Ugh, whenever I try to explain the whole, "no, women are not inherently oppressed by Islam in all Middle Eastern societies" thing, I get so frustrated. Partly it's because I'm still wrestling with it, but some people just find it so difficult to believe that I come from a Muslim family, and yet even in Afghanistan in the 70s my mom and aunts wore miniskirts and went to university.
Middle Eastern women, particularly Muslims, are terribly, horribly oppressed: by their culture, by their religion, by their fathers, husbands, and brothers. This oppression is directly and linearly tied to their identities. If they were to leave their families, their religion, their culture, they would inherently become free. This puts it so perfectly. Middle Eastern women are so Othered, and so defined as subjects who need saving. A lot of Middle Eastern women are living under horrible oppression, but it's not just or entirely because they're Middle Eastern or Muslim. I get so sick of movies and news portraying it that way.
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Date: 2010-03-27 07:09 am (UTC)Middle Eastern women, particularly Muslims, are terribly, horribly oppressed: by their culture, by their religion, by their fathers, husbands, and brothers. This oppression is directly and linearly tied to their identities. If they were to leave their families, their religion, their culture, they would inherently become free. This puts it so perfectly. Middle Eastern women are so Othered, and so defined as subjects who need saving. A lot of Middle Eastern women are living under horrible oppression, but it's not just or entirely because they're Middle Eastern or Muslim. I get so sick of movies and news portraying it that way.