It is difficult to see the world through the eyes of others. This is almost impossible when trying to understand from the perspective of an informant living in a world so incredibly different from your own. You are unable to fully grasp the struggles and daily issues of others. This issue is bridged through literature and media. Through novels and movies. You are able to immerse yourself in a world far beyond your own. In the novel, Girls of Riyadh, written by Rajaa Alsanea, I followed the lives of four young women living in Saudi Arabia in the early 2000’s. I was introduced to the problems and beliefs of Saudi men and women, and the roles of each. I met Gamrah, the hopeless romantic who values tradition. I met Sadeem, a young woman desperate …show more content…
It all began on the day of Gamrah’s wedding. All four girls were upper class women living in Saudi Arabia at the time. While Lamees and Gamrah were considered to have ‘pure blood’ Sadeem and Michelle were not. Michelle was born from a mother of American heritage and Sadeem from a paternal grandmother of Syrian descent. This did not place straigns on the girls ability to be welcomed into their Saudi community based on ancestry alone, but it did make finding a husband more difficult, especially for Michelle. This is due to the fact that many of the older women of Riyadh didn’t find her worthy enough to marry their sons because of her lack of Saudi Arabian bloodline. The many social straigns placed on the young women of Riyadh, did not interfere with their education seeing as all four girls at the very least attended college even if for a small amount of time. Sadeem pursued business management, Lamees chose medical school, Michelle went into computer science, while Gamrah managed to get into history, the easiest major, as she was not too keen on the idea of college and dropped out soon after her marriage. Each of the girls came from a different background and home
She has been traveling to these places since the late 90’s and early 2000’s. She has written multiple articles and filmed a great number of short films from an assorted amount of perspectives to fully grasp the essence of the turmoil in these areas. In this particular article and film, Murphy documents the personal aspects of a young girl and her troublesome life. Being a privileged, educated woman from Connecticut could cause emotions and bias to run rapped through Beth Murphy. She sees a more difficult and different situation than she has ever experienced, let alone imagine, and it creates thoughts and feelings because the situation is hard to comprehend. She spent days and hours with Pashtana and her family, how could she not develop an attachment to them and their story. Watching a young girl show so much passion for something we all dread is special and unique and Murphy was mesmerized by this intensity. Beth’s bias and investment in Pashtana and her family is what made the article and documentary all the more emotional and powerful. Murphy uses strong adjectives and and personal opinion to make the reader feel as though you spent as much time with Pashtana and that you know Pashtana as well as she did. Beth Murphy uses her bias and connection to this story to only enthrall the reader more and further make a point about
Elizabeth Fernea entered El Nahra, Iraq as an innocent bystander. However, through her stay in the small Muslim village, she gained cultural insight to be passed on about not only El Nahra, but all foreign culture. As Fernea entered the village, she was viewed with a critical eye, ?It seemed to me that many times the women were talking about me, and not in a particularly friendly manner'; (70). The women of El Nahra could not understand why she was not with her entire family, and just her husband Bob. The women did not recognize her American lifestyle as proper. Conversely, BJ, as named by the village, and Bob did not view the El Nahra lifestyle as particularly proper either. They were viewing each other through their own cultural lenses. However, through their constant interaction, both sides began to recognize some benefits each culture possessed. It takes time, immersed in a particular community to understand the cultural ethos and eventually the community as a whole. Through Elizabeth Fernea?s ethnography on Iraq?s El Nahra village, we learn that all cultures have unique and equally important aspects.
Sexism is very real, even in the least patriarchal societies of the world. From a western hemisphere point of view, the lives of women and young girls that are described in Nawal el Saadawi’s “In Camera” and Hanan al-Shaykh’s “The Women’s Swimming Pool” is almost unbelievable. Although these stories do not tell the whole story of women’s lives in these areas, it gives readers a general idea of how politics, social opportunities, and male privilege is overbearing in their way of life. While “In Camera” is has a more dark, and mature theme than “The Women’s Swimming Pool,” it is obvious that both relate in the way that their protagonists both suffer from the unnecessary and unexpected burden of being born a female.
Naeem Murr's novel, The Boy, is a story about a boy that is put into foster homes all of his life. This boy is exposed to all different kinds of influences that affects his life in a negative way. These are the things that cause the argument in the story; is the boy evil or not?
In Hiba’s story we can see Adely finds out more about the view on education from Jordanian parents, “despite being obviously wealthy, Hiba’s mother was embarrassed that neither she nor her husband had completed their education”. It is clear that the Jordanians focus a lot of emphasis into education but we also know from earlier that education won’t get what you want in Jordan. However, like Adely says, the situation of women in Jordan today cannot be understood outside the historical events and political and economic context she outlined. The culture and gender issues of Jordan have to comprehend from someone who understands Jordan’s roots from beginning to
Saudi Arabia is commonly known for its strict moral values and customs regarding religion and women. Gender discrimination is a global conflict, but it is prevalently seen in Saudi Arabia. Gender discrimination is so poignant in Saudi Arabia because there are strict sets of moral guidelines and ideologies that Saudi Arabian culture implements on its people. Although Saudi Arabian men impose restrictions on women for the sake of upholding their cultural beliefs and family’s honor, there is no doubt that Saudi Arabian culture is male dominated and holds misogynistic views on women, but progress is being made. Firstly, gender discrimination is not an exclusive feature of Saudi Arabia, but it is a more outwardly visible problem there.
In Nahid Rachlin’s memoir, “Persian Girls”, the author describes her life in Iran and later in America as a woman, refusing to accept both Muslim and Iranian cultural norms. This plays an important role in the lives of many characters, choosing the sometimes hard decision to break apart from cultural standards. Characters that are faced with this difficult choice include her brothers Cyrus and Parviz, her older sister Pari and Nahid herself.
The theme of gender oppression is greatly shown throughout the story. Making it easier for the reader to comprehend the roles that were expect of women in Egypt. This theme is greatly shown when Abboud Bey and Samia’s father are discussing wedding arrangements. Abboud asks Samia’s father “And the beautiful little girl’s still at second school? She lowered her head modestly and her father had answered:” This shows the lack of respect males have for women in their society. Viewing women merely as a pretty face, incapable of answering simple questions. This also shows that Abboud views Samia as naïve and innocent by referring to her as “little girl”. He seems to be taken by her
In the novel She and in the stories of The Arabian Nights, both Haggard and Haddawy explore the expanding gender roles of women within the nineteenth century. At a time that focused on the New Woman Question, traditional gender roles were shifted to produce greater rights and responsibilities for women. Both Ayesha, from Haggard’s novel She, and Shahrazad, from Haddawy’s translation of The Arabian Nights, transgress the traditional roles of women as they are being portrayed as strong and educated females, unwilling to yield to men’s commands. While She (Ayesha) takes her power to the extreme (i.e. embodying the femme fatale), Shahrazad offers a counterpart to She (i.e. she is strong yet selfless and concerned with the welfare of others). Thus, from the two characters emerge the idea of a woman who does not abide by the constraints of nineteenth century gender roles and, instead, symbolizes the New Woman.
Sanity is subjective. Every individual is insane to another; however it is the people who possess the greatest self-restraint that prosper in acting “normal”. This is achieved by thrusting the title of insanity onto others who may be unlike oneself, although in reality, are simply non-conforming, as opposed to insane. In Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted, this fine line between sanity and insanity is explored to great lengths. Through the unveiling of Susanna’s past, the reasoning behind her commitment to McLean Hospital for the mentally ill, and varying definitions of the diagnosis that Susanna received, it is evident that social non-conformity is often confused with insanity.
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
Hussain, Rokeya Shakhawat. Sultana’s Dream and Selections from The Secluded Ones. New York: Feminist Press, 1998.
You will realize the nationalists’ dream. You will learn foreign languages, have a passport, devour books, and speak like a religious authority. At the very least, you will certainly be better off than your mother.” Reading this masterpiece we can easily see the Middle East women’s dreams for education and freedom, things that we the women from the West taking as granted.
One thing that has been pointed out by Hosseini is that the family plays a huge role. In the Arab culture family is an integral aspect. In most countries, men and women have very separate roles in the family. The man is generally expected to take care of the family financially this has been shown especially with Mariam and the relationship to her husband. Yet it has also been portrayed with Laila as well who has faced similar problems. Such as Mariam being abused by her husband this has a lot to do with the norms of the Arab culture and how men are under the impression that treating women like this is
Urvashi Butalia in her book, The Other Side of Silence, attempts to analyze the partition in Indian society, through an oral history of Indian experiences. The collection of traumatic events from those people who lived through the partition gives insight on how history has enveloped these silences decades later. Furthermore, the movie 1947 Earth reveals the bitterness of partition and its effect of violence on certain characters. The most intriguing character which elucidates the silence of the partition is the child, Lenny. Lenny in particular the narrator of the story, serves as a medium to the intangibility created by the partition. The intangibility being love and violence, how can people who grew up together to love each other hate one another amidst religion? This question is best depicted through the innocence of a child, Lenny. Through her interactions with her friends, the doll, and the Lahore Park, we see silence elucidated as comfort of not knowing, or the pain from the separation of comfort and silence from an unspoken truth.