Gendered Inequality And Violence Throughout The Arabic Speaking World

“Women and Gender in Islam” by Leila Ahmed was published in 1992, at a time when research on Arab women was a young, newly emerging field of study. Leila Ahmed is an Egyptian American writer and feminist. Her text “Women and Gender in Islam” targets proclaimed feminists, both western and non-western, as the intended audience. The text is involved with the discourse of gender, the discourses of women, the discourses of feminist, and colonial and post-colonial discourses.

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.

Accustomed to stereotypical depictions, Westerners are told that Middle Eastern women are passive, weak, and always veiled. It is often assumed that the severe conditions in Saudi Arabia—where women are not even allowed to drive cars—represent the norm for women throughout the Middle East and in the larger Muslim world. In reality, Saudi Arabia’s versions of both Islam and sexism are rather unique in their severities, although the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan is now emulating the sexist Saudi model. Women enjoy political and social rights in many Muslim countries, and Egypt has recently granted women the right to divorce their husbands. In Tunisia, abortion is legal, and polygamy is prohibited. Women have served as ministers in the Syrian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Iraqi, and Tunisian governments, and as Vice President in Iran.

Women's rights in the Middle East have always been a controversial issue. Although the rights of women have changed over the years, they have never really been equal to the rights of a man. This poses a threat on Iran because women have very limited options when it comes to labor, marriage and other aspects of their culture. I believe that equal treatment for women and men is a fundamental principal of international human rights standards. Yet, in some places like Iran, discriminatory practices against women are not only prevalent, but in some cases, required by law. In this essay I will explain to you the every day life of an every day Islamic woman living in Iran. You will be astonished by what these women have endured through the

Throughout centuries of human existence, women have been deemed as inferior to men in multiple different cultures and religions. Men have developed a norm to be the individual who carries out duties to help maintain a stable life for himself and the family in which he is providing for. Because of this fundamentalist approach towards how society should be, women’s rights have been suppressed throughout political, social, and cultural actions. The Islamic religion in particular, is fond of abusing the rights of women and empowering the rights of men in such a way that it has created a permanent existence of conflict within countries who follow Islam. In fact, in the Quran it states that women must have lesser authority than men, therefore their

“Life is full of unhappiness and most of it caused by women (Harik and Marston 11)”. For women in the Middle East life is faced with great and unequal odds, as their human rights are limited, due to Islamic beliefs and that of patriarchy. From their daily actions at home to their physical appearance, Middle Eastern women are portrayed as quiet, faceless women veiled from head to toe. While this image is just another stereotype, women in the middle do face many obstacles and challenges of creating their own identity as they are frequently denied a voice in their rights. Living in a society dominated by men life is not, but regardless women in the Middle East, predominantly Muslims, continue to fight for

A common misconception is that Muslim women are oppressed all around the world, but this is a fallacy created through the use of propaganda and misinformation. The so-called "oppression of women" is not a characteristic of Islam at all and to say otherwise would be out of ignorance. Reza Aslan (2015), a scholar of all religions, makes it clear that oppression of women is not related to Islam but to particular countries. A common propaganda technique is to use Saudi Arabia as the standard of Islam. This could not be further from the truth, as many Muslim countries view women equally if not beyond that. There are dozens of Muslim countries who have had more female heads of state than the US; Algeria, Turkey, Sudan, Senegal. There are a handful of Muslim countries around the world, who mention women's equal rights in their constitution, whereas the U.S is one of 32 countries who does not include an explicit gender equality guarantee (Ravitz, 2015). Using an uneducated generalization, that holds no merit, causes inconsistencies and mistaken impressions of a particular

In middle eastern society Many may claim that the women in the middle east are being oppressed but the same may be said about women living in the west. Until quite recently in time women here in the United States received an equal status to men. Whereas these traditions and

There are many political, religious, and cultural factors that shape the lives of Islamic women many of them are completely different than factors in the lives of American women. Islam is one of the world’s fastest growing religions; however, Brooks argues that “Islam’s holiest texts have been misused to justify the repression of women, and how male pride and power have warped the original message of this once liberating faith.” The book also shows these factors have slowly been taking away women’s rights, rather than furthering them.

The Oppression of More Than 50% of the World’s Population There is no doubt that without women, mankind would not be able to survive in this world. Therefore, women deserve to be held in the highest of esteems and treated like queens in this kingdom called earth. However, men are simply too prideful and aim to oppress anyone they see as weaker than them in any means. The author, Nawal El Saadawi, criticizes the abusive and subjugating nature of man, more specifically in Egypt. In a country with a degraded economy, a skewed view of religion, and a patrimonial culture, tyranny is magnified.

Religion goes hand in hand with culture, and in the Muslim countries this is very apparent. The cultural importance of men over women may have stemmed from religion, however it was further recognized when imperialist countries introduced capitalism and class divides. “Islam must combat the wrenching impact of alien forces whose influence in economic, political, and cultural permutations continues to prevail” (Stowasser 1994, 5). Now, instead of an agrarian state where both men and women had their place, difficulties have formed due to the rise in education and awareness that women can and do have a place in society beyond domestic living Though women are not equal to men anywhere around the

The rise and expansion of Islam has had a significant impact on the role and rights of women throughout history. Since its origin in the seventh century until modern times, the Muslim faith has somewhat broadened, but has mostly restricted women’s rights in numerous Islamic communities. The history of Muslim women is complex, as it involves many advances and declines in numerous locations, such as Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, concerning several subjects, including both civil and social rights. Thus, in general, the rights of Islamic women did not improve significantly over time, instead, conditions remained the same or became worse for women as Islam evolved and spread as a world religion.

In today’s society women are given ample opportunity just as much as men. In some countries, such as middle-eastern nations that is not the case. Muslim women are often perceived to be submissive to Muslim men and unequal. Mohammed never taught for women to be treated as lower class citizens. Nonetheless, the blame is pointed towards the religion of Islam. The Islamic religion began as all monotheist religions representing a belief in one God and moral standards. In the following essay I will discuss and elaborate what Mohammed taught, how women lived in early Islamic society, and what it has become.

In my research paper, I will try to argue that the way that Muslim extremists treat women in Islam, couldn’t be further away than what the Islam preaches. Misinformation and misconception about Muslim women is the main reasons why so many Westerner’s have the picture of Islam, especially in America, associated it with bad images of oppressed women hiding in their hijab,, or walking behind their husbands. What does Islam say about women and their right’s. Do Islamic countries follow Islamic teaching when dealing with women’s issues? Beliefs about how Muslim women are treated and blame the religion instead of the culture from which they came from. I hope that instead of falling into the typical stereotypes and cultural innovation, the

American writer James Baldwin explained that education was “designed to perpetuate the aims of society…to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decision…To ask questions of the universe…is the way he achieves his own identity” (Baldwin 326). Education allows young men and women to gain skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to benefit the society. The idea that a girl might have a happier and more successful life should be enough to advocate for girl’s education yet in many countries, specifically Saudi Arabia, their education system is gender bias. The Global Gender Gap assesses equality between men and women in several countries and Saudi Arabia was ranked 131 out of 135 (Buchanan). Education is highly valued in Islam, and Islamic law actually acknowledges the sacred duty of girls’ education. The contrast between traditional Muslim education and current restrictions on women’s education in Saudi Arabia illustrates how the importance of education in Islam is not fulfilled in all predominantly Muslim countries.