Fun Day At The Beach Analysis

For many years, women have had distinguished roles determined by their religion. These roles of women can often be seen in artwork. Shahad Alzaman’s Fun Day at the Beach and Francesco Hayez’s Penitent Mary Magdalene are two examples. In Alzaman’s Fun Day at the Beach, she depicts a Muslim woman and her husband. Alzaman saw the couple during her time in Bahrain. While the husband wears swim shorts, the wife is scene behind him, fully covered. Alzaman also notes that she painted the wife to be larger than the husband to show how “out of place” she feels. She does so to highlight the “double standard” Muslim women often find themselves facing. The painting reflects how many Muslim feel in their current society. In addition to this painting, …show more content…
Perhaps the most noticeable difference that can be seen in Muslim and Christian women is their dress. As seen in Alzaman’s painting, many Muslim women wear a veil. Samet Guven discusses the origins and significance of the veil. Guven explains that many civilizations in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia dating the origin of veiling back to before the founding of Islam and Christianity (89). This is contrary to the belief that many people have, which is that veiling originated from Islam. Another interesting point of discussion is the significance of veiling. Some believe that the act of wearing a veil symbolizes “…resistance, oppression, identity, colonialism, and patriarchy” (Guven 90.) This symbolism stems from the idea that by covering herself, a woman loses her identity and individualism. While these are valid points, there are Muslim women who choose to wear a veil for traditional reason or because they find it empowering. By veiling, some Muslim women feel they are fighting back against a society where women are often sexualized. Regardless of why a Muslim woman wears a veil, it is a distinct contrast to dress of Christian