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Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned is a Muslim women married to the Emir of Qatar (a sovereign Arab state in the Middle East. Her involvement in numerous organizations aimed at social and educational reform makes her a strong figure for women across the board; both Muslim and non. She fights for reform while still remaining faithful to Islam and makes important notes about the supposed oppression caused by it. In her speech The 'Women's Issue' in Context: Reframing the Discourse on Middle Eastern Women she states, "I strongly believe that separating women's status from the larger issues of the region is so loaded with political history and so burdened with misconceptions that it has become a counterproductive methodology. “ She notes that colonial feminism perceives an endless battle between women's liberation and religion. “They hope that we will come to our senses and reach the same rights and freedoms as they have only guaranteed by secularism” (Al-Missned).
Al-Missned goes on to say that the entire world is facing human rights deficits – not just the Middle East. “Particularly since Sep 11 and the ensuing war on terror gross human rights violations are being carried out in the name of democracy and security . Women are undergoing violation of rights both by their government and by occupiers” (Al-Missned) She quotes statistics that show that 98.8% of those surveyed in the region said that women have the same right to education as men . So the question is what is the real reason behind gender gaps? Studies haven’t divulged into any other reason than oppressive religion and therefore have no true answer. Without further investigation into the cause of the problem there is no ability to start fixing it. There...
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...he heart is humanitarianism and the fight against every kind of oppression. Who can take a woman seriously that fights against stereotypes of women yet allows prejudice to warp their own beliefs? Feminism is about equality – not supremacy.
WORKS CITED
Al-Missned, Mozah. "The 'Women's Issue' in Context: Reframing the Discourse on Middle
Eastern Women." Women's Rights in Middle East. James A. Baker III Institute,
Houston. 21 May 2007. Speech.
Mollmann, Marianne. "Why Women in Politics Matter." Salon. 24 June 2011. Web. 23 Jan.
2012. .
"Queen Rania." 2012. Biography.com 23 Jan 2012, 02:13
http://www.biography.com/people/queen- rania-23468
Winkler, Philippa. "Feminist International Relations." Transnation Feminisms . Northern
Arizona University. Flagstaff. 23 Jan. 2012. Class lecture.
The Islamic Revolution of 1979 placed an ideological wedge that created an increasingly pervasive rift in gender equality that is now only gradually being successfully challenged and correct upon.
Firstly, gender discrimination is not an exclusive feature of Saudi Arabia, but it is a more outwardly visible problem there. Gender discrimination and male superiority are most visible in Saudi Arabian culture because “inhabitants of the region where the Arabic language predominates are, despite their diversity, bound into a singular cultural unit with a particular gender system” (Tucker VII). If one group of Arabic individuals hold misogynistic views, or thinks that males are the superior gender, it is very likely that other Arabic individuals will as well. Individuals of the Arabic culture, regardless of their location share a particularly conservative and traditional set of moral beliefs the same way Christians from America may share similar beliefs with Christians from Europe. One belief most Saudi’s have in common is their “conservative view toward women” (Al-Mannai 82). Middle Eastern individuals know what behaviors to expect from each gender, and what each gender should and should not do. An effect of holding such a belief is that a man’s role in Saudi Arabia tends to be one of dominance and power; the male is the ruler ...
The word feminism is sometimes misinterpreted and associated with female superiority and hatred of men, although most people probably agree that feminism can mean the desire for social and economic parity. There is so much baggage surrounding this term that clarification of what feminism is and is not, is essential. Indeed, the way feminism has developed has not been pretty. “Feminism over the years have [sic] evolved away from its noble purpose of creating awareness and defending women rights to creating new ridiculous ‘belief systems.’...feminism has become more like a medium for angry women to vent their hatred and frustration towards man”(“Feminism is Chauvinism”). This definition goes completely against the true meaning of what feminism entails. Feminism can be defined as a fundamental respect for others and the desire for equality between men and women.
Historically, women were long considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, and unable to perform work requiring muscular or intellectual development. In most pre industrial societies, for example, domestic chores were relegated to women, leaving heavier labor such as hunting and plowing to men. Women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men as well. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions. In the twentieth century, however, women in most nations won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Perhaps most important, they fought for and to a large degree accomplished a reevaluation of traditional views of their role in society.
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)
Women’s rights in the Middle East are being restricted, therefore there are many different reactions. Some people were in favor of women having equal rights while there are some who are against women to have the same rights. Since before times, many countries in the Middle East have been taking women for granted and minimized their rights by telling them they can't do something or selling them as if they were prized. When women were treated as prizes it was a practice in Afghanistan called Ba’ad that used women as the compensation, for example a story of a girl named Sakina. She was a consolation prize so that her brother could marry a woman and the Jirga system told her she had to marry a 80 year old guy when she was like 18. This tells me
Hijab N. Womanpower: The Arab Debate on Women at Work. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press; 1988.
One primary reason why Middle Eastern men oppress women is their deeply rooted belief system as well as their needs. For example, their belief that the Middle Eastern woman’s duty is being a dedicated homemaker encourages them to disallow her from seeking an education. Ramsay M. Harik and Elsa Martson, revisit this concept in their book, Woman in the Middle East, as they state that many males convince their women that education is unnecessary nor relevant to their household responsibilities. "The girl will spend her life cooking and having babies, why does she need to read or write? This was a common attitude in much of the Middle East until the last fifty years or so" (24). The common consensus was that once educated, these women would question many of the injustices suffered, would demand better treatment...
Most men and women today believe that we do not need feminism, that the world is fine. Sorrowfully they are far from being accurate. We don’t need feminism because it is about genders, we need it because it is about our society’s humanity. Women all around the world are denied basic human rights simply by the fact they are women which is absurd. For instance,
...ese deeds may be, the women of these two great nations will always be treated like second class citizens. Progress has been made to change this mindset, but change is slow in the Middle East, and when it comes to changing women’s rights, this will always be the slowest of changes to occur.
Before venturing into the ideals and movements of Islamic feminism, it is important to recognize some of the biased views Westerners often take when it comes to women in Islam. Because of the portrayal of women in the Arab world through pop-culture and the media, some Westerners may believe that Islam creates a society in need of modernity. The concepts of religious government are also foreign to the Western world. Feminists often focus on the practice of veiling women in Islamic tradition as a law made to minimize the importance of women as citizens. It is important for us to recognize where our biased views exist, and what sorts of root assumptions we make about women in Islam.
"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.
daughters, he and I will be like this…” At that moment he put up two
Feminism has always been a colorful word with a wide variety of meanings, interpretations, and connotations. Unfortunately, these definitions and connotations are sometimes depicted in negative and wrong ways. Feminism is not wearing pants and shunning pink and being mean and poo-pooing child-rearing and hating men. It is not about scoffing at those that choose to stay at home with children or judging other women for their own choices. It is not about relying on stereotypes or assumptions about what the word 'woman' should or should not be. Most importantly, feminism is not a universal, one-size-fits-all term, simply because there are so many women living such differing experiences around the world. Rather, feminism is “the organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests” (Radacic). It is the belief that women should have the right to choose to live whatever lifestyle they desire, and the notion that women and men should be considered equals in every aspect of life. Depending on who a person asks, feminism can mean any number of things. When, where, and even how a woman is raised greatly influences and often times, alters, her view and personal definition of feminism and gender equality.
In today’s globalized world, women’s studies is emerging as a fast growing discipline which is not restricted any more to the academia but is significantly capturing the attention of the civil society. The way civil society responded to “Nirbhaya” gang-rape case of December, 2012 in Delhi; the way people came on the streets in protest against this horrific and barbarous crime committed against a 23 year old woman; this people’s movement has undoubtedly engineered the emergence of a new consciousness among us about the need for a realization of women’s honour and dignity in the society. There have been serious debates on the issue of whether more stringent laws (in the line of Shari’a law) be implemented in our Indian society so that such heinous crimes against women can be prevented. However, the aforesaid incident is only one among many hundred other such crimes happening everyday in almost every corner of the globe. Many such incidents of crime are either suppressed or do not come to limelight. The following analysis is a humble attempt to deal with the status of women (especially in Islam) in a globalized world.