Although women enjoyed sometimes important roles in ancient cultures such as the Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek, most women in the past and the present of Southwestern Asia and North Africa live in oppressive environments. Women are usually considered as tools of pleasure – tools to be thrown away when they ‘expire’. They have their roles […]
Monthly Archives: June 2016
Why are women’s roles limited in Southwestern Asia?
There are multiple causes that limit women’s roles in Southwestern Asia i.e. the Middle East. The first one has to do with the historical legacy as society equated physical strength to general ability, thus relegated women to a lower status than men. This has resulted in the objectification of women in many parts of Southwestern […]
The Middle Eastern Woman's Handbook
You heralded bad news to your family the minute your mom found out she was pregnant with a girl. You could’ve been buried alive at birth. Be grateful. You must get married, you must get married, you must get married, you must- you must! The family’s entire honor is between your legs. Keep them closed. […]
A Little Empathy Would Go A Long Way
I attended a Dubai Slam Poetry session few days ago and one of the talented young poets, Syrian Sarah Tamimi, told the story of war through a daughter’s promise to her departed mother: ‘Don’t look back’… What I understood from Sarah’s tearful performance which content evoked my own experience in Lebanon’s physical war zone in […]