Notes

Abdel-Fattah, Randa. "Ending Oppression in the Middle East: A Muslim Call to Arms."
abc.net.au. 29 April 2013. Web. 13 November 2013.
Feminism in the Middle East
Saudi Arabia's religious police have recently allowed women to ride bikes in parks and recreational areas on the condition that they are accompanied by a male relative and dressed in an abaya (Abdel-Fattah).
Before 2011, women were not allowed to work with men in the same environment, now thought, that rule has been changing (Abdel-Fattah).
"Every day it is a struggle for women to reconcile their deep conviction in, and devotion to, the Islamic faith with the sickening reports of abuses of the many other women in the name of Islam" (Abdel-Fattah).
Some think that the oppression of women is just a means of coveting power and dominating women. A lust for control that is both illogical and pathetic (Abdel-Fattah).
There is a fine line between the amount or kind of feminism that westerners impose upon Middle Eastern women and a Femen-devotee who preaches the form of Islamophobia in the belief that a liberated woman is a woman who has rejected Islam (Abdel-Fattah).
Religion Not Necessarily the Problem
"Ultimately, some do not see Islam as the problem; some see it as the platform for change instead of the platform for oppression" (Abdel-Fattah).
The writer expresses that "she met women from across the Middle East, and had come to realize just how distorted Western perceptions of Muslim women and men are". (Abdel-Fattah).
The Islamic beliefs that men have in thinking of women as inferior, or construct their relationships with women in terms that define them as sexual temptresses, are ideas based on misinterpretations of Islam and the Qur'an (Abdel-Fattah).
Women in the Middle East are not as Helpless as Some Think
Women in the Middle East are trying to improve their lives, and are slowly but surly succeeding to a point, some without the help of westerners (Abdel-Fattah).
The women apart of Islam in the Middle East are constantly abused by men, but some disagree with the idea that westerners have of feminism (Abdel-Fattah).


Kelly, Sanja. "Middle Eastern Women Still Face Slow Progress in Overcoming Oppression."
Human Rights. Ed. David M. Haugen and Susan Musser. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013.
Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Recent Gains and New Opportunities for Women's Rights
in the Gulf Arab States." Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa. 2010.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. EJ3010144298
Modest but Important Progress
In country's around the world, important steps are being taken to help improve women's rights in the Middle East (Kelly).
"In 2005, women in Kuwait received the same political rights as men, which enabled them to vote and run for office in the parliamentary elections the following year" (Kelly).
In 2006 and 2008, the first women judges were elected in Bahrain and in the UAE (Kelly).
Since about 2003 women have had more say in public life, education, and business in Saudi Arabia and in most of the gulf countries. Along with these things, women can now travel more freely than before (Kelly).
"An earlier push to improve the quality of women's education, combined with the growing presence of women in the workplace, has prompted an increasing number of women to demand greater rights in other spheres of life, including politics and family" (Kelly).
Challenges to Equality Remain
There are laws that say that women have these rights, but can only be enforced if the authorities enforce it, which is apparent in nearly all the other countries (Kelly).
"Throughout the region, persistent patriarchal attitudes, prejudice, and the traditional leanings of male judges threaten to undermine these new legal protections." (Kelly).
A big issue in the countries like UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait is the issue of female migrant workers, who are susceptible to abuse by private employers due to language barriers, lack of education about their rights, and a lack of protection under national labor laws (Kelly).
Many women in this situation face slavery like conditions when engaged in domestic employment, which includes their freedom of movement being limited, their employers illegally confiscating their passports to prevent them from running away, and them being subjected to verbal and physical abuse (Kelly).
Economic Empowerment Grows Despite Persistent Challenges
"In nearly all countries, women today are better represented in the labor force and play a more prominent role in the workplace than was the case five years ago. In Kuwait, for example, the proportion of adult women with jobs has increased from 46 percent in 2003 to 51 percent in 2007" (Kelly).
Cultural attitudes are being changed slowly seeing as literacy and educational opportunities for women are being increased along with the number of working women (Kelly).
Offenhauer, Priscilla. "Women in Islam: An Overview." Women in Islamic Societies: A Selected
Review of Social Scientific Literature. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2005. Rpt. in
Women in Islam. Diane Andrews Henningfeld. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. EJ3010363219
Muslim Women and Patriarchy
"Women in Muslim societies and communities face gender-based inequalities associated with the so-called "patriarchal gender system." Aspects of this originally pre-capitalist system persist in rural areas across a wide swath of lands, both Muslim and non-Muslim, from East Asia to North Africa" (Offenhauer).
The system of patriarchy includes kin-based extended families, male domination, early marriage, restrictive codes of female behavior, the linkage of family honor with female virtue, and occasionally, polygamy comes into play. In Muslim areas, veiling and sex-segregation are also part of the patriarchy system (Offenhauer).
"Most current scholarship rejects the idea that the Islamic religion is the primary determinant of the status and conditions of Muslim women. Because of the wide variation in Muslim women's status and conditions, researchers typically attribute more causal salience to determining factors that themselves vary across nations and regions" (Offenhauer).
The biased interpretation of the writings of Islam (like those of Christianity and Judaism) have been understood in ways that support patriarchal social relations (Offenhauer)
Practices such as female circumcision, polygamy, early marriage, and honor killings are not limited to just Muslim populations and are far from universal in terms the Muslim population (Offenhauer)
Women's Legal Position and Rights
"The legal systems under which women live in Muslim countries are mostly dual systems. They consist, on the one hand, of civil law, which is indebted to Western legal systems, and on the other hand, of family or personal status law, which is mainly built upon Sharia, Islamic religious-based law" (Offenhauer).
Because it is a dual system, the Islamic family law is a barrier towards equality for women in the Middle East (Offenhauer).
Islamic family law addresses marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance. These ideas have long been a target for change (Offenhauer).
Health and Education
The category of health and education is the place where women have made the most progress over the last few decades. For example, a generation ago women in MENA had among the lowest levels of education in the world. MENA females are now in the same level as men when it comes to education in some instances (Offenhauer).
"Viewed in terms of large-scale statistical indicators, Muslim women are becoming ever more like other women. This fact undercuts the assumption that "Islam" would inhibit Muslim women's participation in such worldwide trends as declining childbearing" (Offenhauer). Shabi, Rachel. "Wadja and the Saudi Women Fighting Oppression from Within."
theguardian.com. 7 August 2013. Web. 13 November 2013.
Restrictions and Changes towards Women in the Middle East
Some of the things that girls and women are not allowed to do include the ban on driving or mixing with men; the taboos over laughing or talking in public, or riding bicycles because these might defile virginity (Shabi).
"In January, the Saudi monarchy announced that women would for the first time be appointed to the Shura council (the country's closest thing to a parliament) and soon be given the vote in municipal elections" (Shabi).
Last year women were allowed to play in the Olympic for this first time and the ban of working on supermarket checkouts, in lingerie stores and on cosmetics counters has been lifted recently (Shabi).
In July of this year, it was announced that women could ride bikes, though the had to be clothed from head-to-toe and were accompanied by a male guardian. They can only ride in restricted areas for recreation only (Shabi).
Haifaa al-Mansour said: "We should be happy that changes like this are taking place. I know they seem like they are small and they don't mean much, but it shows that attitudes towards women are changing, and women are getting more liberties, even if it is very slowly. There is still a long, long way to go, but hopefully things like this pave the way for bigger changes" (Shabi)
Trouble Accepting the Changes
Some others have been outraged by the minuscule and practically meaningless changes. Some Saudi men apparently wondered if the ruling was an April fool's joke (Shabi).
All of these things fall into a wider debate about feminism and if a woman of faith can really be a feminist (Shabi).
"The overriding system of subjugating women endures – a shocking reminder of that came a week ago, as two of Saudi's prominent women's right activists, Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Ayouni, were sentenced to 10 months in prison and a two-year travel ban, for "kidnapping" a Canadian woman (who was trying to flee an abusive marriage and reach the Canadian embassy in Riyadh)" (Shabi).
Some do not see Islam as a problem, but the problem being the interpretations of Islam and domineering men taking over and not following the Qur'an (Shabi).
Some Muslim women hope that one day western feminist will think more about the actual women in that country, trying to deal with it all and trying to challenge it from within (Shabi).

Voula. "Women Are Oppressed Under Islam." Rpt. from "Islam and Women's Rights." 2003.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. EJ3010228243
Patriarchal and Monotheistic Religions
"When confronted with the issue of women's plight in Muslim countries, Muslim apologists insist that their religion has been misunderstood and that Islam actually grants women certain rights. They blame tradition and tribal societies for the low status and oppression of women" (Voula).
The women in turkey are the most liberated in Muslim world, thanks to the founder of the modern Turkish republic, Kemal Ataturk. (Voula).
"Some Muslim scholars agree that Mohammed did proclaim some rights for Muslim women. For example he abolished the pre-Islamic Arabian custom of burying alive unwanted female infants. He also decreed that women could own and inherit property, and that women have the right to enjoy sex" (Voula).
Many of the rights that women could have in the Middle East are stopped by the words of the Qur'an (Voula).
Excerpts from the Qur'an "Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because men spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those among you who fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Sura2 4:34
... Women shall with justice have rights similar to those exercised against them, although men have a status above women. God is mighty and wise. Sura 2:228" (Voula).
Under the Islamic law (also know as Shari'a), a man can have up to four wives and can divorce his wife (wives) by saying the words 'I divorce you' three times, but is very difficult for a woman to divorce her husband (Voula).
When the wives actually manage to get a divorce, the father wins custody of boys over the age of six and girls on the onset of puberty. This is the reason many women are or would be reluctant to divorce potentially violent or polygynous husbands for fear of losing their children. Children are considered the property of the father with the mother only being the caretaker (Voula).
Under the Shari'a, compensation for the murder of a woman is half the amount of that of a man. A woman's testimony in court is worth only half of a man's. Women are entitled to only half the inheritance of males.
Punishing Adultery
In the Qur'an the penalty for adultery is one hundred lashes and a year in exile—sura 24:1 but Mohammed did condemn people to be stoned to death (Voula).
In Pakistan since Islamization, rape victims are charged with "zina" (sex outside marriage) and are sent to prison (Voula).