Reflection on Cultural Values and Women

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Recommended: Gender roles in the middle east

For centuries, nations have challenged one another for the reputation of cultural differences and religious identity. These quarrels are the foundation of rivalry that afflicts our world. Many of these argumentative civilizations foster the concept of confining and deprecating their women with a solitary objective to use them as an instrument for reproduction. In religions resembling Islam, women are subjected to societal restrictions, while women in the US have the same or similar rights as men. Muslim women are conditioned to be passive and inert with an intention to cultivate their homes and families. These philosophies are clearly perceived in worldwide media increasing awareness to the rising predicament. Films such as "Provoked," directed by Jag Mundhra, and short stories such as "The Disappearance," written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, demonstrate that Islam and cultures alike, promote the belief that women should blindly submit to men's ideology and reject most western impressions.
Up until the 1960's women were considered a minority because of our patriarchal world, which means, men are the dominant power of our social structure. In the Middle East, many women are still bound by these restraints due to their cultural belief system. These gender expectations confine women to stereotypical gender roles including but not limited to cooking and cleaning. In "The Disappearance," Divakaruni presents the reader with a scene that epitomizes gender roles, "After dinner for instance she would start on the most elaborate household projects, soaping down floors and changing the liners in cabinets" (2). This exemplifies a women's role in a shallow minded male society. Throughout the story, the unnamed husband continually denies the ...

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...omen are not met and often disregarded. Women must communicate their feelings with others and strongly voice their opinions. In the case of the unnamed wife in the story and Kiranjit in the movie, they felt bequeathed with no other possibilities of escape. The movie ‘Provoked’ gave me a better visual of the events that occurred in the movie and in the story as well. The ability to see such occurrences makes the dilemma real as well as allows the audience to feel the emotion behind the tales. Subsequently, after years of abuse by men, the wives liberated themselves from the chains of oppression that is found in many cultures.

Works Cited

Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee."The Disappearance." Arranged Marriage. 1995: Print.
Provoked. Dir. Jag Mundhra. Perf. Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson,
Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, 2006. Film.

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