Caramel presents the viewer with the day to day life of a group of single women living in Beirut, Lebanon. Marriage holds an extremely exulted place in Middle Eastern culture and this creates social pressure that each women must negotiate. Each women in the salon feels a different pressure in regards to finding a husband and through the different pressure the viewer can identify what society expects of women. This essay will define Lebanese expectation for marriage and how society’s expectations negatively influences the women’s lives in the film.
Within Lebanese culture, one of the most important thing that happens to a woman is she get married. She leaves her family and moves in with her husband. It symbolizes a girl, becoming a woman. …show more content…
The film gives the appearance that many of women think badly of themselves for not having a husband and think of themselves as failures. The older women who had a crush on the well-dressed gentlemen, is totally surprised by his interest in her. She sees herself as unwanted and its shows by here surprise to be asked to dinner. It is especially clear when he misses their date (Caramel). The woman looks extremely upset, like she missed her last chance to get a husband. She may no longer be living at her parents’ house, but it appears that within Lebanon’s culture women value themselves on whether they have a husband or not. It is also important to have a husband in Lebanon’s culture because society limits what single women can do by …show more content…
The first example is the different limitations put on Layale. She lives at home with her parents because she has not gotten married. Based on the actress’s age, she must be in her early thirties and she leads a relatively normal adult life. She works, has relationships and can take care of herself, but she must still sleep in the same room as her brother. Layale is a fully functioning adult and member of society, but her life is restricted because the appearance of some of her action may make her undesirable. The importance of a women’s perception is extremely clear during a conversation between all the women. When the cheating husband does not show up to the run down hotel, she says her parents ask her where she goes every night and that she is ashamed to look into their eyes (Caramel). She feels shame because she is unmarried and she is acting impurely. Her parents have the expectation that she will stay pure if she is not married, but she is out having an affair with a married man. Another example is, Layale’s inability to check into a hotel for two, without identification proving she is married. Unless it is a shady hotel, society does not want unmarried men and women to spend time alone. It is designed to keep women from losing their pureness but it really only puts the safety of Layale at risk. She is still able to carry out her impure intentions, just in a more dangerous place. Nisrine
Within Lebanese culture, one of the most important thing that happens to a woman is she get married. She leaves her family and moves in with her husband. It symbolizes a girl, becoming a woman. …show more content…
The film gives the appearance that many of women think badly of themselves for not having a husband and think of themselves as failures. The older women who had a crush on the well-dressed gentlemen, is totally surprised by his interest in her. She sees herself as unwanted and its shows by here surprise to be asked to dinner. It is especially clear when he misses their date (Caramel). The woman looks extremely upset, like she missed her last chance to get a husband. She may no longer be living at her parents’ house, but it appears that within Lebanon’s culture women value themselves on whether they have a husband or not. It is also important to have a husband in Lebanon’s culture because society limits what single women can do by …show more content…
The first example is the different limitations put on Layale. She lives at home with her parents because she has not gotten married. Based on the actress’s age, she must be in her early thirties and she leads a relatively normal adult life. She works, has relationships and can take care of herself, but she must still sleep in the same room as her brother. Layale is a fully functioning adult and member of society, but her life is restricted because the appearance of some of her action may make her undesirable. The importance of a women’s perception is extremely clear during a conversation between all the women. When the cheating husband does not show up to the run down hotel, she says her parents ask her where she goes every night and that she is ashamed to look into their eyes (Caramel). She feels shame because she is unmarried and she is acting impurely. Her parents have the expectation that she will stay pure if she is not married, but she is out having an affair with a married man. Another example is, Layale’s inability to check into a hotel for two, without identification proving she is married. Unless it is a shady hotel, society does not want unmarried men and women to spend time alone. It is designed to keep women from losing their pureness but it really only puts the safety of Layale at risk. She is still able to carry out her impure intentions, just in a more dangerous place. Nisrine