This book elaborately discusses numerous inaccurate depictions of Muslim society. However, the central stereotype, which is being challenged throughout the text, relates to Islamic women and how they are seen as limited by their religious beliefs. It is important that Wilson…
Gender equality has long been an issue all over the world. Though the issue is not that nasty in current society, problems still exist. Woman status rises a lot to a much higher-level compared to before. Feminism develops and spreads out at a rapid rate and more and more women now a day express their thoughts of being independent. Christina Larsen and Leila Ahmed both talk about the changing of women status in modern society, but in two different countries. In her essay “The Startling Plight of China’s Leftover Ladies”, Larsen points out that Chinese women now have a higher social status than compare to the past. Ahmed, in her essay “Reinventing the Veil”, also mentions that Muslin women now advocate their independent status and have much more…
Malala Yousafzai, an advocate for education for women in underdeveloped countries, once said, “The extremists are afraid of books and pens, the power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women.” (Claire). In the past, women had always been seen as the “weaker class”. A notion was present that women did not have the intellectual ability to learn and process information. Overtime, society has begun to generally accept that women are able to perform the same tasks as men, but this idea of acceptance did not occur overnight. It took many years, and massive feminist movements to unite society and display the great value of women. During the time period of various minority rights movements in the 1800’s, in “Enlightened Motherhood”, Frances…
Issues with gender, racial, sexual, religious equality are increasingly spoken about in today’s culture. As these issues become more and more publicized, it seems steps towards equality are being taken, and the concerns of marginalized communities and people groups are not only voiced more, but also seen as more important. Still, a closer look also reveals that there is a long way to go before equality will become a reality. However, gender ideologies are so ingrained and naturalized into culture and language that it is difficult to solve these issues with encountering obstacles.…
Bibliography: Crescentlife.com, last revised 10 September 2006, Uzma Mazhar, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, viewed 21 November 2006, http://www.crescentlife.com/thisthat/feminist%20muslims/aisha_bint_abu_bakr.htm…
America the Beautiful: What We’re Fighting For by Dinesh D’Souza focuses on the tension between America and the Islamic countries. Islamic countries have a very set way of life while in America everyone has their own choice. There is no set of plan. This idea threatens the Islamic ideals. There are many advantages that America has over other countries. D’Souza called American society, “the greatest, freest, and most decent society in existence,” and goes as far as to say that Islamic societies produce, “wretched, servile, fatalistic and intolerant human beings.” I really like the way the author compares the Islamic culture and the American culture. The Islamic fundamentalist wants to govern their people by means of violence and oppression in the name of Allah; whereas, the American culture, gives the people the freedom to choose their own destiny. In the American culture, the government and religion are kept separate to avoid abuse of power; while the Islam wants to be the government and the religion as well. Even though the American culture is new compared to the Islam, it has evolved a lot faster for the benefit of the people. I try not to judge a culture, which I do not really understand, but a feeling of indignation overruns me when I read or see how women are treated in some of those Islamic countries. Women have no rights and are like properties of their husbands In addition, the author in this article defines freedom as the liberty to do good or evil. However, by this definition, freedom implies the liberty of doing good or bad things, so does this mean that there are bad people in our culture? Well, the answer is yes, but the good news is that even bad people are protected in our culture; everyone has rights in America. America is not perfect; however, it is the best the world has to offer. It is the job of our generation to make America a better place for generations to come. We…
During this time period many women were determined to be submissive to their husbands in marriage—their whole lives were depended on their husbands. Women were even seen as economically inferior to their husbands as the Legal Code of the Qing dynasty from China legislates. It mandates that all of a woman’s dowry should belong to her husband’s family, suggesting that in this Chinese society a women’s entire life, all the way down to her personal belongings are wrapped up in her husband. (5) Usman dan Fodio, a member of the Muslim Sufi brotherhood whose conservative religious thoughts indicate women’s inferiority to men, locates the responsibility of teaching women the truth of God in men; in doing so, he infers that women lack the intellectual ability to understand their own religion. (7) Moving forward in history, Simone de Beauvoir, the leader of New Feminist movement during the 20th century offers a vivid portrait of women having no authority of their own lives as “man is her whole existence”. She uses her language to evoke sadness and sympathy from pointing out the unjust reality to her readers. (9) The absolute superiority that males demonstrate through marriage give them control of women in all aspects of life therefore viewing them as the “weaker sex”. This cultural phenomenon has been continued through present day’s families as…
Feminism is a fight for equality and should help everyone realize that equality needs to be shared on a global spectrum. The push for feminism has been widely spread across North America but it needs to be brought into other countries as well. Gay says, “What about other women of color? For Hispanic and Latina women, Indian women, Middle Eastern women, Asian women, their absence in popular culture is even more pronounced, their need for relief just as palpable and desperate” (Gay 268). Feminism is more than just local and the women struggling across the world need to be recognized too. Aside from women solely, there needs to be support for those of every gender specification, sexual orientation, age, race, and so on. Gay reminds the readers to never bystand and take a stand against wrongful discrimination, “As individuals, we may not be able to do much, but when we’re silent when someone uses the word ‘gay’ as an insult, we are falling short. When we don’t vote to support equal marriage rights for all, we are falling short” (Gay 178). Even if the discrimination is not directly said to a gay person, using the term “gay” in a derogatory way is wrong and hurtful. She encourages her readers to divert that person, and others from using the wrongful term in the wrong context. Finally, she says that help is needed everywhere, “So many of us are reaching out, hoping someone out there will grab our hands and remind us we are not as…
Categorizing or erasing an individual’s identity in today’s society based off of gender, religion, race, as well as sexuality is a common occurrence. It is difficult to grasp the concept of a society that is completely devoid of robbing an individual’s humanity or even falling victim to the process of stereotyping. Although, change is a must, will people follow through to obliterate the everyday stereotypes or fall blind to the assumptions that lurk through our society? Woman everyday must leap through the rings of insularity that shape our society’s expectations of how a woman “should be.” Therefore, women all have multiple identities that are shaped through either systems of power or oppression…
Throughout history, women have been victims of oppression no matter what religion or background they come from. They have learned from a young age, that their appearance is important to fundamentally be happy in their life. The topic of oppression in woman leads to controversial discussion not only to scholars but women of all parts of the world. How a woman presents herself through appearance and clothing targets her in a society obsessed with each other’s business. In today’s society, whether we can help it or not, men are treated differently than women. There seems to be different “rules” associated with the acceptable ways they should dress as opposed to the strict rules that apply to women. Women who are westernized are exposed to different forms of oppression than those from the east. Not that westernized women don’t face hardship, but they face it in a different light. Islamic women are the focus here, women who follow their religion by wearing the Hijab and women who feel it’s not necessary to cover one self to be a good Muslim. There is no one image of an Arabic woman but whether or not there is a scarf on her head, Islamic woman feel the same pressure as women of every culture. Unfortunately in many places, these women don’t have a say or have a chance to rebel against these pressures and laws as they could be punished. These pressures come from their religion and their society; from their peers and their culture.…
Reading 2 “Chappals and Gym Shorts: An Indian Muslim Women In the Land of Oz,” Almas Sayeed…
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In today’s world, when you look around, you see many different types of people. We live in a world of very diverse sets of people. From Adam and Eve, to the ancient Mayans, to the 1900’s, up until now cultural practices have always formed boundary between men and women, from the way they were raised and taught, even which occupation to choose from. Feminine roles have traditionally been associated with apathy, nurturing, estrogen and subordination. Before the child is born, girls are subjected to gender stereotypes; they are given clothing, décor, an accessories that are pink, which is the color that not only society but our culture assigned to the female gender. Even at a young age, girls are given dolls and the gender roles were set. Women have always been viewed as the ones who take care of the children, tend to the cooking and the cleaning and anything else that has to do with the house or the children upbringing. Ogtrop states “In 1976, when I was twelve, fully two-thirds of all American households that consisted of married couples with children had one parent staying home full-time, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. My mother was one of those…
The only thing worse for a woman than living an oppressed life is realizing that she has inadvertently conditioned her own daughter to follow in her footsteps. Mothers have been feeding their daughters the same fairytale for decades. They all speak of how difficult their lives have been, and how they want their child to live a better life than they did. They tell their daughters that if they marry a man with money, or one that lives in a place that’s “better for women,” things will be so much better, but there is no such place. A people can’t be oppressed without the promise of a better tomorrow. Women in America, as well as in other parts of the world have all been generationally brainwashed to promote their own mistreatment, and further empower…
In the article “My Body is My Own Business” by Naheed Mustafa we are introduced to the stereotypes and prejudices that Muslim people in our country are subject to. Mustafa’s everyday life consists of stereotypes because of her decision to wear the hijab. Mustafa goes on to talk about what covering up her body means to herself and her reasons for doing so. There are many problems in society today with teen girls thinking that they will earn respect form people by wearing certain clothing, and that their worth is proportional to their attractiveness. The definition of beauty is ever-changing and that true equality will come when woman no longer have to use their bodies to get attention.…