Friday, December 4, 2009
Why this impossible feminism?
I guess I'm still pondering the purpose behind all the portrayals of women facing so much adversity in the texts we've read in this class. I suppose the fact that the conservative Islamic influence colors many of these narratives, which I can only associate with Thanawi's Perfecting Women since that is the extent of my knowledge in this area. But in other texts, the authors seem to be addressing the plight of women directly. And it certainly does seem that almost every female character has it bad. My question is: Are there happy women who aren't abused and taken advantage of? Does the frequency of these abuses in literature reflect the frequency of these abuses in life? If so, the authors must be calling for change. If not, then the question remains of why women are portrayed in this way.
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I think women are portrayed this way because it is an accurate portrayal of how a woman's life was at that time. Women were confined to the homed and expected to fulfill traditional domestic duties, with no concern for what the woman actually wants to do with her life. I think this is because in Islam, people are concerned with the good of the whole, not the individual. So the individual woman doesn't matter, only her contribution to the family a a whole. This is no way to live. The life of an Islamic woman just seems sad to me.
ReplyDeletehahah I like what both of you have to say. These are very interesting and difficult questions to answer. I certainly don't have any thoughtful ones. I would like to say something about thanawi though. Do you remember in class today when the professor said thanawi followers were much more conservative than he is? I don't think Thanawi as a progressive, but I don't want to say he is a conservative either. I know that he advocated for equality in Bihishti zewar and furthermore, wanted to raise the status of women to that of the men's.
ReplyDeleteSo how should we analyze your questions...? hummmm. I realized now how I always get off topic.
I also agree that women are portrayed this way because that's how their lives were largely dictated. I think it's interesting, though, in The Crooked Line, how Shaman manages to remain autonomous in light of the cultural milieu she's been brought up in. Yes, her marriage with Ronnie doesn't go well, but it was a marriage she herself agreed to, and feminism isn't about always making the right choices for yourself. So, yeah, these aren't always strong, liberated portrayals of women, but Chughtai at least allows her protagonist some agency in her life.
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