Over the weeks I read the book, ‘Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women’ by, reporter, Geraldine Brooks. I read this book based on the interest in other similar books and my interest in stories and daily lives of women that live differently in middle eastern countries. Based on my interest in ‘Sold’ by Patricia McCormick. I took immediate interest in Brooks’ Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women’. Geraldine Brooks spent six years in the middle east as a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.…
Guests of the Sheik is an ethnography written from the perspective of a women trying to adapt to life in a small Iraqi village. Fernea writes not only about the changes she had to make in order to fit into the culture that surrounded her, but she exposes stereotypes about the women of El Nahra that aren’t true by comparing these women to western women in a culturally relativistic manner. One of the main points that Fernea addresses in Guests of the Sheik is gender roles in El Nahra, Iraq. Concerning the gender roles of the women in El Nahra, women derive their power, satisfaction, authority, and security through customs of dress, specifically gold, through lineage/children, particularly sons, and through work such as housework and how useful…
Amal, a Muslim teenager, begins to doubt her decision-making skills, after being socially oppressed for wearing the hijab. After being refused a part-time job for wearing the hijab, Amal says, “mom, maybe I shouldn’t have worn it… Maybe I was stupid… Where am I going to go now?” (320). Having decided to wear the hijab at the age of sixteen, Amal is experiencing a lot of discrimination and prejudice targeted towards her ethnicity, but more specifically, her hijab.…
Beyond Orientalism: Muslim Donusa and the "English Mastiffs" in Massinger's The Renegado 1. Introduction While Said has pointed out in Orientalism that “the relationship between Occident and Orient is a relation of power, of domination, [and] of varying degrees of complex hegemony” (15), we must recognize the complex, and multifaceted ways in which the East was represented in a multitude of genres of literary discourse. We should recognize as well that the English experienced insoluble friction between the ideal of subduing Islam on one hand, and, on the other, the opportunistic mercantile aim of conducting trade with the Turk at Constantinople (Hoenselaars, 12). If the historical, economic, and political relationship between the English and the Ottoman Empire is fluid, multi-layered, and complex, so is the representation of Muslim women in Massinger's The Renegado.…
“White feminism” is a term that has become a hot topic in recent years. In the article “Shit White Feminists Need To Stop Doing” by Anne Theriault describes white feminism as feminist women who are cisgender and white only fighting for issues that directly affect their lives, while ignoring issues that affect women of color, LGBT women, and disabled women. Theriault claims at the beginning of her article that she is a feminist herself, yet effectively insults and oppresses other women throughout her article. Anne Theriault wrote a biased article filled with opinions and no facts showing that white, feminist women are less than anyone else.…
In the unfamiliar atmosphere where women wore revealing clothing, and danced with men, Sheik Hamid says to his son, “You see, that’s the sort of woman you find in Lebanese night clubs. You can always tell a woman of that type by the kind of clothes she wears” (Fernea 1989:312). Sheik Hamid shows his concern and disrespect towards the women he see’s, that are not like his women who are fully covered. He has a point when regarding this situation to his son; most women of Western society portray themselves in a negative light by the lack of clothing they wear in resemblance to show off their “good aspects”. As we can see Sheik Hamid can relate more to women who have respect for themselves, woman who portray there knowledge over their bodies.…
Another article, “Beach style for Muslim women” written by Lucy Hood is a great example of how the news focuses just on what the Muslim women are wearing as though it is their only identity. In this article, Muslim women are portrayed as being unable to do much and what they…
Ali- Karamali talks about important issues in Islam which involve how women rights were discriminated against men and the different values of marriage, hijab, divorce, and religion practices. In this paper we will be focusing on the past history in Islamic, tradition, and women rights that Ali-Karamali puts a lot of effort into explaining. Also It was very interesting reading this book because I can get a sense of a different perspective of life compared to life here in the United States. It is very shocking to see how in Islam women did not have much say into making decisions for herself but instead males had a final say with the rights of women. What personally interested me the most is to learn about a different cultures values because many people are quick to judge a person without actually knowing where they actually come…
In “Blanket condemnations,” Erum Hasan (2010) claims the discussion involving the burqa ban is being incorrectly addressed, with activists from different realms focusing on actions that prohibit this attire rather than discussing the Muslim women’s rights. Using an anecdote, Hasan introduces the discomfort and repudiation that a woman wearing a burqa can cause in the Western society. Notwithstanding, she declares this vesture is demonized by the West, being considered a symbol of Islam and consequently an outrage to non-Muslim realms. Mentioning countries which adopted decrees against the burqa, Hasan illustrates the political actions that are being taken worldwide, with governments dictating how their citizens should wear; such actions are…
Canadian identity, when clarifying its development in women’s issues, it had changed positively during the 1930s to 1940s once Canadian women were legally allowed to join military services. Since the start of Canada in 1867 gender segregation was clear, women were not given the attention they deserved, they were often the underdogs in many situations. They were not given certain jobs due to the fact they were women. Plenty of women being given the stereotype of being unable to do the “mens jobs”.…
In Maysan Haydar’s text, “Veiled Intentions: Don’t Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering,” and “Veiled Threats?,” by Martha Nussbaum both argue that veiling is a lifestyle choice. In Haydar’s text, she argues--mainly through personal anecdote--that people should not be judged on physical appearances. She gives insight on how Muslim women are judged based on their veils, and refutes stereotypes of not only Muslim women but women in general. Haydar’s narrative--her experience growing up with Islam customs--appeals to people on a personal level so that her text appeals to young women. While Nussbaum argues that the veil should not be banned and governments should treat everyone of every religion with respect and allow people to practice their religions.…
The Conformity of Women During the Islamic Revolution Prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranian women possessed numerous freedoms. Although the country was of Muslim origin, it was quite westernized; women had suffrage, protection rights, education, and the ability to exceed in male dominated fields. Moreover, they had the right to express themselves freely by choosing how they represented their materialistic form. That was until the Islamic Regime decreed that women would no longer bare that right. In the emotion-invoking memoir “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, the prominent alteration of societal expectations is made visible through the eyes of Marji during the Islamic Revolution.…
The idea of women’s sexuality and the presence of female desire goes against the nearly universal idea of Muslim women being timid and shy. It is not often discussed and Parsipur’s inclusion of it is this novel reveals the truth of women in a culture that seems to ignore or dismiss women’s sexuality. Munis’s dismissal of the importance of virginity, compared with Fa’iza’s distraught, is directly referencing society’s obsession with women’s virginity and women’s bodies. Controlling their sexuality is another way to control…
In remembering his life as a child Omar too recalls the marital passage many young girls underwent. When Omar thinks of a Zanzibari woman he imagines one who is “feeble”, thus connotative of being weak in strength, powerless and fragile against the forces of custom and religion which dictate their position in society. Women in Muslim society are therefore portrayed as devoiced and powerless, disappearing into non-existence “until they reappeared years later as brides and mothers” (146). R.W Connell (1987) considers power as a social construct in which individual deviations from the norm “are deeply embedded in power inequalities and ideologies of male supremacy” (Connell, 107). Thus, as a consequence of this severe gender inequality experienced in such communities, women like key female character Asha, Latif’s mother, often seek alternative modes empowerment, adopting what Connell (1987) terms as ‘emphasised…
However, this is a vicious example of Orientalism. Guests of the Sheik displayed that the Muslim women accounted for are complex, empowered human beings in their own right. They have their own issues, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and passions. In a video we watched in class, many Muslim women were even shown owning their own businesses and being a major financial contributor to their family, which is a narrative that western culture rarely considers because it contradicts the one-dimensional Orientalist ideology. However, I say the book deconstructs Orientalism to an extent, because there are some events within the book that can be seen as reinforcements to the ideology.…