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.
Every year about a million immigrants come to America in hope to start a better life for their family. They leave with virtually nothing, just the clothes on their backs and a few, hard earned coins. As they start a new life here in the United States, most immigrants tend to notice the drastic differences that are present between their culture and Western society, particularly in the way women are supposed to talk and behave. In the excerpt from “Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts,” Maxine Hong Kingston addresses these hardships as a Chinese girl who is searching for her voice in America. During the excerpt, Kingston portrays fitting into these “cultural expectations” as absolutely necessary, as shown in the last paragraph in Page 10. She says things like “If you don’t talk… then you can’t be a house wife.” Or “Don’t you ever want to be a cheerleader?” (Kingston 10) At the time of this scene, the narrator was so sure that the American way was the right way, that she bullies a younger student into changing. Alas the student never changes and the narrator falls sick for a year and a half because of her ill actions. However, plenty has changed since that time of the Korean War (1950’s.) Nowadays, these expectations of what is an American woman are changing. Compared to the 1950’s, women currently are holding much more power, and are viewed as a superior sex symbol.
For example honor killings, including female genital mutilation, is a traditional patriarchal custom where, male family members subject Muslim women to murder in case they lose their virginity before marriage either by rape, falling in love with the wrong men or the victim of incest they refuse to accept an arranged marriage. This behavior is considered socially acceptable and a dishonor to the family, especially among the underprivileged classes where they can achieve honor more than prosperity. This film encourages the idea that honor killings are linked to Islam, however, it is not mentioned in the Quran and it has occurred in other religions such as Judaism and Christianity as well as in Islam. Women are victimized through established religious restrictions that are neither condoned nor confined by the principles of Islam. Egypt and Jordan witness cases like this, even though they are not motivated by honor. A considerate number of NGOs and legislation succeeded in imposing sentences to people committing these crimes, these acts are still occurring in silence. (Husseini,
The first religion and its views on women that will be discussed in this essay is Islam. Islam is a religions founded in Saudi Arabia almost two thousand years ago, by the prophet Muhammad. In fact, Muhammad dedicated much attention towards women in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. However, even though much was dedicated to women in the Koran, it was not dedicated to them in the sense of equality. Women in Islamic culture were apparently much lower on the totem pole than men, "The men are made responsible for the women, since God endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners...If you experience opposition from the women, you shall first talk to them, then [you may use such negative incentives as] deserting them in bed, then you may beat them (129)." Excerpt...
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 omnipresence of the American and European culture in the countries of the Middle East is a universally recognized phenomenon. The culture, thoughts and status quo of the people have been and continually are being changed and challenged due the mass spread of American goods and ideas. The American national culture largely revolves around the wants, needs and goals of the individual. As the one of the greatest superpowers of the time, its influence on the global community towards the focus on the individual is nothing short of inevitable. The movies, clothing and new age mentality of America are sending all people regardless of age, upbringing and locale, into a grand scale social transition. The Arabs and Muslims beliefs, traditions and entire state of being are no longer as they were 20 or 30 years ago. The women of the novels, Nadia, Fatima, Umm Saad, Maha, Asya, and Su’ad, each living in various Arab countries with unique situations of their own, all are united on the common ground of American introduced idea and concepts of individualism through such venues as feminism, capitalism, sexism and consumerism which adversely affect their society.
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.
In our Women and Politics in the Middle East class this semester we watched three films that brought to surface social issues faced by women in the Middle East. Caramel, Divorce Iranian Style and Persepolis are films that speak of issues of taboo that are critical for women in the Middle East. The themes that connect all three films are social issues, female identity, and politics that are aimed against women’s rights. In all three films the protagonists are women who struggle with the government and society to get their rights in their own countries. Even though one film is a documentary and one film is a comedy/drama and the last one is a cartoon, all three of the films are similar in their themes and struggles. All three films show critical issues that women face in the Middle East on a daily bases.
The culture that I decided to consider was Mormonism. This culture is very rich and many Mormons live close to where I live. One thing I noticed when I was talking to my neighbor that many of their old customs have changed according throughout time. One major point in gender roles is that men and women must serve the church and respect its teachings. However, men usually are the ones that teach and help with the growth of their family and the families of others. Women maintain the house and tend to the nurturing and development of the children. Both genders must maintain strict rules and regulations and keep in the good with the church. Women also work outside the home only if it is required to maintain the home and many of these decisions are decided with the family through prayer.
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
Articulate what you have learned this semester about dispelling the myth of "Man the Hunter and Woman the Gatherer", which flourished under the patriarchal influence in archaeology of the early to mid twentieth century. Give a few examples of ways that women contributed in prehistoric societies or contribute in modern tribal societies which were largely overlooked by archaeologists in the past.
As an Arab American, a Muslim and a woman writer, Mohja Kahf challenges the stereotypes and misrepresentation of Arab and Muslim women. Her style is always marked by humor, sarcasm, anger and confrontation. “The Marvelous Women,” “The Woman Dear to Herself,” “Hijab Scene #7” and “Hijab Scene #5” are examples of Kahf’s anger of stereotypes about Muslim women and her attempts to fight in order to eradicate them, in addition to her encouragement to women who help her and fight for their rights.
explores not only the way in which patriarchal society, through its concepts of gender , its objectification of women in gender roles, and its institutionalization of marriage, constrains and oppresses women, but also the way in which it, ultimately, erases women and feminine desires. Because women are only secondary and other, they become the invisible counterparts to their husbands, with no desires, no voice, no identity. (Wohlpart 3).
Personal, organizational, and cultural values are the basis of an individual's personal and professional decision-making style. These values are the key ingredients that make up our core beliefs. Values are ideas that are actions which could be right or wrong, good or bad that are the basis of human action (Tosi 2000). Personal values might also be called morality, since they reflect general expectations of any person in any society, acting in any capacity. These are the principles we try to instill in our children, and expect of one another without needing to articulate the expectation or formalize the process in any way. Family is the first school for a child where the seeds of cultural values are sown (Jain para 6). Cultural values are the beliefs of a human group that one can identify. Cultural value is the newest terminology which is used in literature on international relationships and economics. Individuals acting in an organization take on an additional burden of ethical responsibility. For example, organizations have codes of ethics that prescribe required behavior within the context of a professional practice such as medicine, law, accounting, or engineering. These written codes provide rules of conduct and standards of behavior based on the principles of Professional Ethics (Colero para15).
Family is the basis of life and is a basis for what a person learns as they grow into adulthood. Family Values are what your family teaches you. Family is similar to school in the fact that your family teaches you about the world and how every human interacts with others. Gender Roles are the hierarchical basis of a family; the father is the bread winner, mother makes sure dinner is on the table at eight p.m., and the children are straight A students and incredibly popular. I believe that gender roles are not influenced by family values; I believe gender roles are nothing but prejudices under a different name.
Women's Values in Past, Present and Future. In the early 20’s, things like getting married at an early age. you were still at your prime, building a family, buying a house with a The “white picket fence” was important. Then in the 30’s, getting married and having a family was still the way to go.