In the second half of Memoirs from the Women’s Prison, we continue to follow the story of Nawal El Saadawi and her time spend in the prison for her activist work and publication on human rights. Throughout her book, she continues to enlighten the readers about the issues seen in Egypt.
One of the important statements she makes is about the women spending time in the prisons. As she says, “In prison, one does not die of hunger, or from the heat or the cold, or from beatings or sickness or insects. One might die of waiting, though. Waiting transforms time to timelessness, the tangible object to nothingness, and meaning to meaningless” (Saadawi,99). This statement is important because she is speaking about the larger issues of the country. She is understanding that many women that come to this prison are afraid that their fight for activism
…show more content…
As she said, “we gathered in a circle, our heads together. I saw even Boduur and Fawqiyya with us inside the circle. We stood next to each other, pressed close together, one leaning on the arm of the next” (Saadawi, 184). This moment was a moment of sodality and hope for change to come to the country of Egypt. That maybe one day, their will be equality among all members of the society no matter race, religion, and sex.
Nawal El Saadawi also relates to other feminist authors. Saadawi writing also relates to Kimberly Crenshaw views on race, intersectionality, and politics. As she says, “Black women are sometimes excluded from feminist theory and antiracist policy discourse because both are predicated on a discrete set of experiences that often does not accurately reflect the interaction of race and gender” (140). This relates to the Nawal El Saadawi because both theorists understand the effect of excluding groups when it comes to the well being of a society and how it create inequality of
By alluding to popular activists in today’s society and the use of inspirational photos, the article shows support to women’s rights and inspiration for other women to fight for their rights. Quoting Madeleine Albright with “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other,” it helps integrate the idea that, no matter how hard a few people work to change something, it takes a larger group to highlight the
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
Social injustice is revealed throughout the novel and Hosseini really goes in depth and indulges the reader by portraying every aspect of the life of women in Afghanistan at the time period. He also reveals most of the social injustice women still have to deal with today. This novel is based on two young women and the social injustices they face because of their gender. Gender inequality was very common in Afghanistan
“…regarded it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison” (Hawthorne). This quote from The Scarlet Letter is actually true. Prisons were among the first buildings built among colonization. The prisons were not for punishment- that was usually done publicly. Punishments fell into the four categories of fines, public shame, physical chastisement, and death. These prisons were usually just holding places for those awaiting trial or awaiting punishment. During the 18th century, there was a dramatic change in the look and function of prisons. With the industrial revolution came growing cities, capitalism, and crime. Americans began
writers are ‘doubly marginal’, being female and a writer in prison whereas at the same time black women suffer threefold- as a woman, prisoner, and African American”(Willingham 57). Although both of these women are prisoners, one of them is viewed as prison writer and another women is viewed just as prisoner. Beside they being treated just by their race, even in an African American society, the perception of looking imprisoned men and women are different, African American women are subjected for gender difference. Willingham mentions the thought of a African American woman, “African American men are almost made martyrs and heroes when they come out of prison but when African American women go back to their communities, the are not only unfit people, they are also marked with the title of unfit mother, and it’s hard to trust us”
It revolves around the issues of gender oppression, sexual assault, and importance of social status. Alifa Rifaat manages to express her opinions towards these themes by writing about a typical Egyptian marriage. She puts in focus the strong influence that a patriarchal society has. She also manages to prove how important social status is in society. The uses of literally elements such as theme and irony help express this view. It shows that in a typical Egyptian society women are commonly oppressed by all males in society
Not only is prison ineffective in preventing reoffending in women and is expensive, it can be extremely damaging to the female’s well-being and their families. The effect that a custodial sentence has on women is arguably far worse than for men. Women are often not prepared or equipped for their life following their prison sentence; due to the fact that women are more likely to be lone parents before prison (Social Exclusion Unit, 2002), are more likely to leave prison homeless and unemployed (Wedderburn, 2000), and are more likely to lose access of their children whilst serving their sentence (Corston, 2007). Statistics from 2010 showed that around 17,000 children become separated from their mother by imprisonment (Wilks-Wiffen, 2011). This can be absolutely devastating to not only the female offender, but to their innocent children too. Moreover, due to the small number of women’s prisons, the average distance that women are sent away from their homes is around 60 miles (Women in Prison, 2013). Therefore, even if the women are lucky enough to keep in contact with their children, it can be tremendously hard to organise visitation and uphold
Aside from children, women stand as a special population of interest for organizations engaged in social work because of their being identified as a vulnerable group. One particular subpopulation of this group, which are women who are in prison, can quire understandably raise concerns because they can be left overlooked accidentally or even purposefully because of the stigma associated with criminal liability. In relation to this, the following sections will be providing a discussion on the history and context of sexual abuse of women in prison as well as the background and outcomes of a chosen project. The concluding portion of the paper will be providing a summary of the significant points made in the initial sections of the paper along
As much as men are working, so are women, but ultimately they do not face the same obstacles. For example, “Even if one subscribes to a solely economic theory of oppression, how can one ignore that over half of the world's workers are female who suffer discrimination not only in the workplace, but also at home and in all the areas sex-related abuse” (Moraga 98). This gives readers a point of view in which women are marginalized in the work place, at home, and other areas alike. Here Moraga gives historical accounts of Chicana feminists and how they used their experiences to give speeches and create theories that would be of relevance. More so, Moraga states how the U.S. passes new bills that secretly oppress the poor and people of color, which their community falls under, and more specifically, women. For instance, “The form their misogyny takes is the dissolution of government-assisted abortions for the poor, bills to limit teenage girls’ right to birth control ... These backward political moves hurt all women, but most especially the poor and "colored." (Moraga 101). This creates women to feel powerless when it comes to control one’s body and leads them to be oppressed politically. This places the government to act as a protagonist, and the style of writing Moraga places them in, shines more light to the bad they can do, especially to women of color. Moraga uses the words, “backward moves”
In conclusion, the book is well set, with a good introduction and interactive body. It has been recommended for used in literature in both secondary school and colleges. This will help the intended to have an awareness of women life in prison and faces of loss, hope, and human attitude and emotions in the prison life. The volume can be termed as companion for females both in the prison and outside prison. The issue racism has been well exposed in the book and the role of women artist in racism.
Why do females commit crimes? Female’s percentages in jails and prisons have increase in the recent years. This has led to our society being concern of female crimes and how they affect us. This paper will discuss female inmates and some of the legal and social problems they face in the criminal justice system.
she is only 16-year-old from an Islamic country leading the first vital step towards raising the status of women in the Arab region is undoubtedly laudable. Indeed, she deserves to be called an ideal person of all girls in the world, who fight against any obstacles that abuse women’s individual rights. She is raising confidence to all girls and urging them to speak out what they want to be and ask for what they should have
Prisons serve the same reason for women and men, they are also tools of social control. The imprisonment of women in the U.S. has always been a different experience then what men go through. The proportion of women in prison has always differed from that of men by a large amount. Women have traditionally been sent to prison for different reasons, and once in prison they endure different conditions of incarceration. Women incarcerated tend to need different needs for physical and mental health issues. When a mother is incarcerated it tends to play an impact on the children also. Over time the prison system has created different gender responsive programs to help with the different needs of female offenders. After being released from prison
Perhaps the main reason I liked this book was the unfaltering courage of the author in the face of such torture as hurts one even to read, let alone have to experience first-hand. Where men give in, this woman perseveres, and, eventually, emerges a stronger person, if that is even possible. The book’s main appeal is emotional, although sound logical arguments are also used. This book is also interesting as it shows us another face of Nasir – the so-called “champion of Arab nationalism” – who is also the enemy of pan-Islamism. The book is also proof of history repeating itself in modern-day Egypt.
“Women’s human security rights in the Arab world: on nobody's agenda.” 50.50 Inclusive Democracy, 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.