Women: Oppression Of Women In The Middle East

Although the issue of women’s rights has attracted international recognition and support, women still face many inequalities and barriers. Gender-based violence and economic discrimination are problems in many parts of the world.

The female population is being denied their right to participate and to be taken seriously within society. Women are not being taken seriously by their fellow man. Specifically women should have the right to express themselves with the belief that they would be taken seriously. A man is more likely to believe another male than a female even if they are married. Women are being denied their equal rights. They are not able to express their thoughts. they are unable to move forward not only in the life, but in their careers. Women are being held back and not able to advance in the work field because they are female.

For years women have been associated with the discriminating roles society has placed on them. For decades now many women have been trying to change the gender gap in pay, being unable to vote, and maltreatment of several thousand a year. The causes of several women have helped them get to where they stand now in society.

Through out history many would say that women have finally been liberated from the cruel injustice of the patriarchal society. Through Women’s suffrage to what seems to be an equal paying jobs now in society. Yet time and time again, society had fail to comply with the freedom that females deserve. Women’s population as a whole in a global aspect still to this modernized society are being looked down upon for their gender, believing that women are weak beings and are incapable of making logical decisions without the waiver of emotions. (Even after hundreds of years for society to become equal, on a global ideal, misogyny is still extremely alive integrated with our everyday lives.

From the beginning of time, women all around the world have been fighting to escape oppression. Women everywhere are living under the control of men and are often looked over; it has been an ongoing issue for years. Much too often women are treated as lesser human beings just because of their gender. Women and men both have the same capability to do great things in the world; it is just a matter of making it known. Throughout the years, many women have found their voice, but many have not. More specifically, women in Middle Eastern countries have fought to have education, jobs, and even basic human rights. Today in the United States it is common for women to be as in control and educated as men, but women in the Middle East are still fighting for that right. The women from these countries fear for their lives every time they attend school. Oppressed women in the Middle East are denied access to education that they must seek due to the negative economic, political, and cultural expectations placed on them.

Some say the world is our oyster. There are so many beautiful places to visit and many adventures to experience in the short lives that we live. With the vast choices available the one place I would not live Baghdad, Iraq. Baghdad is the largest a city within Iraq, and it is experiencing many violent acts. Here, the women are also oppressed. They must govern themselves according o their male figures. The biggest reason I cannot live here is because it is too far from home for me.

In conclusion, women in Muslim culture, especially in Afghanistan, have been violated of their right to a safe and free life. Hopefully the way men treat women in these societies changes for the better. As humans, people all know what is morally right and are capable of treating each other fairly, and if everyone were to act this way, the oppression towards women may be

To be more specific women have to have a man’s permission to even do things as little as studying. It is documented that a 40 year old mother had to get permission from her 23 year old son to ride a plane, because legally he is her “guardian” even though she’s the mother. Women are rarely allowed to file for divorce against they’re husband, and can actually be killed for wanting to divorce her husband. When a woman is killed for going against the “rules” it is known as an honor killing. (Free Middle East Organization 1).In the Middle East it is becoming more and more acceptable for men to just “kill off” women when they feel the woman is doing something wrong. In a TV studio in Istanbul, an awkward yet telling moment unfolded for the cameras. “During a show similar to America's "The Bachelor," a new bachelor was introduced: Sefer Calinak. Before 2000, Calinak was convicted of murdering his two previous wives. He served 4½ years for his first murder and six years for the second. Calinak was in search of a new spouse. During his introduction, show hostess Seda Sayan asked, “Have you ever seen a murderer with such a smiling face?” The audience in the studio laughed and cheered, but then an uproar followed on social media.”(Tremblay 1) Women in the Middle East have very limited roles in the society, so they’re opinions are more often than not over-looked. Overall, in the culture of the Middle Eastern people, women are just not looked at as highly as the men, and it is very apparent in the way they are treated. (Moghadam

When non-Muslims in the United States think of Islam the first things that comes to many their minds are September eleventh, terrorist, the middle east, and oppression of women. Most Americans believe that Muslim women must be oppressed because they have to wear “those veils over their heads”, completely cover themselves, and their husbands are allowed to have multiple wives. A survey last year by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that more than half of the 1,000 U.S. respondents believe that Islam encourages the oppression of women.( al-Jadda, A veil doesn't mean 'oppressed,1). But are Muslim women really oppressed or do they have a choice? In this paper I will look at the viewpoint of three Muslim women. The first one is Sumbul Ali-Karamali the author of The Muslim Next Door . The second is Aisha Stacey who is an Australian revert to Islam that works as a writer at the Fanar Cultural Islamic Centre in Doha, Qatar. The third is Khalida Tanvir Syed who is the author of Through White Noise , but the source I will be referring to is a paper she wrote called Misconception About Human Rights and Women’s Rights In Islam. I will also look at the viewpoint of Azam Kamguian, who is an Iranian writer and women's rights activist and my final source.

Many politicians argue that foreign interventionism is a responsibility of the United States, as the “world’s policeman,” but perhaps the responsibility lies instead with the church. For example, protestant reformation started as a push for religious freedom and correct theology, yet it fundamentally altered political thought and the governments of many nations. The people of the Middle East suffer primarily from bad government. Therefore, it can be fixed by a turn to government based on a Biblical worldview. The proper entity to fix the Middle East are the Christians living there, who must apply their worldview across the board, and who should reform their society on the basis of reality. Islamic law, beliefs, and unfriendly foreign interference have to halt before the Middle East can be a less violent and dangerous area.

Women are extremely oppressed across the world, and although the 21st century image of a woman is an image of prosperity, confidence, health, and beauty, for billions of women in the world, this image is not their reality. A plethora of women still experience violence, isolation, enforced ignorance and oppression in the world; while some progress has been made for women’s rights around the globe, there is magnitude of work that needs to be done. Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of New York-based Equality Now stated, "there is not one single country where women can feel absolutely safe." Education, violence, and restrictive laws are just some of the issues causing barriers for women. One of the worst countries for women, in today’s world is Afghanistan. The Middle East Institute reported, “starving widows, under-age girls forced into marriage, high maternal death rates, rape, murder, incest, abductions, wife-beatings, self-immolation, deprivation of education, burning of girls’ schools, restricted

As a woman, I have witnessed the progress that American women have made and continue to make, in fighting for women's basic human rights. However, the road has been far more difficult for Muslim women in the Middle East. Muslim women in the Middle East are currently being oppressed. They don’t have the liberty to freedom of speech, and choice of marital status/marital spouse. They are also prone to violent crimes, and sexual assault. All under a systematic government that is dedicated to dominate women. (CNN Wire) The Islamic religion does not oppress women, men within their patriarchal society do.

There are so many problems in the world that many people can’t seem to agree or disagree on. Some of these issues are based on some of the simplest things such as ethnic background, who you are married too, how you live your life and the decisions some countries make that affect a whole people. Some of these issues can and have moved into a nationwide or worldwide struggle to change the issues at hand.

In every country around the world, women's lives are shaped by the influences of both society and by religion. “The Quran, Islam’s holy book, mandates that women have the right to seek education, choose their own mates, work, possess and inherit wealth or property, divorce, and remarry” (Hurley 76). So despite the Quran’s clear support for women’s rights and equality, why do many people feel that Muslim women are oppressed? The hijab head covering worn by Muslim women has been in the news on and off for some time now and has been a topic of many debates. Here in America, one would feel this requirement on women as oppressive, but most Muslim women feel that this is a way to be looked at not for their beauty, but for their minds. The issues here is that people have a hard time differentiating between culture and religion, two things that are completely different but have a huge effect on each other. People also have a hard time understanding things that are different. Just because it is different than how we live, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.

Although they have been given more rights and equality, women still lack fairness in areas such as education, domestic abuse, crime, and lower class value. Cassandra Clifford states in her article “Are Girls still marginalized? Discrimination and Gender Inequality in Today’s Society”, “Woman and girls are abused by their husbands and fathers, young girls are exploited by sex tourism and trafficking, girls in many countries are forced into arranged marriages at early ages. Twice as many women are illiterate as men, due to the large gap in education, and girls are still less likely to get jobs and excel in the work place than boys.” She describes some of the issues that women face today around the world. These issues are what keep society from coming together to form a better world.