Women in the Middle East Essay Example

Women of the Middle East have far been viewed as an oppressed group. From the desert sands of Saudi Arabia to the mountainous lands of Afghanistan, Arab women have faced many hardships in their society. While the role of a woman is meant to be nurturing and domestic, many have moved on to a more modern view, and have taken on the role as educators and laborers. Arab women threaten the traditional family structure by doing so; however, for many it is a sacrifice they are willing to make, as they see that the world has more to offer than just household chores and childbearing. A battle between culture and religion has arisen, as Islam allows women the right to education and a separate income from their spouse. And as Arab women continue to seek education and work, society's expectations hover over them, giving more strength to those who oppose such actions.
In that past decade or so, Arab women have risen in the workforce, and have included a solid education in their early life achievements. However, the idea of a successful, educated Arab woman started long ago, dating back almost 1500 years ago, when the wife of Prophet Muhammad, Khadija, owned her own caravan and was her own employer; a successful one at that. However, after the Prophet's death, the status of women slowly began to decline, and by the early 1900's, Arab women's status had been dwindled down to that of oppression and non-education. Because of this, several feminist women movements arose in the 1930's and 1940's, the most famous one led by Huda Sha'rawi in Egypt (Sidani 2005). Even though these feminist movements helped encourage Arab women to get back on the rise in society, only a handful were able to achieve that, as many countries such as Saudi Arabia still held the status of women back.
It is important to note that Arab women are not just Muslims, they are Christians as well. And so the idea of a woman taking care of the family and watching over the home is not a foreign idea to these two