This is the perception of Muslim women that I have been exposed to for most of my life. The media presents to me all I have ever known of the Middle East; women covered in burqas, or wrapped up completely in their hijab. The veil, and women in general, has become a symbol for the inferiority of the Middle East. But, like a person can be wrong about a woman who wears glasses, the world as a whole can be very wrong about the real meaning of the veil, and about their perception of the women of Islam. Leila Ahmed’s The Discourse of the Veil explores the real source of women’s struggles in Islam versus the purely symbolic ones that the West concentrates its critique on.
Muslims, the First Feminists In her 1994 book, Price of Honor, Jan Goodwin wrote a chapter titled, ‘Muslims, the First Feminist”, where she discusses the history of the Muslim religion and what it is actually like today. She then goes on to describe the shame a daughter can do to the parents and their relationship and the life that child will go on to live, if she does live. Goodwin concludes by pointing out that feminism in the Islamic world has a long history. The history of the Muslim religion was unknown to me and I think most non-Muslim people can say the same. It begins with Mohammad’s first wife, Khaclija.
some people would say the the reiligion is offensive and opressive towards women. some would say that the religion is even slave like towards women. however the women and men that particepate in the islamic religion would say that islam for women has been viewed wrong and that actually egalitaran, specially on its veiws about the sexs. some of the islamic followers would say more than Judaism and or Christianity. conventional veiws suggest that the west sees women of islam as a opressive object instead of a counterpart , in the islamic movement.
Yezierska believes Jewish women should be educated and they should be able to choose who they wish to marry. Yezierska, through the characters in her story, shows her views of arranged marriage in the Jewish culture and the fight a young Jewish-American woman goes through with her parents to fight for her right to create her own identity. She shows the cultural change that immigrant women experience when coming to America and the hope America brings to the immigrant woen. To examine Yezierska’s view of arranged marriage from the story “Bread Givers”, I have chosen sources that focus on ethnic individual and group identities, the ideals of rabbinic culture, and the hope America brings to young immigrant Jewish women. Joanne Nagel in her article, “Constructing Ethnicity: Creating and Recreating Ethnic Identity and Culture” defines the ethnic and cultural changes an individual goes through when introduced to a new culture.
While he suggests how to kindly treat one race of women, he emphasizes on how to womanize another. The culture associated with “How to date a browngirl, blackgirl, whitegirl, or halfie”, believes that women will act accordingly, and should be treated based on their own culture and race. In “Girl” by J.Kincaid and “How to date a browngirl, blackgirl, whitegirl or halfie” by J.Diaz both authors describe how culture influences the outlooks, and stereotypes on women. The expectations of females seen in “Girl” revolves around a strict set of cultural rules for women. Through oral transitions the girl’s mother spreads the beliefs of their culture.
I believe that one of the cultures that is commonly misjudged or misunderstood is the Islamic community. I have learned that one of the most common stereotypes of this culture is that there is little respect for women becoming educated. However, I have found that that is not at all the case in regards to women in nursing. Islamic nurses have worked diligently over the last century to establish themselves as a profession. They make significant contributions to research and work to help make positive changes in health care in their culture and communities.
This belief alone led to the oppression of women and the title of the book Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks. In this story, the author, Brooks, is travelling around Middle Eastern countries for her job and tries to understand the religion, the struggle, and the feminism in the Islamic religion. “The hijab [an Islamic dress
Also, women in her culture had to cover themselves up, in order to show modesty and self-protection, which she thought to be an unequal hierarchy. Veiling is an inequality between sexes, and it is though to be natural and okay for Muslim women to
The author concludes that the person who has no faith in religion could watch religious debates go on and never be affected, either positively or negatively. The other conclusion is that a person who has even the smallest amount of faith in a religion should dive head first into that religion because of the promise of infinite reward. All other religions should be denounced because they are in conflict with his chosen religion. The author did not sufficiently support the premise of disbelief in faith and or religion. He states that if one does not believe in a religion then one can gain nothing from religious debates.
There is a struggle for equality especially in the Islamic countries where women have no right to be equal citizens to men, where women still live under the direct control of their husband, their father, or their brother, where the Koran is often used by men in power to justify their treatment of women: “Tell the believing woman to lower her gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent and to draw their veils over their bosoms”. Marianne Lyles studied the issue of the woman in the Islamic world which she presented in her article entitled The Struggle for Equality: Islam and Its Effects on Women. She claimed: “In Islamic countries today, women are forced to wear clothes that cover their entire body, including their face. It is hypocritical the way women are treated in the Muslim world because Muhammad supported certain rights for women. He also put an end to female infanticide and slavery.