Women in the Middle East Essay -- Gender Roles, Oppression, Culture

In the book, Women in the Middle East, a Saudi Arabian proverb states, "A girl possesses nothing but a veil and a tomb" (Harik and Marston 83). The key words, "veil" and "tomb" lend evidence to the fact that many Middle Eastern women lack identity symbolized by the â€Å"veil† and lack the right of ownership except for their veil and the tomb. This statement further enforces the notion that many women in the Middle East are expected to serve and tolerate the oppression of the men in their lives throughout their lives on this earth. Moreover, it confirms that many of these women do not get the opportunity to obtain education, join the work force, and even participate in the political affairs of the country. This arrangement further helps the Middle Eastern men to view women as their properties, servants, or even as slaves. Ultimately, there are three main reasons why Middle Eastern men engage in the act of oppressing their women. One primary reason why Middle Eastern men oppress women is their deeply rooted belief system as well as their needs. For example, their belief that the Middle Eastern woman’s duty is being a dedicated homemaker encourages them to disallow her from seeking an education. Ramsay M. Harik and Elsa Martson, revisit this concept in their book, Woman in the Middle East, as they state that many males convince their women that education is unnecessary nor relevant to their household responsibilities. "The girl will spend her life cooking and having babies, why does she need to read or write? This was a common attitude in much of the Middle East until the last fifty years or so" (24). The common consensus was that once educated, these women would question many of the injustices suffered, would demand better treatment... ...emale relative is justifiable if she brings dishonor to the family" (86)... Many women do not stand up for their rights because they are scared from death; since many men killed women without feeling sympathy or without fearing from the consequences of laws. Therefore, laws are just another cause of the oppression of women. Middle Eastern women need to stand up for their rights and get educated to reverse the notion that they are servants and properties of their men. Furthermore, they need to rise up to their potentials and prove beyond doubt that they are equal to men. This practice would lead the path for future generations to follow and protect the inalienable rights of women. Finally, these women need to break the cycle of oppression by addressing these deeply rooted beliefs, gaining the tools to fight back, and joining forces to make lifelong changes.

Alcoholic Anonymous Essay

What I learned from Alcoholic Anonymous is that AA is meant for people who promise that they will never drink again and they drink again anyways. Its singleness purpose identifies that alcoholics work best with other alcoholics and the only difference from the twelve step fellowships out there is the first part of the first step and the middle part of the twelfth step. What I am powerless over and who we carry the message too? Many alcoholics in AA raise their hands introducing themselves as alcoholics, but never knew what it meant. In the Speakers meeting the groups felt really connected with the speaker, and gave him their full-undivided attention. The groups focused solely on the speaker and no one else, it was mainly white, black, and Hispanic men and women of all different ages starting from their early twenties up to their mid fifties. Around thirty people attended on October 21st at eight o’clock. The meeting was very humorous the speaker knew how to relate to the AA members by bringing his personal life experiences with alcohol to distribute his indication on the importance of sobriety. The speaker knew how to make the environment funny, happy, and outgoing. The speaker often referred to the Big Book specifying the hopeless condition and mind of the body. The first step is understanding the problem, the solution, and the program of action to bring back the solution. The main reason the speaker joined AA was because he could not imagine not drinking at all. The Big Book states that unless identification takes place then little or nothing can be accomplished. For the speaker the first step is the key in following through all the other steps. The question the speaker raised was what does it mean to be an alcoholic? He mentioned that one happens when he drinks it and the other happens when he does not drink it. Other than that he had a pretty good way of handling alcohol. The speaker always knew when to state his jokes. He described alcoholism as a physical allergy coupled with a mental obsession. The phenomenon the he craves when he wants a drink never occurs in the average drinker. This triggered a phenomenon craving to desire alcohol. An allergy meant that it was an abnormal physical reaction and the manifestation always showed up. The body of an alcoholic is quite abnormal as its mind. He got to AA not knowing how to explain his behaviors, and why he kept promising that he was not going to drink anymore and does it again repeatedly. The speaker always stated that he never knew the reason why he did it, his only reason was that he just did. Alcohol triggered a craving bigger than him that he couldn’t overcome. Men and women drink because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation was so illusive for him that the quantities and qualities started to move around. The sensation he received from alcohol was so strong that he could not differentiate the truth from the false. Today looked a whole lot like yesterday and yesterday looked a whole lot like last week and it seemed that he was doing just enough to get by. The speaker viewed his alcoholic life as the only normal one. His observations to the way he reacts to alcohol wouldn’t mean him anything if he didn’t take the first drink. The alcohol craving is in his mind rather than in his body. His physical allergy to alcohol is not his biggest problem his biggest problem is that he gets restless, irritable, and discontented. All his problem happen to him when he is sober, and his main problem was that he could not stop starting because his problems will not go away when he stops drinking. He couldn’t choose whether he was going to drink or not. He related to the audience that he loved pawned shops because it was a pure equation to him. He could walk in with a deer rifle and walk out with the money. He never had a pawnbroker ask him what is he going to do with the money. His only problem was that he did not own a lot of stuff so he had to pawn things that did not belong to him. This created hard feelings around his family. He was poorly treated as a child that he finally ran away at the age of 47, and never went back. I learned that alcoholics make awesome plans but their plans work right up to where they don’t work anymore. The speaker tried to pull some kind of scam that would get everything out of the pawnshop. He pulled an insurance scam and had enough money to get everything out but had to stop for one drink and he was blackout for five days and only remembers 30 seconds of it. He lost the power of choice and control. His life was becoming unmanageable and his first step was to admit he could not manage drinking.

Religious Persecution and Discrimination - 1220 Words

Discrimination is defined as negative attitudes or behavior between people with differences. Frequently, opponents label each other with spiteful words. However religious discrimination can lead to violence. Many times religious discrimination can cause judgment during employment, limited educational opportunities, and restrictive social interaction. Throughout the centuries, Judaism, Catholicism, and Islam have been negatively persecuted by numerous communities. Religious discrimination has impeded the right and ability of Jews’, Catholics’, and Muslims’ to practice freedom of religion rights worldwide. One of the most horrific examples of discrimination resulted from discrimination against Jews, and was called The Holocaust. Catholics†¦show more content†¦If a Jew practiced freely during turbulent times such as The Holocaust and the Russian pogrom, then he would most likely be killed or severely injured. The people of the world have been blind and ju dgmental many times. A different culture and different beliefs caused Judaism and the other ways of life to butt heads. This caused freedom of religion to be removed from the lives of the Jewish people experiencing these tragic trials. Discrimination against Catholicism restricts Catholics’ ability to practice freedom of religion. Discrimination against Catholics began from the creation of this religion; however, one of the most prominent times that it occurred was during presidential elections in America. It arose when Al Smith, a Catholic ran for president. His career started in New York as a governor, and soon after â€Å"†¦ he had become one of the most powerful and popular†¦politicians of that time.† Nevertheless along with popularity came disapproval. In 1924, he was denied the presidential nomination because the Ku Klux Klan objected to his religious beliefs. Shortly after, he was the unanimous choice for the 1928 election over Herbert Hoover, but â€Å"the religious issue continually haunted Smith throughout the campaign† (Dolan 1). During the campaign, the KKK burned crosses wherever he traveled, and many groups portrayed Smith as a drunkard, making up slogans such as  "A vote for Al is a vote for rum A vote to empower America’s scum.† When voting time came,Show MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Religious Persecution On The Middle Eastern Countries1353 Words   |  6 Pagesdemonic. Because that’s when you get religious wars and persecution and burning heretics at the stake,† John Shelby Spong, a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church, stated about religious persecution circumnavigating the globe. In today’s world persecution is a natural reaction to any kind of foreign belief established in a country that is governed by the it’s original religious foundation. An example of this would involve, ISIS terrorizing smaller religious groups like the Yazidi people whoRead MoreThe Value Of Faith And Religion1479 Words   |  6 Pagesof their religion and their religious practices. The most notable is the genocide of Jews during World War II. Many Jews were killed by Nazis and many more died in the concentration ca mps due to the harsh and cruel conditions they were forced to endure. Unfortunately, religious persecution is still a major problem in the world today. The value of faith and religion is something we overlook and take advantage of every day. Once we raise awareness of religious persecution and enforce the value of faithRead MoreReligious and Ethnic Diversity863 Words   |  4 PagesReligious and Ethnic Diversity ETH 125 February 3, 2013 Religious and Ethnic Diversity Mormonism is a uniquely American religion, have been founded by Joseph Smith Jr., of New York (The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints,  2013). 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A group that has suffered from discrimination and attacks is the religious minority community. Those who are apart of any religion besides Hinduism are considered a religious minority. These consist of the religions: Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, BuddhistsRead MoreThe Between Islam And Middle Eastern Countries1124 Words   |  5 Pagesthe Prophet, the migration to Medina, the battles of the early community, the return to Mecca and the subsequent conquests under the Ri ghtly Guided caliphs p. 88†. The religion of Islam that Muslims identify with is fairly new as compared to other religious such as Judaism and Christianity. The Quran holds three basic teachings; through law, the previous prophets ( Mohammed), and the final judgment ( Enlightment). 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