Chapter Two: The Absent Meanings in Chaotic Iraqi Women's life in Absent: War marks everyday Iraqi life for the past thirty years. Internal wars and then wars with the neighboring countries, especially Iran after its 1979 Islamic revolution, have marked the rhythm of existence in the world’s oldest civilization. The interference of the hegemonic United States, that controls hegemonic ideology and discourse of power, on Saddam Hussein’s behalf in the Iran-Iraq War of 1980–88 empowered the new president until the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 that turned the former supporters into enemies. In March 2003 the United States and its allies invaded and occupied Iraq. These events that the Iraqis' witnessed are an excellent application of psychological…
The novel tells us, of the endurance that women must possess in order to survive, but also the love and sacrificial relationship that Laila and Mariam develop together. The novel depicts the destruction of Afghanistan in terms of culture and…
The evolution of the rights of woman in Australia owes much to successive waves of feminism, or the woman’s movement. The first of these took place in the late 19th century and was concerned largely with gaining the right to vote and to stand for election into parliament. The second wave of feminism took place in the 1960s and 1970s and focused on gaining equality with men in other areas, such as work, the law and general social standing. These protests for the changing rights and freedoms of woman targeted many different aspects of life and presented a broader challenge to traditional ideas of woman’s rights. This therefore led to more fundamental changes in the daily lives of mainstream Australian woman.…
Revolutionary by Alex Meyers is a historical fiction story about a brave and powerful woman named Deborah Sampson. Throughout history women have been pushed aside by men who believe women are enable of fighting in wars. Even though this is the case women throughout history have proved to men that they are stronger and more able than most to do the job men are supposed to do. In the revolutionary war, there are maybe a dozen known women including Deborah Sampson who are given glory to their part in the war. Even though there are only about a dozen women that are recognized for what they did, there were probably way more who had a part in America’s victory. This gender construction women have been faced with is something that has been hard for women to overcome even in society today. In Revolutionary, Alex Meyers depicts how women had to hide their identity just to have part in a war that determined their future. He shows throughout his book the gender construction that women faced back then, and it is still a problem in society today.…
seen three decades of Anti-Soviet Jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny. They have lived through unimaginable horrors and now, their incredible stories of hope and oppression are being told. In A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra, the women are oppressed by their husbands and society. Mariam is passive and compliant while Zunaira is defiant and angry, yet both suffer the same pain and isolation. Initially, their suffering increases because their anger at being oppressed and tortured is deflected towards the wrong people, people who actually care for them. Through their difficult journeys, their eyes are opened up to the power and beauty of a loving relationship. The loss or gain of such a relationship is the defining factor of whether or not each character finds peace and self-worth. The women in both novels transition from a state of being hopeful to complete desolation due to the oppression in their lives. Initially, Mariam from A Thousand Splendid Suns expresses much hope about attaining a bright future. She wants to pursue an education as she says, "I mean a real school…like in a classroom, like my father's other kids" (Hosseini, 17). Mariam firmly believes that she can shed her shameful status of a bastard's child, and as she gets older, she takes strides to make this vision into a reality. Moreover, Mariam is constantly inundated with her mother's pessimistic ideals about life, but she believes that "You're [Mother] are afraid that I might find the happiness you never had. And you don't want me to be happy. You don't want a good life for me" (Hosseini, 28). As a result, at first, Mariam is a strong figure with a lively spirit who is able to combat much negativity in her life and continue to dream and hope of a better future. Perhaps, her…
Post World War 2, there have been more positive and permanent changes in women’s political roles than most would believe possible at the time. Canadian women’s roles have evolved quite rapidly after the war in 1939 by becoming an integral part in society, regarding jobs and activities that most people back in the day would consider them to be for men only. Although in the 1940’s women still did not have as many rights and freedoms as women now have in modern day societies, there was still a semblance of change that was going on with the rights, roles and responsibilities concerning women. Women’s rights were still being developed at the time and a few of the most major accomplishments were giving women the right to vote, the right to run for…
Although the story of two women under oppression in Afghanistan during the Taliban’s rule may seem distant and irrelevant, Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (418 pages) is a heart-wrenching historical novel that delves into the intertwined lives of Mariam and Laila, two women married to the same abusive husband, and the struggles they face. The novel takes place in Afghanistan, beginning in the 1960s with Mariam’s childhood and ending in the early 2000s with Laila and Tariq’s reunion. Poverty, separation of social classes, and the expectation that a child born out of wedlock will be shunned are factors that create conflict between Mariam, Nana, and Jalil. Furthermore, Rasheed, the abusive husband of Mariam and Laila, does not believe…
In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini portrays Mariam as a meek young girl in her culture that is naive to the ways of the reality of the world. However her mother tries to already enforce her to be aware of the gender roles and the suppression of women. In the book her mother says,“Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman.” (Pg 7) At first Mariam only agrees with her mother to make her mother happy. The author at the beginning of the…
Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another culture by the standards of ones own culture (pg. 54). Ethnocentrism is also the belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture. There are different levels of ethnocentrism such as: equality, sensitivity, indifference, avoidance and disparagement. Ethnocentrism leads to conflict, cultural shock, stereotyping, discrimination, and prejudice that lead negative attitude towards a person because of a group they are affiliated with.…
Although women have the same constitutional rights as men, women still continue to be degraded and treated as inferior by a big percentage of the population. Women all over the world are faced with injustice acts every day of their lives due to this discrimination. This is not only shown in America, but in other counties as well. The countries Afghanistan and Nepal provide many statistics showing that even women on the other side of the world are not treated equally in their country. The situation is a bit more serious than first world countries due to the fact that they are unable to stand up for themselves because they could be punished for going against the normal moral. These women are struggling in their own country…
Afghanistan is a country of approximately 23 million which, after three years of severe drought, 23 years of war and devastation and five years under the Taliban authorities, has been left as one of the poorest countries in the world”…
Before the Taliban, a militant group that governed according to a strict sharia law, ruled Afghanistan in 1996, women were gaining rights and access to things they had never before hoped or imagined for. Once the Taliban came to power, all of the progress that they had made in the years past spiraled backwards and women had no rights throughout the entire country. The Taliban stood by a strict form of the Sharia, or Islamic, law. The Taliban interpreted this form of government in a way that provided no rights for women. After the Taliban gained control of the capital, Kabul, in 1996, women throughout all areas of the country had restrictions on what they could and could not do. Women and girls were not allowed to be educated or employed; they had to wear burkahs, full-body coverings that left only a small mesh-covered opening for the eyes, and they were not allowed to leave their homes without the accompaniment of a close male relative, among many more rules and restrictions. After the United States invasion of Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban in 2001, women in Kabul gained back a few rights, such as education and employment, but elsewhere in other cities and in the countryside, life is not so good. Because warlords now rule the land of the country outside of the capital, conditions today are scarily similar for women as to what they were when the Taliban ruled the country, and something needs to be done for the rights of women all over Afghanistan. This is easier said than done, however. It is an extremely hard problem to grasp, let alone solve. In 2010, the United States began attempting to implement a ten-year action plan to improve conditions for women in Afghanistan. This includes reforms that will improve women and girls’ access to education, work, healthcare, government and many more benefits. This will take a long time to come into action, however. Lack of women’s rights in Afghanistan is such a…
The author portrays the experiences of the two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, who live in a society where women are mistreated. Mariam’s character is described as a quiet and thoughtful girl who questions the society and dreams of a luxurious life. She experiences physical and mental abuse from almost every person in her life and is brought up in an isolated environment by a bitter mother who puts her down. For instance, in the beginning of the novel Nana, Mariam’s mother, says: “You are a clumsy little harami” (Hosseini, 4). This very word “harami” helps the reader to analyze the struggles of an illegitimate child. Nana also prepares Mariam to expect nothing from men: “Like a compass needle that always point north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always .... Mariam” (Hosseini, 7). This is also used to foreshadow Mariam’s husband, Rasheed, a cruel, abusive and hot tempered man, who physically and verbally abuses Mariam after marriage.…
Most of Afghanistan is overwhelmed in poverty. Many people live in dirt floored huts and have very limited resources. Only the rich in this country have all of the westernized luxuries available to them such as cars, well built homes, servants, etc. Mariam has suffered from a life of poverty at the beginning of the story.…
There have been many disputes over whether or not Afghan women have been liberated from oppression. After the Taliban regime fell, President Karzai signed the Declaration of Essential Rights of Afghan Women. This stated that women must receive equal protection under the law. This brought about signs of hope and lessened the oppression of women however the Taliban are resurgent and people do not feel safe. Still, in some villages there is violence against women, arranged marriages and high maternal mortality rates. Sima Wali gives her input on why she believes Afghan women have been liberated and Noy Thrupkaew opposes her argument with why he feels they have not.…