In countries like America, the freedoms bestowed upon all citizens, and especially those accorded to women, are often overlooked, because they are inherent to our culture. As members of a Western society, we take privileges for granted, and ergo view the Third-World from a multiculturalist perspective by seeing their customs as agency inhibiting. In turn, this engenders the idea that Third-World nations, are all one, “homogeneous foreign culture.” In Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival, Saba Mahmood highlights how religious ethics in a political sphere pertain to female freedom, or lack thereof. Mahmood’s writing is a call to action, exhibiting how from a Western lens, Muslim …show more content…
The Women’s Mosque Movement is an example of the first time in Egyptian history that women gathered to confer about “Islamic pedagogy” in response to how their religion had been “increasingly marginalized under…secular governance.” This coalescence reveals a sense of empowerment, for it demonstrates Muslim women in Egypt “have entered new social domains and acquired new public roles from which they were previously excluded” (Mahmood 203-4). The newfound freedom derived from involvement in a formerly male-dominated activity, depicts a binary focus of docility, and subordination to illustrate how Muslim women can garner agency. Even though these terms are not synonymous with freedom in a Western context, they are not disadvantageous with regard to women as they respectively imply the “malleability required…to be instructed in…skill or knowledge,” and seeking to “cultivate virtues…associated with feminine passivity and submissiveness” (Mahmood 205). These definitions aid the necessity behind Mahmood desiring moving past the confines of the “teleology of emancipation,” or the postulation of freedom that we, as Westerners possess, interferes with the liberation of Islamic women. In Mahmood’s opinion, before jumping to conclusions about a culture or societal progression like the Women’s Mosque Movement, we must attempt to …show more content…
According to Oldenburg, in India, pressurized kerosene stoves are used along with a match to kill women, as “it is easy to pass off…as an accident because these stoves are prone to explode.” To Westerners, this is shocking because through our cultural lens, we aggrandize these accounts, disregarding how, “Burning a woman to death in the Indian context is no more “exotic” than shooting her to death in the U.S. context” (Narayan 102). It is stories like these that perpetuate “border-crossings,” or issues that emerge from the spanning of multinational bounds, and are subsequently misconstrued, or unable to be deciphered in the new contexts and cultural realms they find themselves in. The discernable significance here, is the failure of Western societies to glean the importance behind dowry-murders. The byproducts of “border-crossings” contribute to this, because they work to cloud the lens used by American citizens to visualize the customs of Third-World nations. Consequently, women living in India are not provided with same agency as women in the United States, as the aggrandizement of violence—namely dowry-murder—begets a situation where they are seen as “victims.” This Western “victimization” collocates all Third-World women, in that it heeds no attention to their specific stories, but rather only the horrific tales
Both el Saadawi and Al-Shaykh both show how perception and expression are both affected within the confines of politics, social opportunities, and male privilege depicted in their stories. Whether the reader is a follower of the feminist movement or not, it is very clear and easy to see that these women are not being treated with the respect that any human being deserves. The misogynistic stranglehold on society, especially in this part of the world, is excessive and avoidable in today’s world but it is very likely that the traditional, conservative ways of the past will continue to control and inhibit women from being able to be fully treated as equals for many years to come, perhaps even after this generation has
It is difficult to realize the harsh standards and obligations imposed upon women of different cultures. It is especially disappointing to note that women whom may seek to relieve themselves of such discriminatory practices, face little to no government support in terms of fighting inequality. Such as distinguished in text The War Against Feminism, women of Algeria must fight against patriarchal and incredibly sexist political movements, such as the “Islamic Salvation Front,” which although was banned, had won an election and the promotion of their platform’s ideas despite their notions consisting of extreme patriarchal views and their actual assassinations of individuals not compliant with their beliefs. I also strongly agreed with the United Nations decision to aid individuals from fear of the Taliban, in their stating of refusing to continue aid to Afghanistan if intense cruel practices were to continue. The interference of other government agencies in helping to promote the end of cruelty, such as was occurring by the Taliban, act as great movement of defiance against
She makes the case that Western feminists have radically misinterpreted the veil. For many Muslim women, the veil acts as a divide between the public and private. The veil may actually liberate women from “the intrusive, commodifying, basely sexualizing Western gaze”. The veil frees women from the oppressive hyper-sexualization of found in Western culture. Reducing the veil to a symbol of oppression disregards the possibility of female agency outside a Western feminist paradigm. The veil has the potential to liberate women in the public space. Projecting our Western notions of sexuality and gender roles denies the possibility of different forms of sexual
The Islamic women of Afghanistan are denied many of the same liberties that Americans take for granted everyday. Although the religion that they have faith in, according to Janelle Brown’s “Terror’s First Victims”, “guarantee[s] women status in society as individuals and religious d...
The country of Pakistan has not always oppressed women. The former man in charge of Pakistan professed, “No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women (Lamb and Yousafzai 31).” It was not until a general named Zia ul-Haq threw a coup and seized control of the government that women and men’s rights became incomparable under Islamic Law. Zia’s regime did not allow women to play most sports, have access to healthcare, or open a bank account, and, in...
Gender-based violence is made possible by the ideology of sexism in Indian traditional culture which argues that women are worth less than men in the sense of having less power, status, privilege, and access to resources that is more prevalent in middle class and low caste families.
Hijab N. Womanpower: The Arab Debate on Women at Work. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press; 1988.
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
Deeb, Mary-Jane. Freedom House. Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa-Oman, 2010. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=179 (accessed August 14, 2010)
"We Muslim women can walk into the modern world with pride, knowing that the quest for dignity, democracy, and human rights, for full participation in the political and social affairs of our country , stems from no imported Western values, but is a true part of Muslim tradition.
In the war for independence, the women of Algiers mobilized to defend their liberty (Lecture Notes). However, in many cases women are defending the very culture that disempowers them (White, 2013). The French colonial aggressors believed that making Algerians Christian would be enough to make them subservient, but their Muslim faiths would not waver (Fantasia & Hirsch, 1995). Women engaged in armed conflict in the hope of securing greater rights and freedoms for themselves. Although the 1962 Algiers constitution did give women the right to vote in national elections, many gender
The oppression of women in the Middle East and North Africa was commonplace, with women often beaten and deprived of fundamental rights. Entrapped by social constraints, there was little hope for opposition, as the patriarchal perspectives of society were enforced by everyone, even women themselves. One of the most prevalent ways was through the use of hypocrisy and double standards to cast an illusion of justice and equality, when in reality, women were disadvantaged in nearly every aspect. The hypocrisy of society is demonstrated in Nawal El Saadawi’s novel Woman at Point Zero, where women such as Firdaus are dominated by double standards. She finds both initial hope and consequent
Islam is the second largest religion in the world today. Many of us do not understand the religion Islam and women’s rights within the Islamic faith. American society has the idea that Muslim women are weak, disrespected, belittled, mistreated, and oppressed. “And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them.” (Qur’an 28:229).Contrary to common belief, Islam regards women as equal to men in many aspects and that women have a unique place in Islam. Finally, with this research I hope to end all misconceptions and misunderstandings of Muslim women rights relating to their spiritual, economic, social, political, and legal rights.
For women in India, the last century has marked a great amount of progress, but at times it has been as stubborn as all the centuries before it. Women have been expanding their roles in society, at home, and even politics with female Prime Minster Indira Gandhi. Gender roles are ingrained deeply, however, and that is no more apparent than in the current rape epidemic. Specifically the last 40 years have been some of the most promising for Indian women, but they have also seen an 875% increase in rape cases (Park). The answers to why this is happening, and why it is happening now may open up a much deeper issue. The social climate is changing; a power struggle between genders steadies the quantity of violence against women. Meanwhile, their empowerment to speak out and hold a rapist accountable brings it to the attention of the world. A longstanding injustice that has been occurring right bellow the surface for years may have reached its boiling point.
As an Arab American, a Muslim and a woman writer, Mohja Kahf challenges the stereotypes and misrepresentation of Arab and Muslim women. Her style is always marked by humor, sarcasm, anger and confrontation. “The Marvelous Women,” “The Woman Dear to Herself,” “Hijab Scene #7” and “Hijab Scene #5” are examples of Kahf’s anger of stereotypes about Muslim women and her attempts to fight in order to eradicate them, in addition to her encouragement to women who help her and fight for their rights.