This memoir reminds me about my culture in a sense. I would like to point out a difference between race and religion. Me, personally, I’m an Arab Muslim. In my religion, sex before marriage is forbidden, and those who do it are a huge disgrace because its haram (forbidden), and will result in a major punishment by god. Of course, in many religions, adultery is also forbidden, such as in Christianity, but sex before marriage is still highly common; at least in the west. Now, thinking about what happened to “No Name Woman,” I can relate to what could happen to a Muslim if one did what she did. Although the differences here I believe is religion. For example, If I was just Arab, and not Muslim, having sex before marriage wouldn’t be such a major
In the autobiography Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker, Walker reflects on her identity as a mixed raced individual. In the section “Bronx,” Walker resides at her father’s house in the Bronx. Her new environment contrasts with her past safe, suburban neighborhood. Melissa, Walker’s best friend, and Walker both have relationship with Dominicans. After school, Walker hangs out with older teens and experiments with new drugs. Walker, who is the youngest in her group, suffers from taking a new pill from their groups dealer. Ray, Walker’s boyfriend rescues her and becomes infuriated at the group. He does not talk to Walker. Later, the dealer turn up dead. Walker feels at home in the Spanish Bronx. She
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To
In the novel Cutting for Stone, the author, Verghese displays many of the women suffering great loss and agony as a result from promiscuous behavior. Most of the women in the novel are presented as nothing more than an object placed for men’s pleasure. However, when the women initiate this pleasure-seeking behavior and follow through with it, they suffer greatly. The men consistently participate in unwed intercourse, and it is accepted as the way of life. Marion’s thoughts, at sixteen years old, are stated, “Little did I know that our Ethiopian peers both at our school and at the government schools had long ago gone through their sexual initiation with a bar girl or a housemaid” (Verghese, 2009, p.391). Support of this sexist perception of women are given in this discussion from the novel.
Terrified, no name woman flees the home and gives birth in the family’s pigsty. The next morning, with newborn in arms, no name woman jumps down the family well to her death. Through much of her essay, Kingston speaks of her aunt with a tone of forgiveness. She first explores the possibility that another villager raped her aunt.
One of the most striking parts of the novel (that is also similar to previous discussions in Women Writers) deals with abortion. Winnie, after having two children, refuses to bring any more lives into the world because of her abusive husband. She feels for her first two children, Yiku and the late Danru, with such passion, that she aborts her babies rather than subject them to a tortured life with her evil and dominating husband, Wen Fu. Winnie later tells her daughter, Pearl, "I cried to myself, this is a sin - to give a baby such a bad life! . . . In my heart, I was being kind (627)". This situation recalls to mind Maxine Hong Kingston's short story, "No Name Woman", a story in which a similar thing happens for similar reasons. In Kingston's story, the narrator's aunt throws herself as well as her newborn baby into a well to escape a future of ridicule and oppression, not from an abusive spouse, but from a
People tend to deny, rationalize and avoid discussing their feelings and beliefs about race and ethnicity because they are sensitive topics that people want to avoid. People also deny race and ethnicity because there are uncomfortable feelings, because they are uncomfortable feelings they tend to deny they rationalize because they do not want to hear anything negative about their background, I also think it is part of stigma many people would deny their background. According to out lecture states “Some people by virtue of their ethnic heritage (something they individually had no decision in) believe they are superior or inferior to other simply based on their race or culture”. Therefore, people deny their beliefs, race and ethnicity because
Race perhaps, can play a major role toward a person’s faith or doubt in the existence of God. For instance, the article by James Baldwin, “The fire next time”, he mentions that “I do not know many Negroes who are eager to be accepted by white people, still less to be loved by them; they, the blacks, simply don’t wish to be beaten over the head by the whites every day. Neither civilized reason nor Christian love would cause any of those people to treat you as they presumably wanted to be treated… (Baldwin, 1963, p.21).” This sentence may imply that, although the Christian faith claims the importance of “loving thee neighbors as yourself” (NIV, Mark 12 verse 31), some of the white supremacist Christian’s in America may choose to enslave the African
Race and religion are two concepts in American culture that can really tie people together, or clearly separate them apart. A group forged by strong common roots in both race and religion can be a powerful societal force, if it wants to be. The Nation of Islam is a small but growing religion in America that has become somewhat of a social movement because of its strong and radical ideas on race. In this paper, I will try to explore the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, and the ramifications it could and has had on racial relations in America. The Nation of Islam, or NOI, is a relatively new religion. The first temple of Islam was established in Detroit by Master Fard Muhammed in 1930. Much
To start off, both of my parents are white Americans. My father’s great grandparents came to america from czechoslovakia in the late 1800’s and same for my mothers German great grandparents. Born and raised in primarily white small towns, my parents are your stereotypical middle class white americans. About 10 years into their relationship when my mom first got pregnant with my oldest brother Dalton (23), they bought a 3 story house that was right outside of a suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of Anoka, Mn. The nearest gas station was about a 8 minute drive, and the nearest restaurant was 10. They had 3 boys together, and took in my oldest cousin Chey when she was 10 because my aunt had passed.
This novel teaches us to respect everyone no matter what religion or race you are. If each person has different religions you should equally respect each other and learn from them. Learning from other religions can give us a perspective on how their daily life is. She chose not to kiss Adam because it was very strict against her religion. Amal made a decision to wear the hijab and she had to followed her rules and had to not pass her boundaries. Amal is sent to Mrs.Vasellis, her cranky next door neighbor because she helps Amal with her problem about facing tough challenges with her hijab. The role in which each women has differs because there religions work different ways. Amal has a strict religion while Lelia does not .I am a Mexican- Cuban-
Mariam is an Afghani woman who is an illegitimate child. After her mom dies, her dad and step mothers force her to marry to an abusive shoemaker, Rasheed. Rasheed, like other males in general, are interested in sex, more absorbed in outside affairs, and more violent comparing to opposite sex. In her long marriage with Rasheed, she has to bear Rasheed’s sexually demands and suffer both physically and mentally because she cannot have a child. As a matter of fact, her husband starts to abuse her and treats terribly.
Unfortunately us humans can't go without seeing something different in another crowd, just because of their differences, whether they are physical, like skin color, or religion differences. You will see good and bad people from your race or, and different races. Then you will be able to demolish hatred towards other people, and prove to yourself, that there are good and bad people, no matter what color or religion they are.
In “Arab American Femininities: Beyonf Arab Virgin/ American(ized) Whore,” author Nadine Naber interviews Arab American women in order to argue against the falseness of the notion of ‘good Arab girls’ and ‘bad American(ized) girls.’ Many of these women are heavily influenced by their parent’s cultural values about ethics and modesty. After interviewing a group of Arab American women, Naber found a parallel between the vessel of their families honor: their bodies, and the vessel which held their “freedom” as Americans: their sexuality. In relation to my argument, I believe Naber chose to write this piece to show that it is easy for liberal countries, such as America, to be more acceptant of an individual’s sexuality, however, an individual’s native country’s culture can easily crash with their cultural expectations of the freedom America pertains. These assimilations of American culture cause conflicts for the young women growing up in America. Similarly, societies are unwilling to accept ambiguous homosociality relationships. In Naya Shah’s piece Between ‘Oriental Depravity’ and ‘Natural Degenerates:’ Spatial Borderlands and the Making of Ordinary Americans,” Shah analyzes race, gender and sexuality by assessing California court cases back from the early 1900’s. Shah argues against the belief that society is governed by equal protection. He supports
The future conditions of the woman’s potential marital worth were much poorer than any punishment the violator could have received. Once a woman was raped, her virginity was no longer available for her husband to have. “‘Virginity is the ornament of morals, the sanctity of the sexes, the peace of families and the source of the greatest friendships.’ Its existence was a precondition for marriage. To publicly breach it was to compromise honor, rank, even life; a ‘deflowered’ girl inevitably became a ‘lost’ girl. . . ‘The ravishing of virginity was the worst rape of all.’” (Cite Book 1) An innocent woman had now completely lost her worth to society and her own dignity due to a man’s egocentric and merciless actions.
The main character, Christian, exploits her girlfriend. Specifically, Christian use alcohol to influence Ana`s decision to engage in sexual activities (James, 2015). As a result, Christian spanks and abuse her sexually. The actions of Christian mirror that current social injustices that women face in the society. Most men drug women before harassing them sexually. Nonetheless, a majority of perpetrators of these heinous acts escape punishments as law enforcers, and some societal rules do not protect women. On the contrary, they believe that men have authority over women. Therefore, different nations support prostitution that promotes sexual harassment of women.