Women in the Middle East

Sharia Law

• Body of Islamic religious law

• Legal framework within which the public and some private aspects of life are regulated

• There is no strictly static codified set of laws of sharia. Sharia is more of a system of how law ought to serve humanity, a consensus of the unified spirit.

Dress Codes

• Men have a more relaxed dress code: the body must be covered from knee to waist.

• Women are required to cover all of their bodies except hands and face.

• The rationale given for these rules is that men and women are not to be viewed as sexual objects.

• It is a common concern in the west that Muslim women are oppressed and forced to wear the Hijab or headscarf by their male counterparts. Muslim males contend that the majority of women choose to wear the garment of their own free will. The main principle reason for the hijab is modesty.

Burka

The burka is thought to have originated in the Arabian peninsula and can still be found there today.

HajibThe word hijab

refers to the variety of styles in which Muslim women use scarves and large pieces of cloth to cover their hair, neck and sometimes shoulders.

Chador

The chador is the full-body cloak

Muslim women in Iran are expected to wear outdoors.

NikabThe nikab is the form of Muslim veiling that comes closest to what is actually meant by the English word "veil."

Rights of Women in Saudi Arabia

• Able to attend universities (separated from men)• Work in female only occupations• Can keep their own name when married• Property protected• Cannot drive• Must wear hajib• Can only marry a Muslim• Can only divorce if granted by the man or approved by

court• Cannot talk to men outside their family• Gained right to vote in 2004

Saudi Arabia forbids women to eat while publicly exposed. All restaurants, have 'family areas' where women can eat behind the curtains.

Partition to separate the Single Men side from the Family Side

Penalties

• Mutawa – religious police

• Arrested, lashes

• “U.S. Woman Arrested in Saudi Arabia Starbucks”

Advances for Women

• Kuwait: Women are allowed to vote, but not run for office

• Egypt: Women allowed to travel overseas without approval from significant other

• Cairo: women are now allowed to file for divorce, but now must give up all financial claims

• Turkey: Women wear western styles of clothes• Egypt: female cops• Jordan: women are the majority in med school• Syria: female lawyers

Inaccurate Portrayal of Women

• Jihadists portray them as ignorant lambs who need to be protected from outside forces, while the United States considers them helpless victims of a backward society to be saved through military intervention.

• Millions of Muslim Arab women still love the societies they're born into, regardless of jihadist manipulation or American intervention. If reform is to come, they will surely be the ones who push it forward.

FAQ

• Do tourists or American women have to follow these laws?– In some instances. It is not necessary for

women to wear hajib, but most women will take one along in order to avoid harassment by the religious police. If foreign women are accused of a crime, they are subject to similar punishments as native women.

• What do they wear to swim in?– Burkinis have been developed.

Fulla

FULLA – a type of Jasmine grown in the Middle East

In September 2003 Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam.

The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful."

“The enemies of Islam want to invade us with all possible means, and therefore they have circulated among us this doll, which spreads deterioration

of values and moral degeneracy among our girls."

Outdoor and

Indoor Clothes

Clothing• “Outside” clothes

a black abaya and head scarf• “Inside” clothes

- Extensive Wardrobe- Skirts are below the knee and shoulders are always covered- Only seen by other women and male relatives

Outside Clothes in more liberal Muslim Countries

Unlike Barbie, Fulla does not date

Yasmeen and NadaFulla’s Best Friends

Tarek Mohammed, chief salesman at Toys’r'Us in Cairo, said: “Fulla sells

better because she is closer to our Arab values – she never reveals a leg or an

arm.”

Alternatives to Fulla

• Razanne in Britain and the United States

• In Iran, toy shops sell a veiled doll called Sara

• Moroccan doll called Leila