Reflections Of Older Iranian Women Summary

Women’s rights in Iran or the Middle East has always been an arguable issue. Although there rights have been changed throughout the centuries they were never really compared equal to men or noone really accepted them. Specially for women in Iran, they barely had any rights in culture, marriage or other aspects of their lives. In the following essay you will read about the everday lives of Middle Eastern women.

In the article, “A Gentle Madness“, the author Humera Afridi, tells her story about how she moved multiple times. She lived in the United States; Dallas, Minneapolis, New York, Dubai, Pakistan, and Jeddah. In the passage she states, “[w]hen I was twelve, my parents decided to leave Pakistan and move our family to Abu Dhabi. My heart, I thought, I would never recover” (Afridi, 49). She explained how moving from state to state and country to country can be challenging and how she went through a lot of conflict moving from Pakistan, adjusting to another country, and coping with family issues. Through detailed imagery and rhetoric the author was able to tell a story about a significant experience in her life. This shows how her memories never fade.

Her and her two brothers wait outside of church for their grandmother one day, while she is praying, and at the end of she story the grandmother asks two "typical" Americans to take their picture, and asks them in English, and the litter girl is astonished that her grandmother even speaks English, because she always spoke to the kids in Spanish. The grandmother calls Americans barbaric, implying her distaste for America. The little girl, despite being brought up by her "Merican" hating grandmother feels as though she IS an American.

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

“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

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

And, finally, Fatima is shocked to learn that some older women in American culture get sent to the retirement centers away from their families (p. 185). First of all, lives of Iraqi women are centered on their womenfolk. Fatima feels sorry that Elizabeth is so far from her mother and all on her own in a foreign country. And then, the older age is the deserved age for Iraqi women when, after life hard work, they “enjoy the repose and respect as members of their children’s households.” (p. 185) Mothers pick wives for their sons. And, as in case of Laila’s friend, they can really spoil lives of their daughters-in-law if they choose to. “In spite of the relative obscurity in which these women lived” they had an incredible influence on men, their husbands and especially their sons. (p. 56) So, Fatima genially feels sorry for Elizabeth with her inferior American customs.

She didn't understand the minds of her employer as they told her that she needed to “wait till she was worth any money” because she had only been in America for a month. She thought she had finally earned her wages. She put her heart on her sleeve and she was let down, she really believed that she was finally going to be worth something in this new land. Her trust in working with “Americans” was completely vanished. “Now rejecting false friendships from higher-ups in America, I turned back to the Ghetto.

Iranian women have to depend quite frequently on men to survive. Women aren’t even allowed to travel unless they have permission of their husbands or fathers. Marriage also

Firoozeh’s family moved to America because the company her father worked at had given him to a two-year assignment to a location in Whittier, California. The family arrived with virtually no knowledge of the country, culture, or language. Firoozeh’s mother, even though she was not a stupid person, had not been fully educated as a result of Iranian cultural differences, and she was not fully able to help Firoozeh settle in, or to properly communicate at school.

In the story she says “I wanted to disappear”, with this being said, it is clear that she was embarrassed and ashamed of her family and culture. This could be because she is still a young woman and still does not understand what it means to appreciate her culture, unlike her parents that have lived longer and do valorize where they are from. Culture is

Moving from a place you called home to foreigner land may be difficult for a five-year old, petite girl who was barely processing the fact that she might never see her blind Asian grandmother again. Although, the United States of America has brought many benefits and opportunities, I brought disadvantages such as being humiliated in elementary, the adaptation of a new country, and being unable to see the rest of my family in Mexico, However, these circumstances led to the person I am today.

In the book, Women in the Middle East, a Saudi Arabian proverb states, "A girl possesses nothing but a veil and a tomb" (Harik and Marston 83). The key words, "veil" and "tomb" lend evidence to the fact that many Middle Eastern women lack identity symbolized by the “veil” and lack the right of ownership except for their veil and the tomb. This statement further enforces the notion that many women in the Middle East are expected to serve and tolerate the oppression of the men in their lives throughout their lives on this earth. Moreover, it confirms that many of these women do not get the opportunity to obtain education, join the work force, and even participate in the political affairs of the country. This arrangement further helps the

First wave European feminism sought to fight for women's suffrage and the liberal women's rights movements, while the second wave fought for the empowerment of women and differential rights in society, and third wave currently challenges both second wave feminism and patriarchy through a desire to embrace diversity and an idea of universal womanhood. The principal goals in emerging Ukrainian feminist movements was to reveal the conditions that women in Ukrainian society endured. The Ukrainian society held, and still holds, an emphasis on the political view of national solidarity, this was also prevalent through the feminist movements, and dominated over the solidarity of women . In the Ukraine, an exhibitionist feminist protest group

Iranians and people from the east are often look upon as terrorists and extreme fundamentalists. Before reading this book, I even saw Iran and the culture from that viewpoint. I saw the women of Iran as being passively oppressed and as Muslim women who had no voice.