Advocating and safeguarding human rights is a venerable moral responsibility that transcends gender, culture, race, and religion. However, as Lila Abu-Lughod contends in her book Do Muslim Women Need Saving?, those championing the cause of Muslim women’s rights need to thoughtfully consider the social, cultural, historical, and religious backgrounds of the diverse array of women they are trying to represent. Abu-Lughod, is an anthropologist who has been researching and recording women’s lives for over twenty years, with much of her research occurring in the Middle East (Abu-Lughod, 2015). After witnessing Muslim women being used as a political platform for the United States to justify military action in the Middle East, Abu-Lughod began examining her ethnographic research to evaluate Western and Eastern perceptions of the oppression of Muslim women (Abu-Lughod, 2015). …show more content…
Furthermore, Abu-Lughod asserts that colonialism and feminism are strong factors in the frantic effort to rescue Muslim women (Abu-Lughod, 2015). Colonialism exploits skewed Western views of Muslim culture to justify political intervention and military occupation in Eastern nations, touting these efforts as protective (Abu-Lughod, 2015). Subsequently, in working to save helpless marginalized Muslim women, feminists ignorantly impose their Western views of liberties, freedoms, and rights on their Middle Eastern contemporaries without considering that their views may not be shared ubiquitously (Abu-Lughod, 2015). The author conclusively raises the question as to whether humanitarian efforts directed toward Muslim women could, perhaps, be a disguise for colonialism (Abu-Lughod,
The constant sexualization of the female immigrants made them constantly exploit themselves in order to please the soldiers, often in order to create a ‘good’ impression. “Like the vacant stares of the women who stood at the fence and let the soldiers fondle them in broad daylight” (Bala 366). These quotes illustrate how women in war-torn countries are often under more risk and are in need of more protection and services when immigrating to new countries. In addition, Savitri Kumuran offers Mahindan sexual acts in exchange for documents and identification, proving how corrupt the women had become due to the exploitation they faced. “I don’t have money, she said.
Former President Jimmy Carter gives readers a look into his fight for women’s equality in his early life, presidency, and involvement in the Elders Organization in his book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power. This book serves as an urgent message to all nations and religions regarding the inequality women face not only in developing nations, but in the United States and other first-world countries, where women confront different kinds of oppression and mistreatment that often go unnoticed and unaddressed. A major focus in this work is the struggle of women in African and Middle Eastern countries where male hierarchy is still deeply integrated into customs and society. He explains how the Carter Center has worked side-by-side with international leaders and human-rights activists to address issues such as honor killings, FGC (Female Genital Cutting) and HIV, and has made incredible progress in combating these concerns.
Women have been politically and socially disadvantaged by various governing bodies throughout history. The 1979 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan caused resentment fueled uprisings against the communist regime. Resistance groups steadily developed against the regime, one group specifically–The Taliban–absorbed the power after the Soviet retreat. With radicalized teachings of Sharia Law–a set of Islamic Religious codes–the Talbian strictly limited the rights of women. The harmful effects of misogyny in Khaled Hosseni’s A Thousand Splendid Suns is depicted through various interactions between female characters and their community, thus displaying how a society dependent on a patriarchal system will inherently disadvantage women by forcing them
While Kate may at first sight represent militarism, she deals with the negative effects of U.S. militarism on women’s safety and rights. Therefore, Kate and Naema have transnational gender struggles from different
The Taliban have stripped women of their basic human rights and subjected them to a life of seclusion. What has been promised by the Taliban before the reoccupation has dissipated as they recreate a brutal fundamentalist regime that seems to wish for the eradication of women's thoughts and ideas. Fawzia Koofi is one of the courageous women who have spoken out against the Taliban and fought for democracy, actions that have caused her to be the target of many assassinations. In Fawzia Koofi’s article, she urges international communities to release the fallacy they have clung to and put an end to the sense of impunity the Taliban have to enjoy by using anecdotes and a variety of
The essay will help explaining the reasons behind women silence and subordination, and Rasheed’s aggressive reactions toward women. Repression, Resistance, and Women in Afghanstan is a book written by Hafizullah Emadi. The book deals with the multiple factors that reinforce women 's oppression both at home and in society. This book provides a detailed analysis of
They reject the basic theory and they rather believe that the diverse cultures are the source of human rights. On the other hand, on the side of feminist, they rather believe that in the real life the one who holds the human rights are not women but men, and ‘that gender equality, and freedom from discrimination for women, is given a low priority in the international arena’ (Donnelly in Reitman 1997, 100). This journal attempts to explain to the readers how both cultural
Introduction It is true that many countries in the world are known for chauvinistic practices and Afghanistan is one among them. Khalid Hosseini, in his work, A Thousand Splendid Suns, portrays with gripping words to underscore the chauvinism against women therein. To quote, “ Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman”1 The worst of the cruelty practiced is very much justified using religious dogmas as a political thought. The violence is quite remarkable under the Taliban theocracy where politics and religion have a common victim that unfortunately, is a woman!
How has the woman’s status changed before and after Islam? Introduction A significant difference can be seen regarding the status of woman before and after Islam. Many old cultures and societies disqualified woman from her rights and preferred to give it only to men.
There are numerous objects in our lives that demonstrate social relations and how different people may view either the objects or those using the objects. For one thing, articles of clothing are something that many people use as a way to define an individual when in social environments. This typically, will affect our relations directly because it changes the power of a person and the article of clothing from person to person, which leads to different judgement of individuals. Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving by Lila Abu-Lughod and Identity Dub: The Paradoxes of an Indian American Youth Subculture (New York Remix) by Sunaina Maira are two texts that demonstrate this very concept. In discussing objects and social relations, we learn a lot
This highlights the importance of how these acts of cruelty Mariam and Laila faced; ‘fear of the goat, released in the tiger’s cage’ is what ultimately defines their inner feminist strength, ‘over the years/learned to harden’ which shows that Mariam and Laila’s past indirectly prepares them for The Taliban’s arrival. The Taliban take away the basic rights of Mariam and Laila ‘jewellery is forbidden’, but they fail to do so. Ironically, it is the society itself that gives them the strength and platform to strike back against Rasheed, who is a cruel, male-dominating character who symbolised and reinforced everything the term ‘anti-feminist’ stands
During the British occupation of Egypt in 1880, many anti-western sentiments rose as a result of Egyptian nationalism. As a result of the demonstrations and protests that erupted demanding for independence, many historians believe that it to be the catalyst for Egyptian feminism and activists demanding for higher education and equal rights. To what extent did the British occupation of Egypt lead to the rise of feminism from 1880 to 1930? The scope of my investigation is focused on the British occupation of Egypt from 1882 to 1930 when women’s problems were getting addressed.
Russia invading Afghanistan in 1979 marked the beginning of the end for all the new freedoms the earlier decades had brought. (The Week UK) As Afghanistan has no doubt been known to be connected to war, these women have suffered the consequences. Over the last several decades, the country has been inhabited by U.S troops as well as communist soviet troops. As Afghanistan is dominated by militant groups and the Islamic Taliban, women’s rights have been more often than not taken advantage of for political gain.
The Kurdish Movement has been shaped by a great number of extraneous circumstances and for the Kurds it has truly become a movement of necessity in light of recent events. Furthermore, conflict has brought about significant change in regard to the rights of women in the region. The YPJ or women’s protection units have seen a remarkable rise in the face of rebellion and the sprawl of the Islamic states caliphate. Many reports have even gone as far as saying that ISIS fighters fear the YPJ the most, because death at the hands of a woman would deprive them of paradise.
In recent times, the political and economic situation in Palestine combined with the conflict between Israel and Palestine has brought violence and social discomfort, for this reason, some women have chosen to leave their gender roles behind to join the fight. Women in war are not new to the world, as we have