A woman's changing role in house and work

The readings this week focused on the changing roles of women both in the home and the work force. The Ahmed reading talked about how under Jahilia woman had a different place in the home in Arabic countries than when the region switched to Islam.

I thought it was really interesting that Arabia used to follow matrilinial practices at all. I don't know if it's a stereotype of the Arab region or western teaching of it, but I never imagined that region being favorable to women. The anecdotal story of Muhammad's two wives really put the change into perspective.

I really liked that the author pointed out that while men could visit different wives, women could also have different husbands visit them. The polygamist tendencies went for both genders, they just weren't necessarily spoken about. This is another huge contrast to Islamic expectations of women in marriages. This early practice is more inclusive than the Mormon version of polygamy, and much more accepting than the Christian and Judaic practices of marriage.

The discussion of zina, or adultery, and its conditions were also very intriguing. I never knew, nor would have guessed, that the number of witnesses would have anything to do with a conviction of adultery. I always thought that sex in that region at that period in time was a very private thing. How would someone get four witnesses? Then I also remembered that a witness did not actually need to witness, I'm sure people could just accuse and have someone convicted.

The Amira reading about women in Jordan discussed women's changing and contradictory roles in the work force. Many times women can't have property in their names, they don't stand to inherit more than an eighth of their husband's property upon his death, and are expected to help support the family. The chapter touches on the double standard women are held too even in Islamic countries. They are expected to help provide for the family but when widowed they no longer have the means to do so. They do all the work and get none of the credit.

I always thought that women in the Middle East had less rights and freedoms than women in America/the west. While that's true for the most part these articles made me realize that women are fundamentally treated exactly the same, they also face a double standard and have unreasonable expectations for their behavior. While there are always changes to a woman's place in society, no society has overcome the obstacle of the double standard.

Afghanistan Unveiled

Afghanistan Unveiled is a documentary shot by female video journalists more than a year after the Talban left. While they were traveling around the country they encountered some difficulties in filming other women because their husbands and fathers did not think it was appropriate for them to be on camera. This is more than a year after the oppression of the Taliban and the men in the country still held tight to the beliefs that women shouldn’t be on film.

During one scene the students were walking through the village of Herat and did not see one woman. They questioned the men around them about where the women were and if they could speak with them. The response the students received was in reference to their faces not being completely covered. The students were wearing veils over their heads, however their faces were showing completely. The film caught the exchange on camera where one of the students challenged the male she was speaking with about the freedom women now have and tells him she is proud to show her face and is not afraid to do so. Watching this scene I was personally worried for her safety. Women in Afghanistan might have more freedom than before but I could not believe that she had the courage to say these things. This was the biggest contrast I saw in the film between the female students’ lives and those of the women they interviewed. The students had the courage to speak their minds and show their faces while the women they interviewed were visibly scared and did not want to seem like they were defying the rules of the men.

One woman that the students interviewed had been threatened to be killed if she did not marry a certain man. She had not met this man and did not want to marry him. She got out of doing so. While sharing her story in the film the scene kept cutting from showing this woman to showing scenes at a wedding with drums and celebration. I was confused by this choice. The woman interviewed was a victim who had to escape being married off and the wedding scenes were mostly happy and celebratory. I couldn’t tell if the producer or editor, whoever was in charge of putting that scene together, was trying to show the audience what this woman had escaped from or what she had missed out on. Or maybe they wanted to show both sides; how some women enjoyed their weddings and being married but some did not.

Another interesting aspect of the film that contrasted life of the students and other Afghan women was the conversation the students had with their male host. They asked him why he agreed to help them with their project and interviews. His response was that he wanted to prove that he was not like the Taliban. I thought this was an important contrast of the men’s views of the country in reference to the women.