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Oppression of women in the middle east
Oppression of women in the middle east
Oppression of women in the middle east
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On November 07, 2006, was the day i left home to join the fight against the Taliban. During my time spent in the united States Military serving my country, I was always told that we were fighting to free the Iraqi and Afghan people from the terrorist groups that had taken over their country, yet Laura Bush ( first lady to President George W. Bush) stated back in November 17th, 2001, in her weekly address that “ The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists.” What first lady Bush states in her address conflicted with my deployment briefings, that were to eliminate terrorists treats to free the Iraqi and Afghan people not the oppressed women that first lady Bush claims that we needed to go help. Muslim women across the globe …show more content…
Having first hand encounters, seeing women and children being beaten, showed how much oppression is still present in those areas today. In the area I was deployed to seeing a Muslim women wearing a burqa definitely was a sign of oppression to me after the things I seen on a daily basis. According to Ilene R. Prusher who wrote “Symbol of Both Oppression and Freedom” she quotes Shaban Omary who argues “the veil is a central part of God’s protection against the mistreatment of women and that gender relations will only improve when more women obey the call to cover themselves.” How can some argue that the veil is a protection against the mistreatment of women when in Securing Afghan Women: Neocolonialism, Epistemic Violence, and the Rhetoric of the Veil written by Kevin J. Ayotte and Mary E. Husain stated “It has been well documented that women in Afghanistan have been beaten simply for accidentally letting an inch of skin show” (United Nations 2000, 7; Amnesty International 1999; Physicians for Human Rights 1998, 52). A piece fabric is supposed to protect the Muslim from the gaze of other men, but how is it going to protect them from the every day violence they experience from the men of their …show more content…
The Muslim culture as a whole doesn’t oppress their women, it is more in localized areas like Afghanistan, that they still deny basic human right to the women in their communities which has lead to them being put under oppression. In the question Abu-Lughod asked her reader “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?”, she implies that Muslim women really don’t need our help. As person who has been deployed to Afghanistan, I have seen first hand the abuse and violence these women would receive on every convoy or mission I went on. The Muslim women that need saving are like the ones in Afghanistan and there are other like them that need saving just not all Muslim women. If our government wasn’t there for their own agenda, but was there for the reason first lady Bush stated in her weekly addressed which was to free the women of Afghanistan from oppression, then maybe we as Americans could have made a difference for those women and
The women in Afghanistan during this time period, were shielded from the outside world, and the outside world was shielded from them. Women became nobody’s and their life was unimportant. Burqas kept the women from being who they were, and being more than just a wife. They were not known or judged for the women they used to be, but for the wives they had become. Whether they could cook well, keep a house clean, or even bear children (particularly boys), it never mattered. What mattered was that they obeyed their husbands and the rules of the Taliban. “You will not, under any circumstance, show your face. You will cover with a burqa when outside, If you do not, you will be severely beaten.” (pg. 278). Before the Taliban forced women to wear burqas, women were already being diminished. Women were raped, beaten and even killed just by walking outside their house. That doesn’t even start to describe what happened behind closed doors. Women were already losing their rights, but burqas took away who they were. Burqas affected Mariam and Laila in a big way. Mariam was barely a teenager when she married Rasheed, and had grown up with a strong, independent, man-hating mother. Mariam was never taught that she
For some women wearing a veil is not something that is forced on them but rather a choice of their own. Martha Nussbaum and Maysan Haydar are both authors that try to explain their reasoning that veiling isn't an oppressive tool used against women. Martha Nussbaum's article “Veiled Threats”, is a political and philosophical take on why banning the burqa is a violation of human rights. On the other hand Maysan Haydar’s article “Don’t Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering”, is a more humorous and personal take on why veiling shouldn't be as judged or stereotyped. Though Nussbaum and Haydar have equal goals this essay is being used to understand the main argument, claims and whether or not each article has any weaknesses.
Since the tragedies of September 11th 2001, Americans have really opened their eyes to the political state of Afghanistan. The poor treatment of women in Afghanistan is an issue that, for many Americans, just seems to be coming to light as a serious concern that requires outside attention. Extreme Islamic leaders in the country persist in limiting the freedom that Afghan women have. Women in the Taliban-controlled country suffer unusually hideous acts of torment and are forced to abide by outrageous regulations because of stringent enforcement methods. Afghan women daily live lives restricted by Taliban law and risk having to endure cruel punishment and torture, yet Afghan political leaders continue to justify the their treatment of Afghan women.
Governments often claim that they are helping women gain equality when they invade and impress their values on other cultures. In “Feminism as Imperialism”, Katharine Viner states that “Bush cut off funding to international family planning organizations [and then claimed he] bombed Afghanistan to liberate the women from the burkas” (1). However, the problem with wars claiming to “save” women is that the majority of the time women are just becoming victims of western misogyny as opposed to eastern misogyny (Viner, 2). Just because some women choose to wear head coverings doesn’t make them repressed, “liberation for [Afghani women] does not encompass destroying their identity, religion, or culture and many of them want to retain the veil” (Viner, 2). Therefore, using women to justify war is counterproductive because it still represses women and ignores what the women actually
Throughout recent history, Afghanistan has been a country in turmoil. Famine, drought, civil war and Taliban rule have all had a significant impact on the Afghani people. While this has taken a very negative toll on all Afghan people, I believe, that none have been more negatively impacted than the women of Afghanistan. Having said that, not everything the Western world deems as a negative is also considered negative by the women and men of Afghanistan. One only has to read this quote, “Wearing the burqua is not mandatory, but few women are rushing to remove them” (Germani 14). While the Taliban and al-Qaida’s rule had a great negative impact from 1996-2001 and obviously oppressive to all Afghani women. They were not the sole source of oppression felt by the Afghan females as stated in this quote, “The roots of patriarchal oppression go deep in Afghan society - far deeper than the Taliban or al-Qaida.”(Rostami-Povey, E. 2007)
In Afghanistan girls are forced into marriage as young as 8 years old. If these girls would run away or cause any trouble to their husbands the girls will get sonned, flogged or mutated. Before the Taliban took over the women were allowed to show skin, they were allowed to work and going to school, the women had rights. Then when the Taliban took control over Afghanistan the women weren't allowed to go to school, study, work, they couldn't show any skin, couldn't leave the house without a male chaperone, or get health care from men, and the women couldn't speak in public or be involved in politics. the women's rights were taken away from them. Women in Afghanistan should have more rights because women are getting attacked, they are forced
Moreover, several court cases and laws are made to oppress women. In Afghanistan, women must please their husbands (Graham-Harrison). Forced marriages have been used to secure political relations and use women as pawns. Court cases passed to favor the rapist in rape crimes spreads rape culture. Laws are being made to prevent abortions even in the cases of rape and incest. “It is a travesty that this is happening” (Graham-Harrison). Women haven’t been president yet. One third of pregnant women are killed by their husband (Valenti). Shiite laws oppress women. They must have sex with their husbands (Gebauer). But no one talks about this because its not men they are affecting.
Professor Leila Ahmed, active Islamic feminist, in her article “Reinventing the veil” published in the Financial Times assumes that there is a connection between “advancement” and veiling, which means that unveiled women are advanced and vice versa. In addition, she supports that it led to increasing rate of violence. She questions why women wear veil, that is considered as “symbol of patriarchy and women’s oppression”. However, research changed her position towards wearing veil. Firstly, she states that wearing veil was essential for women, because it could be beneficial and influence to how people treat women, in terms of job, marriage and free movement in public. Secondly, her assumption was explained while interviewing women, who stated
In this excerpt, the burqa is described as “tight”, “heavy”, and “suffocating”, making it seem like an unpleasant garment to be ensconced in. The burqa can cause an “unnerving” feeling, which can make daily tasks hard to complete. When interviewing a girl in Afghanistan, Daniel Pipes, American historian, writer, and commentator, got her opinion on the burqa, “When I wear a burqa it gives me a really bad feeling. I don't like to wear it. I don't like it, it upsets me, I can't breathe properly.”
Women in Iraq are capable of being physically or emotionally hurt by Iraqi males, like a brother, father, cousin, or husband. Women are also vulnerable to hurt by members of Islamist armed groups, militias, Iraqi government forces, foreign soldiers, and staff of foreign private military security. Women have paid the highest price due to violent religious extremism acts. Violence has made many Iraqi women more isolated, and many have lost husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons. The kidnapping, rape, and murder rates of women in Iraq is on rising everyday. Women have been victims of more abuses now than they have in the past 60 years.
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.
“Where there is light, there must be shadow.” (Haruki Murakami) A light cannot shine without having a shadow in the back to support it. In literature males have a more dominant role and attract the most attention making them seem more important. Thus society’s view is that males are the light and women are the shadow, as they see men as more important than woman. During the year 2009, Malala Yousafzai was a symbol for woman; she spoke out against the injustice of the Taliban: an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan, who restricted woman of work, education. In addition, forced woman to wear a burqa to cover their face, since the face of a woman was said to be a source of corruption for men. The Taliban viewed men over woman and treated them like garbage, as if they were
299). The study consisted of having in-depth personal interviews to share their experiences of being a Muslim American woman (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 300). Veiling to these women was a way of freedom while also having a Muslim identity (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 301). It was also a source of behavior control, to not be sexually objectified, a way of commanding respect from others and even a source of checking their own behavior (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 301). One of the women interviewed said, veiling to her was a way to feel connected to other Muslim woman who veil (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 302). Veiling can be a way to feel connected to your religion and God as well as being connected to those who practice the same faith, it can be considered an act of membership. Many of the women interviewed noted they have been removed from planes, been treated unfairly, and have had strangers shout at them all for just being Muslim and being more visibly recognized from veiling (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 303). This is an example of how media can affect the general population. When the media only shows radicals and compares all Muslims to being terrorist or dangerous they are actually putting Muslim people at risk of being assaulted in public. Muslim woman in particular are more at risk for being assaulted as they are more identifiable. So while veiling can be a source of empowerment and freedom for women it is a double-edged sword because it also puts them at further risk of being
The Web. 25 May 2014. The Taliban's War Against Women. U.S. Department of State. N.p.
While people in the west think that women in Islam are oppressed, they do not know that Islam liberated women from oppression. There are many people who have opinions about the religion of Islam, but mostly about the women who follow it. Westerners have this idea that women in Islam are disrespected, mistreated and oppressed. In actuality, these allegations are incorrect. Women in Islam have rights and are not oppressed. The veil is widely misunderstood and many do not know what it represents. In many ways, men and women are equal as much as they are not; and this is in every religion.