The inconsistency’s found in the article size 6: The Western Women’s Harem, written by Marnissi eave one to question the arguments validity. She starts by sharing her shopping trip to purchase a skirt in New York City. Then she blames Western men for requiring women to be young and a size six to be considered attractive. She also refers to the Chinese foot binding era that was abolished in 1912 equal to…
Failure to conform to such laws results in consequences which habitually comprise corporal abuse. Regardless of these corollaries, Mariam and Laila still stand behind their beliefs. Since women were discriminated against in Afghanistan and not given many rights, Mariam and Laila face many restrictions and confines within their society. “You will not laugh in public. If you do, you will be beaten.” (Pg.278) Women are not permitted to articulate their emotions in public, showing the chastisement and absurd nature of the government. Although the government implements rigorous laws, Laila contravenes them despite consequences exhibiting strength and determination. “And so Laila’s life suddenly revolved around ways to see Aziza. If she was lucky she was given a tongue lashing, a single kick in the rear, or a shove in the back. Other times, she was met with assortments or wooden clubs, fresh tree branches, short whips, slaps, or open fists.” (Ch.42) Laila goes on journeys to see Aziza and gets beaten by means of the stringent laws implemented by the government. Nevertheless, she is indomitable to see her daughter by any means necessary. This shows how she epitomizes assiduousness and…
Despite Rasheed's devastating loss of his wife and son, his abusive and oppressive nature was inexcusable. Rasheed thought instead of letting Laila and Mariam be friends, he decides to pit them against each other and make them compete for him by being better wives. This understandably creates animosity, but the women get over their indifferences "they were not enemies any longer" (Hosseini 151) through their mutual dislike of their monstrously abusive husband. Rasheed treated Mariam and Laila like his property. Rasheed's entitlement led him to believe it was okay to beat women, but eventually Rasheed's "continual condescension and violence, his faultfinding and meanness" (Hosseini 210) helped Mariam to finally take charge of her life by killing him.…
Lewd. Repugnant. Obscene. Those words are commonly associated with human sexuality, especially in modern society. Any utterance of copulation, genitals, or even sexual health, can be seen as crude or perverted. Most, if not all, parents have to face intense awkwardness when explaining the concept of reproduction to their children; the media often has to euphemize topics of sexuality in order to keep broadcasts either “professional-looking” or “family-friendly. For many centuries, human sexuality has been a topic of disapproval and has been a topic of very little discussion. This attitude towards sexuality may seem normal to those who reside in modern society, but for an inhabitant during the era of “The Epic Of Gilgamesh”, our view on sexuality…
“Women are to blame more than men,” says Al Hashemi. She believes that women should be more responsible unless they are assaulted out of nowhere. She also believes that men have more sexual needs so when a guy approaches a girl she can hold back. Ghannam says” Some women put themselves out there willingly but they should know better”.…
Sexism is covered often and thoroughly during the text, ‘Deadly Unna’. A particular example of this is Blacky’s Mum, who is a tactical genius at football, but is underestimated, because there is…
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…
Human beings have documented the differences in gender roles as far back in history as is currently known. It is very difficult to compare Greek and Roman ideals with those of modern day since the cultures are so socially dissimilar. I will present both the common and uncommon ways in which each culture defined the roles of each gender.…
In the Islamic culture, women are seen as people that don’t have many rights, especially in the Islamic culture. Additionally, women that aren’t obedient or pure are seen as an infidel, not innocent, and are shunned by their family members. Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote her book Infidel as a way to tell her story. Ayaan was born in Somalia and there she had gone through favoritism; Ayaan’s grandmother had forced her and her sibling to face genital mutilation. Ayaan moved around her due to either the violence or to the convenience of her father.…
Based on evidence in The Instructions of Ptah-hotep and The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, information can be inferred from a number of different aspects involving the way of life in Pharonic Egypt. These texts offer an insight into the world in which these ancient Egyptians lived. Through a complex and diverse system of government, these people were able to maintain a stable and successful civilization for many years. They had profound ideals of behavior that, when applied to their way of life, proved to be very influential. They adopted their beliefs and traditions that were passed down from generation to generation. They were also part of a complex hierarchal system of government that allowed…
The protagonist, Zana herself, went from her comfortable, lavish, lifestyle in England to Yemen, a 3rd world country that she knew little to nothing about. Muhsen uses the literary element of characterization to depict how the values and customs of her in laws differed from her own. Upon arriving to Yemen, Zana was rushed into marrying a boy she barely knew, and was forced to adapt the behavior of a typical Islamic woman. As an Islamic woman, she had to be covered from head to toe and was expected to respect any and every male she encountered. She was told women were meant to be seen, not heard. Zana was raised to be an opinioned young lady; she is portrayed as stubborn and independent. This made it hard for her to accustom to her life in Yemen. They expected their women to be obedient and respectful, which Zana was not. She was strong willed, and held her ground constantly. Her father in law in Yemen was characterized as a narrow minded, strict and hot headed man who demanded respect from everyone he came across. He emotionally and physically abused Zana in order to shape her into the type of woman he wanted her to become. In his culture, females that acted the way Zana acted were a disgrace. He didn’t understand how a female could act as defiant as she would especially with the beatings she would receive. Zana wasn’t completely alone in the situation, her younger sister Nadia, was also brought to Yemen to marry. However, Nadia treated the situation a little differently than Zana. Nadia faced beatings, rape, and even a pregnancy. Through it all, she maintained a passive attitude. Nadia wasn’t as strong as her sister. Although she wasn’t accustomed to living the lifestyle they wanted her to, she was submissive to their needs and never fought back. Nadia and Zana were faced with the same situation, but they each reacted a different way depending on them…
The belief, common among non-Arab Americans, that Arabic families are oppressive and dominated by violent fathers who mistreat their wives and children, has been documented in numerous sources (e.g. Suleiman, 1988, Al-Mughni, 1993). This is probably not unexpected given the struggle to fit traditional Islam with expanding women’s rights throughout the Muslim world (Al-Mughni, 1993). Despite theological interpretations of the Qu’ran that argue for equality between the sexes (e.g. Engineer, 2004) the issue of sexual equality remains contentious. Accounts of honor killings and other acts of violent oppression against women (Goodwin, 2002) in Muslim countries fuel the image of Muslim and Arabic men as hostile and violent toward women (although other women assist in many of these incidents).…
The title of this article alone gives us an idea of the extremity of the situation Mernissi is facing. The fact that she is comparing our society’s expectations of women’s bodies to an environment such as a harem is enough evidence in itself that she believes these expectations are crude and uncivil. Going deeper into Mernissi’s article, she states “being frozen into the passive position of an object whose very existence depends on the eyes of its beholder turns the educated modern Western women into a harem slave”. Mernissi puts the blame not only on the men in our society, but on the women being affected by it as well. People in our society are so shocked by the ways of the Middle East, but women here are demeaning themselves by trying to be something they’re not to aesthetically please others, and sacrificing their own happiness to lose weight or dress a certain way.…
The life of the Muslin women not always has been a life of oppression. If we look back in history in the life of women in the pre-modern Islamic world, their life was very different than the life of a woman in the Islamic society today. For example, the life of the woman in the Ottoman Period was a life of few limitation. In the article by Suraiya Farooqhi, ‘Subjects of the Sultan: Culture and Daily Life in the Ottoman Period”1 it showed a different way of life of the women in the Islamic society. The life of the women in the Islamic society has not always been limited to a life without rights. In Ottoman Period, women had more freedom than now. According to court paper, letter and diary of the women in the Ottoman Period sometime did not marry, they were allowed to bring witness to court, ask for divorce, work and in some cases represent the family even though the husband was alive. They also have an active social life. The article mentions that the town ladies meet in the baths and talk about their daily life. They were the ladies of society who gave each other visit at their home.…
Sharifa is a successful prostitute, and also could be called a pimp. Firdaus feels a strange sense of serenity meeting Sharifa: “I felt myself lying on its bed at one moment, swallowed deep down inside, and a moment later carried gently upwards, floating higher and higher back to the surface,” (52). This feeling was felt nowhere else in the novel, but only upon meeting a female that was not subservient from the beginning. Firdaus becomes a “young novice in Sharifa’s hands” (54). This is important to Firdaus’ development as a character, as Sharifa seems untouchable, and Firdaus has never met a female of this stature: “Nobody can touch me without paying a very high price” (55). However, this does not last long. With one comment made by Fawzy, a male client, Sharifa’s dominance and trust is gone: “Sharifa’s fooling you, and making money out of you, while all you get out of it is pain” (58). Following this, Fawzy and Sharifa have a confrontation that ultimately results in her beating and rape. Sharifa attempted to hold her own in this situation, stating, “If you hit me Fawzy, I will hit back” (59). However, it is shown again that the strength of the male in question will always come out over the female’s, no matter how much they…