The Woman Question
The role of women is crucial to any society's formation. Particularly in the Middle East, the correlation between gender and the nation is instrumental in the formation of the modern state. Essentially, the "Woman Question" attempts to understand the role of women within the modern state and their effect on its construction. It is not a gendered analysis but a holistic approach to understanding society in the Middle East. In following the emergence of women's movements in Egypt, Jordan, and Iran, a connection is clear: Nationalism and revolutions, or the lack thereof, have impacted women immensely. To understand the status of women in these countries, the relationship between women and the state must be established. In her examination of women's movements from 1900-1945, Ellen Fleischmann presents three thematic stages of development. The first is the awakening in which social practices that effect women are questioned. Following this awakening, is an "adoption of nationalism as a liberating discourse," which connects women's nationalist activities to their liberation. Finally, the third stage brings the evolution of state feminism. In this way, "nationalism often had a 'releasing effect' on women...through their involvement in
The religious establishment was responsible for personal status laws and in this way "it was the family that represented the sovereignty of the nation and its culture. Instead women have had to work against the state through publications such as Zanan. Because so much money was poured into the military, the government invested less in social welfare projects and other women's issues. Twice the Pahlavi state took over the "woman question" as an issue of state policy, restricting women's freedom. When the Nasser regime realized that women's rights activism would not diminish, he incorporated gender issues into his socially progressive agenda. This early military construction resulted in women's exclusion from the state. The feminist movement, which began in conjunction with the revolution, was precluded by male domination. However, "the 'modernizing state' and the Shiite clergy constructed each others' domains of authority and produced Islam and feminism as mutually exclusive, so much so that many of us continue to find the category 'Islamic feminism' difficult to imagine. A repressive government led to the suppression of women within the home and society. " Because of tradition, cultural mores, and the history of state formation, women continue to be excluded from important positions outside the home. This third stage of woman's movements, however, did not bring about significant change. For rural and Bedouin women, honor is the responsibility of the woman and her main role is to bear male children. In 1991, the National Charter specified equality regardless of sex.
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Acceptance Essays
