Throughout the course of human history and during many different societies, women have been treated as subordinates to men. A recurring theme between civilizations is that men are the superior sex, and a woman’s main role in society was to bare offspring. Although Muslim societies are not the first societies to have a patriarchal hierarchy, they have some of the most prominent male-dominated societies that persist into modern times. The role of real women in a genuine Islamic society can be observed through Rafea Anad’s life in the documentary Solar Mamas; however, Disney’s Aladdin also provides another fictional yet sometimes accurate depiction of a women in a similar Islamic society but from a different socioeconomic background.
Muslims live …show more content…
Rafea Anad is a poor, uneducated mother who lives in extreme poverty. She lives in a dirt-floor tent in a village in rural Jordan that has no electricity or running water. The only source of heat that Rafea has to heat her tent comes from the wood of an old cupboard that does not heat the entire tent. Rafea and children wear dirty clothes and have no jewelry. Rafea Anad has never known anything but extreme poverty. There is nothing luxurious about her life. On the other hand, Princess Jasmine’s life is drastically different. She lives in a grand palace. Her clothing is made of beautiful, colorful lavish fabrics. She wears large jewels and has exotic pets. Jasmine has an entire staff of servants waiting to carry out her every order. Unlike Rafea, who has to work for everything in her life, Jasmine does not have to work for anything. Although Princess Jasmine and Rafea Anad come from two very different backgrounds, they both share a similar attitude to the male-ruled societies that they are living in and a desire for something more. Jasmine is trapped behind the palace walls, never able to see the outside world because her father forbids it. Rafea is also trapped, but she is trapped by not just by an overbearing man but also by a rural poverty-stricken village. Like Jasmine’s father, Rafea’s husband refuses to allow her to leave and because the men are in charge, these women are forced to
Muslims live …show more content…
Rafea Anad is a poor, uneducated mother who lives in extreme poverty. She lives in a dirt-floor tent in a village in rural Jordan that has no electricity or running water. The only source of heat that Rafea has to heat her tent comes from the wood of an old cupboard that does not heat the entire tent. Rafea and children wear dirty clothes and have no jewelry. Rafea Anad has never known anything but extreme poverty. There is nothing luxurious about her life. On the other hand, Princess Jasmine’s life is drastically different. She lives in a grand palace. Her clothing is made of beautiful, colorful lavish fabrics. She wears large jewels and has exotic pets. Jasmine has an entire staff of servants waiting to carry out her every order. Unlike Rafea, who has to work for everything in her life, Jasmine does not have to work for anything. Although Princess Jasmine and Rafea Anad come from two very different backgrounds, they both share a similar attitude to the male-ruled societies that they are living in and a desire for something more. Jasmine is trapped behind the palace walls, never able to see the outside world because her father forbids it. Rafea is also trapped, but she is trapped by not just by an overbearing man but also by a rural poverty-stricken village. Like Jasmine’s father, Rafea’s husband refuses to allow her to leave and because the men are in charge, these women are forced to