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Ancient egypt role of women
Portrayal of women in literature
Portrayal of women in literature
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Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero is a novel that takes place near Cairo, Egypt and is mostly written in the point of view of a girl named Firdaus. Growing up, Firdaus was physically and emotionally abused by her father and occasionally her mother as well. As she got older, she began to be sexually abused by her uncle along with many other men she would be introduced to throughout the story. However, these forms of abuse are not subjective to Firdaus. Quite a few women are introduced in this text and almost every single one of them mentions or hints that they’ve experienced abuse as well. Early in the novel, Firdaus reflects on her childhood and the relationship between her mother and father: “...he would beat my mother, then have his …show more content…
Nawal El Saadawi’s tragic yet accurate representation of women in this culture educates the audience about gender inequality in Egypt and what dangers it poses to their society.
El Saadawi’s representation of women as unimportant, silenced, and passive is shown through various characters throughout the novel. While a lot of these traits are shown through Firdaus in the beginning of the book, the author uses other female characters as well to illustrate these characteristics more vividly. The number of male characters in Woman at Point Zero largely outweighs the number of females, allowing the audience to sense, rather than read directly from the text, that women in this culture are silenced and of much less importance than men. Although Firdaus’ uncle’s wife was not a main character in this novel, both Firdaus and the reader gather a lot of information about a woman’s ‘role’ in society through her. On one particular occasion, after Sheikh Mahmoud had aggressively beaten Firdaus with his shoe, Firdaus went to her uncle’s house and
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The author is successful in showing inequality between men and women through her use of Firdaus as the main character and her choice to depict the lives of prostitutes. By revealing the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse that Firdaus and Sharifa experience as prostitutes, the author is able to express how the sexual exploitation of women, not only in Egypt but around the world as well, contributes to the idea that women exist for the sole purpose of pleasing men. One of the most prominent ways El Saadawi sheds light on the dangers of injustice towards women is through Firdaus’ thoughts and attitude near the end of the book. In reference to herself, Firdaus reflects, “She no longer hopes for anything or desires anything. She no longer fears anything, for everything which can hurt her she has already undergone” (87). In this part of the novel, Firdaus realizes that for the first time in her life, she is free to do or say anything that pleases her because she does not want to live, nor does she fear death. This shows the audience how being exposed to so much abuse throughout her life has made her apathetic and empty inside. Later on in the book, Firdaus says to the authorities, “Everybody has to die. I prefer to die for a crime I have committed rather than to die for one of the
Writing Women's Worlds is some stories on the Bedouin Egyptian people. In this book, thwe writer Lia Adu-Lughod's stories differ from the conventional ones. While reading, we discover the customs and values of the Bedouin people.
Social injustice is revealed throughout the novel and Hosseini really goes in depth and indulges the reader by portraying every aspect of the life of women in Afghanistan at the time period. He also reveals most of the social injustice women still have to deal with today. This novel is based on two young women and the social injustices they face because of their gender. Gender inequality was very common in Afghanistan
First, political Islam has rogue Egypt and held it down, suffocating the country, not allowing it to stand a chance. President Hosni Mubarak was ousted and people thought that Egypt was getting better. It has not been the case. While Zaki lives in faded luxury and chases women, Bothayna endures sexual harassment while working as a shop assistant to provide for her poor family after the death of her father. Meanwhile her boyfriend, Taha, son of the building's janitor, is rejected by the police and decides to join a radical Islamic group. Egypt is heading towards a bottomless abyss. Everything is controlled by the elite. Jobs are no more; it is preserved for the top. This increases the plight of the people and leads them into committing some of the acts seen in Islam as bad or as a taboo. The political elite are crashing its opponents and ensuring that whoever com...
Literature is the key to our world or language. Many writers have emerged from this subject such as Homer who wrote The Odyssey and Euripidies who wrote about the evil Medea. Also mentioned in this paper are the Thousand and One Arabian Nights which is a collection of folktales and stories that are compiled into one. Each of these works of literature has a woman character that has many similarities in solving their problems. In The Odyssey the woman character that will be in comparison is Penelope which is Odysseus’s wife. In the story of Medea, Medea is of course the character we will be discussing and Shaharazad is the woman character from the Thousand and One Arabian Nights that will also be in comparison. Each of these women find themselves in a particularly “sticky situation.” However, Penelope, Medea, and Shahrazad are three strong women whose perseverance and cleverness help them to attain their goals.
In the story “In Camera, Saadawi illustrated how women were treated by the legal system in Arabic country when they did something against the system. The protagonist, Leila Al-Fargani, who was a young woman on trial for calling the “mighty one”, which is a respective title for the President of their country, a stupid man. Moreover, during the time she was waiting for the court date, she was brutally beaten and raped by ten men who seem to be the guards. At the time she was in the court, she was still suffering from the pain both in physical and mental way, but she did not collapse. When the time the judge and those with him declared that ten men raped Leila and also her father’s honor got trampled. (This is the way we torture you women- by depriving you of the most valuable thing you possess”). For the response she said: “You fool! The most valuable thing I possess is not between my legs. You are all stupid. And the most stupid among you is the one who leads you.” In one hand, this quote completely showed that the man thought this sexual violence was totally right when the woman had committed a crime. In anther hand, it also showed that in the very deep of Leila, the...
The theme of gender oppression is greatly shown throughout the story. Making it easier for the reader to comprehend the roles that were expect of women in Egypt. This theme is greatly shown when Abboud Bey and Samia’s father are discussing wedding arrangements. Abboud asks Samia’s father “And the beautiful little girl’s still at second school? She lowered her head modestly and her father had answered:” This shows the lack of respect males have for women in their society. Viewing women merely as a pretty face, incapable of answering simple questions. This also shows that Abboud views Samia as naïve and innocent by referring to her as “little girl”. He seems to be taken by her
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
Ahmed’s mother is the first to fall into playing her stereotypical social construct after her husband; Hajji Ahmed beats her for not supplying him with an heir, a son. “One day he struck he struck her, because she had had refused to subject herself to a last, desperate ordeal…” This act shows Ahmed’s mothers weakness, a gender normative of women, compared to her husband. However instead of lashing back she accepts the fate she has put herself into. She punishes herself similar to the acts her husband acts onto her. “She, too, began to lose interest in her daughters…and struck her belly to punish herself.” At this point in the novel, it is evident that Ahmed’s mother is adjusting her own belief to match that of Hajji. His reoccurring distaste for his seven daughters has rubbed onto his wife. This compliance to accept her husband’s belief fits into that mold that says that women are not assertive and follow with what their husbands want. The next section femininity is seen in it’s natural essence is seen at the end of chapter three when Ahmed has been attacked and his father confronts him about his girlish ways.
Throughout history, women were not always well regarded by men. Because of this, most societies treated their women as second class citizens. The stories from, Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, illustrate how the portrayal of women affected Muslim society in the Ninth century. Sometimes women were seen as mischievous, unfaithful temptresses. Other times they were depicted as obedient, simple minded slaves looking to please their master. With the use of charm, sex and trickery, they used the labels that they were put in, to their advantage; demonstrating that women during this century were clever, smart, and sly.
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.
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.
The hero in the novel would have to be Firdaus, a former prostitute and prisoner that is awaiting execution for the murder of a powerful pimp. The reason why Firdaus is considered a hero is because she stood up to the exploitation and corruption going on within the government and society during that time in Egypt. The story is set in 1975, during a time when women were still not valued and the sole purpose for them was pleasure or raising children and caring for the house. Firdaus’s life before prison exemplifies this societal norm; she was abused by family members, locked up by people she met that she thought she could trust, objectified by men, and disregarded when it came to decisions involving her wellbeing. Firdaus ends up choosing to be a prostitute instead of marriage because at least being a prostitute, she was free to make her own decisions and she was self-supporting (Harlow). When she was married, she was not able to make any decisions and even abused. In that sense, Firdaus is considered a hero because she does not give into the oppressive Egyptian society during this time. There are many instances during Firdaus’s life where she experienced injustice, from both men and women. One of the female characters in the novel that treat Firdaus as if she was an object was her uncle’s wife. It is clear that the aunt does not treat Firdaus nicely by having her sent away to boarding school and also by forcing her to marry an abusive husband. When the aunt was making her point about what to do with Firdaus, she says, “It is risky for her [Firdaus] to continue without a husband. She is a good girl but the world is full of bastards (Saadawi 37).” This sentence says a lot about the societal norms during this time because the aunt is making a point that even though Firdaus is a good girl, she will still not be able to survive without a man. In
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
In the novel This Earth Of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, discrimination against social structure, race, and gender is apparent. The setting is in the Indies, or now called Indonesia. At that time, there are terms for different races in the book, which are “Native” indicating someone who is pure Indonesian, “Indo” a half European and half Indonesian, and “Pure Blood” or “European” when someone is pure European. An Indo and a Pure Blood receives more respect in society than a Native. Furthermore, European or Pure Blood is at the top of this social hierarchy, people who are European or Pure Blood receives the utmost respect in society. Differences in gender is prevalent in this novel, where most women in this book have power in their own homes, but in society is looked down upon. Female characters experiencing these are Annelies, the main character’s love interest, Nyai Ontosoroh, Annelies’ mother who is a concubine, and Magda Peters, the main character’s European teacher. Women in this novel are portrayed differently according to what race, social structure, and gender they are born in, which can be seen through Nyai Ontosoroh, Annelies, and Magda Peters.
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.