whom would eventually play a pivotal role in the revolution and women’s rights. Although the Shah allowed for women’s reform, he was popularly known as a dictator and appeared to be in complete favor of maintaining a traditional patriarchal society.
Also, the film revealed women empowerment and how superior they can be compared to men. While demonstrating sexual objectification, empowerment, there was also sexual exploitation of the women, shown through the film. Throughout this essay, gender based issues that were associated with the film character will be demonstrated while connecting to the real world and popular culture.
However, that does not mean that the male figures are not present in these female-only spaces. By presence, I do not mean a physical one necessarily, but a metaphorical presence where a man is still some way involved in the exclusively female space the director has created. An article by Tingting Qi evokes the argument of Charles Peirce by pointing out that “we can’t separate our ideas from experiences” (Qi, 2010: 329), and he continues to state that “any women must impact or be impacted by be impacted by their relationships with those men in her life” (Qi, 2010: 329). In this sense, a female only space is very hard to achieve as long as the women’s lives are intertwined with those men around them (Qi, 2010: 329). This is exemplified in the types of conversations these Tunisian women would have between themselves, which are always centered on men and how to deal with their issues (Bent Familia). The first example of such an occurrence would be when Amina visits a fortune teller, where we are initially introduced to this scene from a feminine perspective, we are then thwarted back into a patriarchal order through the nature of the conversation between Amina and the fortune teller. A conversation that resulted in putting all the blame on Amina for her marital problems, absolving the
Traditional gender roles exist in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, but traditional distribution of power between the genders does not. In analyzing each character and their life, it’s easy to see how Marquez presented each in terms of his own view on gender constructs. Marquez portrays femininity and masculinity very differently. But why would Marquez choose to make such a clear distinction between the roles of each gender? Marquez sees women as spiritual and overpowered by traditional standards, and men doomed by their own obsessions. Men are wily and therefore vulnerable, whereas women are dignified and durable, and survive for much longer.
Constitutional patriarchy instilled by the government in Central Europe greatly affected women during the time period following World War I. Communism attempted to give women more rights and promote their equality among men, but it failed to do so often. As a regime, patriarchy favored masculine gender roles throughout numerous aspects of society. Loves of a Blonde, Man is Not a Bird, Daisies, and A Woman Alone display the effect of patriarchy on women and how women could be successful or unsuccessful on attempting to go against it. The women in the films showed how women were pressured by society to accept relationships and a role in family, which were repressive. However, not all women conformed to the pressure and attempted to change their lives by taking different attitudes and actions toward the situation. By observing these films, a viewer can receive a viewpoint on how patriarchal society affected women and how women acted on their positions.
A persistent and important societal criticism pertains to the comparability of males and females intellect, and which sex show higher intellect. In Mencken’s essay In Defense of Women, Mencken critiques the societal consensus that males intelligence often overshadows the intelligence females possess and display. Throughout the essay Mencken’s word choices strike the reader as important by describing the lack of male intellect present and describing the high magnitude that women’s intellect manifests. Notably, Mencken mentions that men do not often display skill in their intelligence as “ [this] notion is certainly supported by the familiar incompetency of first rate men for what are called practical concerns. One could not think of Aristotle
In recent modern times, the Islamic faith and culture has been scarred by bad publicity and criticism worldwide concerning terrorism, fanaticism, and the treatment of women. All these issues have existed in most religions throughout time, but the treatment of women is different in which most other cultures and religions have minimized the issues and Islam, under its attempts to also end it, has failed to create a society in which the treatment of women is equal to that of men. The treatment of women, beginning from the time when they are born, to the time of their marriage, to the moment of their death, has not been equal to that of men despite the actions taken to end the injustice.