When Fatima Went Away

Have you ever wondered what Muslims and Jewish people have in common? In a short clip showing a Muslim and Jewish girl, Amina Iro and Hannah Halpern, spoke out against stereotypes they face and told the world how they shouldn’t be judged for who they are. This video had a positive impact on me because of the girls’ confidence, the examples and problems they face as being Muslim or Jewish, and the message the girls were saying.

The story starts pre-revolution, while Marji, the main character is 6 years old. She has a concrete grasp of her identity, even though very elementary and childish . At this age she only has one goal in her mind: "At the age of six, I was already sure I was the last prophet." (6 Satrapi). She has clean-cut idea of what she wants to do, which is to not discriminate on a class basis: "I wanted to be a prophet because our maid did not eat with us" (6). Also, Marji she wanted to ease her grandmother’s suffering : " ...and above all because my grandmother's knees always ached" (6). Marji even attempts to be an avid religious fanatic. She imagines god as her friend, guiding her as she goes and even tries to go and tries and helps her cope with her ideas that she is

The Iranian government forced its control on children by forcing segregating the schools and making girls wear the Iranian headscarf. Wearing the scarf represents the concealment of childhood in Iran for Marjane and her friends. Reformation in Iran comes with the protests, violence and eventually war which disguise the chance of childhood for the youth of the country. Marjane says, “we found ourselves veiled and separated from our friends” (4). Concealing these children from the childhood they deserved left them to deal with fear, anger, loss and death. Her story highlights the lack of stability children need to grow into responsible adults. Marjane’s story represents the thousands of children in Iran who are lacking the proper elements for child development because of the revolution.

In terms of the conflict perspective, it sheds a light on Karl Marx and Max Weber and their take of religion in society. While these two offer different views of religion from a conflict perspective, they suggest that faith has been used to justify or support social inequality. Since the conflict theory focuses on who holds the power in society, they would see where and what power Muslims hold. The feminist theory on this issue would ask how do these restrictions and actions towards Muslims affect women? The feminist theory in the face of Islam is constantly brought up because many people believe Islam oppresses their women. There are claims that the religious garments Muslim wear are oppressing and depleting their womanhood. With a symbolic interactionist perspective, it focuses on the way in which the words and meanings have an impact of interactions to individuals and groups in society. Islam is analyzed with its beliefs and meanings on how it flows through society and its impact within it. Since social problems are created and defined through interaction. Interactionists would look at the interactions to and of Muslims to determine how the social problem arised through expectations and social

In the exposition we meet our protagonist who is a young women of Islam who wears the traditional veil that muslim women are advised to wear under the law of the Quran were it says, “And tell the believing women to reduce some of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which necessarily

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that provides insight into a young girl living in Iran during the hardship of war. Persepolis takes place during the childhood of Marjane Satrapi. It gives a background of the Islamic Revolution and the war in Iran. Satrapi attempts to guide herself in a corrupted world filled with propaganda. She tries to develop her own morality concerning religion, politics, and humanity. Satrapi was blessed enough to have high class status and parents who had an open mindset about the world around them. Thanks to her slightly alternative lifestyle, she is able to reconstruct gender norms that society has set by depicting the different ways women resist them. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” by Lila Abu-Lughod is an essay detailing the misconceptions surrounding the veil. Through this essay we can see how colonial feminism, the form of feminism in which western women push for a western way of living on their third world counterparts, has shined a negative light on cultures all around the world - particularly Islamic women. The essay shows how women who don’t conform to American societal structures are labeled as women who urgently require saving. Through this essay one can develop a thorough understanding of the veil itself and the many representations it holds to different entities. Although in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Satrapi

One of the most controversial topics concerning Muslim women’s rights is the idea of the veil. It is believed by some Muslims that the veil is an Islamic obligation that all Muslim women must adhere to. But nowadays, the veil can have different meanings that are not necessarily religious. In her article “Reinventing the Veil,” Leila Ahmed addresses some of the different meanings that the veil can have. Marjane Satrapi explores one of those meanings in her animated autobiography Persepolis (2008). In Persepolis, Marjane tells the story of her rebellion against the Iranian Islamist regime that takes over Iran, oppresses women, and forces them to wear the veil. What was interesting to me was seeing Marjane wear the veil without being oppressed, although she does not believe in it, and is being forced to wear it. In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi escapes being a subject to the Iranian Islamist ideology by establishing her individual identity through transforming the veil from a means of oppression into a means of feminist rebellion.

It is difficult for Fatima to comprehend the American way of living especially from a woman’s perspective. She sincerely believes that her way is better. For an Arabic woman, particularly in the rural Iraq in 1950’s, marriage is the only goal and

Today, Islam is seen as a violent religion, the mention of Muslims anywhere strike fear into people. But yet there are more Muslim doctors, writers, engineers, scientist, thriving in first world countries than anyone else. Muslim people lack the ability to have their own identity due to the medias interpretation of them. It’s even more for Muslim women because they will forever be painted as Oppressed. In American Muslim Women by Jamillah Karim, the author gathers information about barriers Muslim women face living in Chicago and Atlanta, either through segregations, discrimination, and gender roles. The author mentions how people of the same ethnic background tend to stay together, instead of branching outside or their race, and how Muslim women are treated like underdogs when they interact with Muslim men in the mosque, at work, and etc. People that normally identify with the same race, religion, and ethnicity tend to stay together. This reading discussed “boundaries” that women face in the mosque and how they are bound to the back, while men are privileged with front row seats, closer to the Unman. The reason could be that these women that

The specific topic of this book is the oppression of women. Its overall purpose is to understand the women behind the veils and why the Muslim women take up the hijab. The purpose is also to show how

My headsets were on. When the Muslims started praying, the girl face’s expression showed how she confused, when she saw them. “That’s worried, are they doing a yoga or something,” she said. The another American guy explained to her, what they are doing. I was surprised by the guy’s knowledge about Islam because most people know that Islam is a relation but they do not know how they worship God. I would say something when she asked but the guy explained enough, that I had not anything addition to say, so, I kept quiet. Then, I realized how a diversity the community there and how people educated.

Day by day, Masa is growing up and becoming prettier. Anyone who meets her will admire for her beauty. However, god had given her a pretty face, but not had given her a kind heart. For she is always be praised since young, she become arrogant as she grow up and even ignore her parents when they asked her to pray to god. She thought everyone is attracted by my beauty; I do not need to beg to god. God knew this, he said to a prophet: “telling to Masa, when the arrogance comes, ugly is following. I will punish her, for her heart is filled with evil.” So, the next day, the prophet goes to Masa’s home, and tells Masa what the lord had said. At first, Masa do not believe the word from prophet, and still persists in her old way. That night, Masa feels uncomfortable when she sleeps, for she sense that her head is itch, and her whole body is a bit

Fatima Mernissi is a celebrated Moroccan author who has written several books which are critically acclaimed from a feminist perspective, however they have also been misconstrued by pundits specifically by men for their own personal benefits. In Fatima Mernissi’s book Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society, Fatima Mernissi focuses on sexual relations between men and women and how it effects societal dynamics. In the novel, Fatima Mernissi attempts to narrate the sexual inequality of women in the Muslim world and explores deeply in male-female relationships as a component of the Muslim society. She fears that the involvement between a man and a woman, which may be emotional and intellectual is a direct threat to

The characters portrayed by Leila Aboulela to a great degree vary vastly in their levels of religiosity. This novel showcases a wide spectrum of Muslim identities. Most of the devout believers follow Islam, as they are constantly expressing their faith, thru means of prayer, recitation or other adorations. These religious members are accepting of veil culture, because they have more to value than materialistic objects and western culture. For instance, the young school girls that wore tobes, while Najwa skirts to university. Also, the servants she had back home, as she would be coming home from a party at dawn, they would be make their absolution, “A light bulb came on. They were getting ready to pray. They had dragged themselves from sleep in order to pray. I was wide awake and I didn’t,” this quote from the novel, illustrates a young Najwa understanding the basis of Islam and the importance of prayer (Aboulela, 32) However, this is an evident class divide, illustrating that those with wealth are more secular and those with less are humbled towards their faith. In her time in London, Najwa befriends woman at the local mosque and develops an interest her recitation. Her realization and locality to religiousness triggers her spirituality.

This is a significant aspect of the course because the article examines the strengths and weaknesses of femininity through a cultural Muslim perspective and the reading is a prime example of how ideologies regarding race affect those involved. In class we have discussed the significances of social constructs and how assumptions are made on the basis of physical characteristics. In this situation, identity is related to gender as Muslim women are categorized as both good/respectful and rebellious/evil individuals because they are apart of a culture where they are both oppressed and liberated simultaneously.