Category: Gender

The ubiquitous spread of influence that instills hope, life, and compassion. The courage required to create change, the hunger to create a world full of hope. The spaces present in every valued life. The cavity in the human body that encompasses this space. This space or this container encompasses where we breathe, eat and sleep; life. In troubled and difficult times do we hide in fear and give up on our lives? Do we have the energy to climb out and help our fellow brothers and sisters? The influence to enlighten and guide others. The influence to spark the world’s true colors. The influence to transform a tradition into a revelation. Envisioning the crystal, fresh blue waters in the Aegean Sea, where women are young, and the Islamic culture fosters the use of jalabiya, the rapture and extremity of being Muslim. The exposure to cultures shaped by men or a single male figure creates a universal standard in defining worship, a concept that establishes a reckoning of limitation relative to the preservation of self-doubt; nonetheless, three prominent female figures were able to defeat this culture.

One well-known woman in the Ottoman Empire, Hurrem Sultan also known as Roxelana was born in 1502. At 15 years of age, Hurrem joined the harem and her role over the years has solidified. Starting out as a harem slave, and moving on to be Sulieman’s concubine was systematic, yet remarkable. Her rise in the harem drew much attention, and jealousy from other people. Over the course of the next 5 years, she gave birth to 5 children. To an extent, Sulieman’s children were so plentiful that they could seal the future of the Ottoman Empire. Being well known at this point, Roxelana earned herself a new name, Hurrem, of Persian origin translating to, “the cheerful one”. Moreover, despite being a strong rival to Sulieman’s consort, Mahidevran, Hurrem had an effective influence over Sulieman, making her a well-respect legend. In other words, it is deemed a violation for a concubine mother to have more than one son to prevent a mother’s influence from surpassing the Sultan and causing tensions between brothers for the rightful one to the throne. Though this rule was intact within the old imperial harem principle, Hurrem managed to give Suleiman 5 sons. This managed to ease the tensions between the Hurrem and Mahidevran as Hurrem gained the bigger status of having 5 children relative to Mahidevran’s only son. Furthermore, Hurrem climbed up the stones when she married Sulieman, making him the second Ottoman figure to wed in history, violating a custom that stood for a strong 200 years in the imperial house. It was strongly restricted for a Sultan to marry their concubines. The elevation from a slave to being Sultan’s wife left the people of the palace astonished. Hurrem became known as Haseki Sultan, making her the first consort to lift this title.

Henceforth, Hurrem played a pivotal role in becoming Suleiman’s advisor, making an influence on international politics and foreign policy. Notably, her written communication to King Sigismund Agustus of Poland has stood. Nonetheless, the Ottoman Empire remained on good terms with the Polish state during her lifetime. Meanwhile, Hurrem acted in other works such as public buildings that stretched from Mecca to Jerusalem. She helped build a mosque, along with two schools that were tailored to Quranic studies, a fountain, and a women’s hospital. The hospital is the first complex built in Istanbul under Mimar Sinan as an architect. Sitting as the third largest building in the capital proves Hurrem’s exceptional status.

Likewise, Fatima Mernissi, born and raised in Fez, Morocco experienced a harem similar to Hurrem. Mernissi, a Moroccan writer and sociologist was born on September 27, 1940. Fatima provides a view of her experiences growing up in a Moroccan household harem in the course of the 1940s and early 1950s via her book, Dreams of Trespass. In a similar fashion, she describes how a doorman was always present to ensure that women weren’t leaving the harem without the husband’s permission like that of Hurrem. The book offers a glimpse into the family’s cultures, secrets, fun activities, and most importantly the experience of living in a household with a father that displays more than one life. Despite having a strong feminist point of view throughout the novel, Mernissi speaks zealously of the times she spent with her extended family and her childhood. While Mernissi expresses her thoughts on the lifestyle’s flaws, she still honors her roots. Hence, Habiba, Fatima’s aunt says, “When you happen to be trapped powerless behind walls, stuck in a dead-end harem, you dream of escape. And magic flourishes when you spell out that dream and make the frontiers vanish. Dreams can change your life, and eventually the world. Liberation starts with images dancing in your little head, and you can translate those images into words. And words cost nothing (pg. 113). A pure form of inspiration and sensuality, this powerful statement by Aunt Habiba can pause the whole world and be listened to through the clouds. A vibrant yet energetic form of describing the concept of freedom. In a woman’s perspective does freedom pertain to physical barriers? Is freedom a self-construct thing and if so, how does one formulate it? Is freedom a form of magic? Magic serves as a ubiquitous basis throughout the novel through its form of informative, yet entertaining style. A form that assembles understanding and appreciation for the lives of women in the Arabic world. Though Hurrem placed a bigger emphasis on evolving through the ranks of the harem, Fatima Mernissi was more committed to social change. A more organic intellectual that was compatible with the rhythmic flow of society, harem. An Islamic feminist, Mernissi instilled a strong basis for women’s rights through her experiences and writing. She never tolerated immobility or frailty, as her writing further proves her strong confidence in communicating women’s ability and right to be free.       

South African women have been courageous across all racial lines. When Thabo Mbeki was still the president of South Africa, he stated that ‘No government in South Africa could ever claim to represent the will of the people if it failed to address the central task of emancipation of women in all its element and this includes the government we are privileged to lead’ (www.sahistory.org.za). This clearly shows that the 1956 march to Union buildings was not in vain. Men including political leaders have seen the importance of women in society and doing something about it.

South Africa has a different kind of all racial and ethnic groups and each has long-standing beliefs concerning gender roles. Most of these beliefs are based on the premise that women are less important than men. Men are seen as more powerful and deserve to be treated as such. Many religious organisations especially the ones that have existed for a long period of time put men in the forefront and women to be following behind them.

Gender roles are also categorized according to academic achievements. There have been a number of students aspiring to careers in STEM in the last decade. STEM is an acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This STEM workforce is also increasingly diversifying with respect to gender as female students outnumber male students in some STEM fields, such as biology, medicine, and chemistry (Beede et al.,2011). However, females are still underrepresented in engineering, computer science, and physical sciences (Chen and Ho,2012). However, that has changed a lot lately. Women are seen in all spheres of work. Women have the courage to stand up and do what they want thanks to the women who have made an impact on gender stereotypes; their contribution is not only visible to society but also in the steps of Union Building. For example, Helen Suzman is one of the women who stood up and fought for gender differences. She was the only member of the parliament who made her presence felt by openly opposing the policies of the National Party and urging the government to open discussion with the Liberation movement.

With regards to people’s similarities and differences, when the child is born, he or she is blank and does not understand the difference between a male and a female, but as they grow, they watch how people behave and copy that. Parents differentiate children by assigning them tasks based on their gender. They buy them toys that clearly determine whether you are a girl or a boy. However, early education plays a huge role in someone’s life. Adults teach these kids about gender differences unaware of how much impact it will have on a child’s future as they interact with other people in their adult life. Teachers also play a huge role in shaping a human being. Children believe in their teachers, especially in the early years of schooling.

The study explored by (Cahill and Adams 1997) on the relationship between early childhood teachers’ adult gender roles beliefs and their attitude about children’s gender role behavior. Teachers were women who expressed non-traditional beliefs regarding traditional gender roles for adults. It was stated that this feminist orientation appeared to be related to perceptions about child rearing in that teachers who supported non-traditional gender role beliefs for adults also did for children. It was found that teachers were more accepting of cross-gender role behaviors and aspirations from girls than boys and that the difference was related to homophobia. There were strong relationships found between child-rearing gender roles beliefs and attitudes toward gay men and lesbians.

With changing gender roles, people are now embracing their gender differently compared to the past years when women were forced to behave in a certain way while men had the power to do as they please. (Ogletree, 2014) states that changing gender roles are impacting how employment and household childcare responsibilities are shared within a marriage. With evolving gender roles, the potential benefits and disadvantages of marriage related to marital satisfaction may be changing from women to men.

(Villa,1994) researches on gender roles and human capital investment. The relationship between traditional attitude and female labor market performance. Individual responses were constructed with statements related to the role of women and examined to determine whether it is correlated to individual characteristics. In the results, it was that female attitudes towards working women are developed in their youth and results in substantial reductions in their human capital investment, labor supply, and rates of return to education. It is also found that these attitudes are determined outside the educational process.

Several studies have been conducted to investigate if religious tendency and gender roles predicted the attitudes of people and women’s work roles. Another challenge that is found in distinguishing gender roles is found in religious organizations. Most people in South African societies are religious, they believe in God and the Holy Bible. If you are a believer in God it is easy to be manipulated you will easily believe anything said by the Priest because you want to be closer to God and definitely try to follow the ways of the Holy Bible. In the Bible, it is stated how women should dress and behave, especially in church. And that the man is the head and should be respected. When they preach they also say that if a woman does not submit to a husband, which means she cannot submit to the Priest as well as Jesus because the way to God is through them. Corinthians 11 verses 4 to 12 says ‘Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head; it is the same as having a head shaved. A man ought not to cover his head since he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of a man. For man did not come from a woman but a woman from man; neither was man created for woman but woman for man. It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head because of her angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord women is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For a woman came from a man, so also a man is born of a woman. But everything comes from God. Holy Bible

Dark, trapped, separated. Oppression targets a group and pushes them below society, belittling them. Gender oppression has played a role in history since the beginning of time. Females have again and again been stuck to playing the role of supporting and tending to whatever the male desires; men in modern times are also faced with indifferences of their own, but never oppression. We as a society send young girls every day to a classroom where they are told they are equal, a right women in history had to fight for, but the oppression still lingers.

To begin, oppression is defined by Oxford as “unjust treatment or control”. Females since the beginning of time have faced oppression in all its evil forms. Serving as housemaids cleaning up after the rich men, told and controlled by society how to act, all to serve one purpose; stay quiet, kind, and please men. In some cultures, women are still forced to marry, have children, and tend to the house the male of the house does as he pleases. Women are expected to give them children, fulfill their sexual desires, and darling don’t you dare outsmart a man so as not to embarrass him. But where does the history of oppression still live today?

Furthermore, gender oppression is very much still alive, and thriving in the place we send our children every day, school. In fact, according to the article Gender Bias in Education, Amanda Chapman claims “When different behaviors are tolerated for boys than for girls because ‘boys will be boys’ schools are perpetuating the oppression of females.” Validating, from a young age, girls start to learn they are indifferent to boys, but most importantly teachers help to tolerate this unjust treatment. Oppression continues to stand in the way of female freedom, controlling and affecting the development and freedom of women all around the world, and oppressing gender equality. For example, if a boy throws a tantrum in a fit of anger he’s “just being a boy”. However, if a female in the same stressful situation acts at all affected and is not composed or polite she is judged as dramatic, and most importantly seen as less than men, as unstable and irrational. Anger is okay, being a boy is okay, but being a female is hard. Gender oppression has time and time again pushed the female dreams down as just a silly dream, female happiness as a home with a MAN and children, and female anger as weakness. In contradiction, a man with dreams, happiness, and anger, is a man with power. Imagine having a young, sweet, innocent, happy little girl. Barely tall enough to rest her head on your hip while she reaches her cute stubby little arms to hug you before she gets on the bus. It all begins the moment she leaves your arms, young and innocent she finds the first seat next to a young boy but he rejects it in anger, “NO you a girl and this is MY seat.” The girl confused moves on without anger or retaliation, her forgiving heart finds a new spot and waves goodbye. Case in point, any young girl who raises her hand and desires to be president someday, is only a girl with a head in the clouds. Boys at the back of the class laugh at her and joke about how could a girl possibly get there, at least without the help of a man. A teacher may silence them but the damage is done, with no punishment, and the cycle continues without a single thought of how embarrassed that girl must feel to have even spoken. Therefore eternally silencing her dreams. But if a young boy voices he wants to be president, the class silences, and no judgment, control, or ridicule is made of the boy. Why is it okay for boys to giggle when a girl dreams of equality? Why do they even giggle?

All in all, gender oppression has reaped the dreams, color, and equality from the life of every female around the world at some point. Sexism, indifference, judgment, and inequality are only the demons that carry out the evils of oppression. Targeting and pushing females below the rest, creating a great divide between society, equality, and freedom. Most importantly it’s seen in schools within our very own country. Gender oppression is still heightened and unjustly used around the world, but it is tolerated in our very own schools where we send children to learn how to socially function. Teaching them it is okay to judge others for being different, not showing them that although we are all different, males and females alike are all entitled to freedom without the darkness of oppression shadowing their futures.

Works Cited

1. Chapman, Amanda. “Gender Bias in Education.” Gender Bias in Education, www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/genderbias.html.

As we all know many of girls aren’t choosing any Math’s or science subjects, because some of those people are saying they cannot afford to study those subjects and some of them saying its hard to keep up with the work when you have family to take care of and it’s hard to find an affordable childcare. Mr. Tarek Mostafa stats that “Students’ career choices may be influenced by their understanding of their relative academic strengths, as well as their confidence and interest in science.’ ( Oecdedutoday, 2019). Although this shows the gender gaps by looking at each student’s across these two subjects mathematics and science “ study shows that nearly all countries, they found that boy is scared higher in these two subjects than girls,” ( Oecdedutoday, 2019).

However, there is another report shows in 2015 that boys are self-efficacy in science “a measure of confidence when they dealing with science topics was higher than girls in 39 out of the 67 countries,” ( Oecdedutoday, 2019). Although many girls aren’t choosing Mathematics or science as a career because they are the most likely they are into fashion then mathematics and science they many other reasons that why girls don’t pursue careers in math and science. Although there is a whole range of reasons why the gender gap in those stem subjects on the other hand “fewer girls than boys choose to study Stem subjects at secondary school and university,” ( The Guardian, 2019).

Although the different perspective sustains that there is no major difference in boys’ and girls’ the ability to do Stem subjects, however, in order to get more girls into those subjects to study in school and university to encourage they show lookup “appropriate role models,” ( Oecdedutoday, 2019). However, fewer women than men study stem subjects if there aren’t any women studying maths and science “how do we explain the sudden decline in female authorship in medical journals since 2009?,” ( The Guardian, 2019). Although many girls aren’t choosing Mathematics or science as a career because they are the most likely they are into fashion then mathematics and science they many other reasons that why girls don’t pursue careers in math and science.

Meanwhile, 41 percent of college graduates in the fields of science and maths are women, however, according to New York Time reports Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are the only three countries in the world which boys are aren’t doing maths and science subjects “helpless while performing a math problem,” (The Guardian, 2019). Although this shows the gender gaps by looking at each student’s across these two subjects mathematics and science “ study shows that nearly all countries, they found that boy is scared higher in these two subjects than girls,” ( Oecdedutoday, 2019).

Introduction

The institution of religion as per the view of the feminist, especially the Abrahamic religions are patriarchal in nature, given the fact that the creation of the institution of religion from a sociological perspective, historical perspective as well as from a divine and theological perspective have been male-dominated with very less importance given to the role of the women and the ones who have found a mention of in the holy scriptures, have been mostly tangential and almost all of them have been portrayed in a fashion which idolizes the passivity and the submissiveness, acknowledging the supremacy of men in the society . Religions are one of the sources which have provided a formula for being an ideal woman who is essentially passive, accommodative, flexible enough to accept the fact her status of being disparate compared to that of men and observes an attitude of acquiescence to the denial of the leverage provided to a man. The tenets of the religions have been designed in a way which renders the men with a position of privilege and also bestows the role of controlling the women in all possible ways. It would, however, be wrong to say that religion does not provide any right to the women, but at the same time it is also true that the rights and privileges provided to the women can be easily bypassed by the men given the fact that highly religious societies are highly patriarchal, and the religious councils are overwhelmingly male-dominated rendering the bargaining power of the women redundant . For example, Islam has provided a holistic collection of rules and regulations which seek to bestow specific role and rights to both the genders which are not congruent to the western narrative of gender relations which focuses much more on equality of the sexes as a result of the societal evolution. Thus, it becomes clear that the disparity of the status that Islam has endowed to the men and the women are a result of viewing the gender dynamics in the religion from a Western perspective having its roots in the enlightenment philosophy .

In this particular essay, the focus of the discussion shall be on the gender dynamics in Islam. The thesis statement of this particular essay shall be to testify the views of the scholars on the aspect of gender in Islam and Islamic societies. In the following sections, the discussion shall be focusing on the aspects of veiling of women and the aspect of sexuality as it has found a mention in the views espoused by the scholars. The aim is to problematize the views and present alternatives countering or supporting the viewpoints. The main focus of the discussion shall be based on the views of three prominent authors, Edward Said’s Orientalism, Fatima Maernissi’s Freudian Analysis of the understanding of sexuality in Islam and Fadela Amara’s views on hijab and the display of masculinity as displayed by Muslim men living in the west.

As per the Western Feminist narrative, the ceiling of the women is a sign of oppression, erasure, and subjugation of women which not only seeks to marginalize the women socially but also seeks to control the women sexually. However, the Muslim feminists who have a pro-Islam attitude argue that the narrative has its basis on a mistaken premise and that it is based on an assumption that delineates and detaches itself from the Quranic principle. They even argue that the secular and western narrative of feminism is not a justified basis to describe and define the feministic side of Islam as the secular and western narrative of feminism stems from a premise which stems from a position of having no or inadequate knowledge of Islam and the way it had emancipated women. In the following, this debate centred in gender disparity shall be discussed at length.

Oriental and Occident debate of Edward Said

Edward Said challenges the western portrayal of an oriental woman as submissive and as a secretively exotic affair. Said had challenged the portrayal of the Egyptian woman as submissive and who is incapable of voicing her own opinion, in his post-colonial discourses focusing upon the one-sided understanding of the western scholars about the eastern societies like that of Theophile Gautier who had opined that Turkey is more of a woman’s paradise than that of a man as all the Turkish women were either confined to the private realms of the harem or were hidden by means of a cloak . This image of a veiled woman has been used by the Western scholars to show that the eastern women are subjugated and that they are oppressed. Edward Said had opined that it is a biased account of the presentation of a woman belonging to the eastern or Islamic societies as he considers that the attitude of Eurocentrism in ethnographic studies deployed in the understanding of the Islamic women in Islamic societies is unjustified. Veil and confinement to the private realms of the household might be a symbol of oppression to a westerner but that might not necessarily so to a Muslim woman as they prefer the protection and cherish the veil in order to fulfil her religious obligations . In defence of Said, the views of noble laureate Tawakol Karman, Yemeni human rights activist must be mentioned of in this regard. She had opined that her hijab had not been an impediment rather it was her strength .

Freudian Analysis of the understanding of sexuality in Islam by Fatima Mernissi

Fatima Mernissi had in her book ‘Beyond the Veil’ had provided a juxtaposition of the western and the oriental or Islamic of women in order to provide an understanding about the basis and justification used to resort to the female subjugation in Islam and Islamic societies. Mernissi had used the logic of sexuality and the disparate conception of the women and their status to prove her point. Mernissi, however, maintains that the women are subjugated in Islam. According to her understanding, the Western world considers a woman who exposes herself to the male gaze is the epitome of an empowered woman. Underneath is an image of the French actress, Brigitte Bardot, making her appearance for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival, in the year 1953. When the controversy over banning the hijab, niqab, burqa and the burkini in France had occupied the political centre stage, her image was cited as an argument to support the decision by the Sarkozy Government. Besides upholding the deeply rooted principle of French Secularism, a legacy of the French Revolution, she was also cited as an epitome of a Free Woman in a Free Society which discourages subjugation of women. On the other hand, in the Islamic world, female sexuality is considered to have immense potential to doom the morality of a man. Mernissi writes that in Islam, women are unclothed in loose-fitted garments to hide every aspect of their beauty from the male gaze. Contrary to the Western conception, a woman is subjected to control on the basis of the belief that if her aura is left unbridled, it can bring forth chaos to mankind . Thus, it becomes clear that the women are considered as less than men in both the Islamic and the western societies hence to say that only Islam dominates women is wrong and a misrepresentation. The fact that the western woman is an epitome of freedom cannot be considered as the absolute truth since the free woman of the western world is also subject to male domination can also be explained by means of providing the Gaze Theory of Laura Mulvey. Mulvey’s work reflects the Freudian conception of sexuality explained in terms of voyeurism. She utilizes that logic and attempts to provide comprehension of the objectification of the corporeal existence of women in the entertainment media. The image of a woman that finds expression in popular media is but a product of the fantasies and imaginations of man, woven to suit his desirability and his ego. Mulvey opines that to a man, the feeling of sexual stimulation on seeing a woman in a sensuous way is a source of immense self-gratification and self-aggrandizement .

Views on the hijab and the display of masculinity as displayed by Muslim men living in the west by Fadela Amara

One of the classic examples which could be cited as echoing the essence of the slogan ‘personal is the political’ as raised by the radical feminists back in the decades of 1969s and 70s in the contemporary times is the support of a French Muslim woman of Algerian origin who identifies herself as a Radical Feminist, named Fadela Amara towards the hijab ban by the French Government by two successive Presidents, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac in the 21st century. The very fact that a Muslim woman had expressed her support for the decision of the French government to ban the hijab had been a radical one by itself as the observance of the rule of the hijab is very much central to the belief system of a devout Muslim woman. Amara herself is an observant Muslim woman, she offers her customary Islamic prayers, fasts during the period of Ramadan, abstains from pork and alcohol and other aspects of daily life considered as haram according to the Qoran. However she does not wear the Islamic headscarf, the hijab as she considers it as a tool used by the men to subjugate and control the women, prevalent both in her country of origin, Algeria as well as in the ‘banlieues’ of France where the population is dominated by Muslims, and the men use Islam to maintain their dominance over the women which had put the freedom of movement at stake. Following the murder of a teenage Muslim girl Sohane Benziane, and the growing insecurities pervading the lives of women living in the banlieues in form of eve teasing, harassment of non-veiled women or the ones with makeup, rising instances of domestic violence, Fadela Amara had organized a protest march under the politically charged slogan of ‘Ni putes ni soumises’ (neither whores nor submissive) as a challenge to the dominant culture of the balieues where the men consider all women as whores apart from their own mothers . Amara had also published a book titled after the slogan, through which she had disseminated her radical message that the real problem of the Muslim women is not the deprivation from the right to wear hijab and that the hijab does not protect the women from harassment rather the real problem is the delinquency and unemployment of the male youths who make a display of their masculinity by means of subjugating the women and they seek validation for their existence and their importance. Amara had even considered the law forbidding all forms of religious garments as a blessing as that would safeguard the rights and interests of the women who do not wish to wear the hijab but have to do so as a result of the family pressure and to escape harassment from the men. While the mainstream feminists were concerned about safeguarding the religious freedom of the Muslim women and the government of France about safeguarding the constitutional principle of secularism, Amara had through her radical movement championed the oppression which non conformist Muslim women face, who are marginalized by the Muslim community for their rebellious attitude and also by their fellow religious Muslim women. Amara had brought the concerns of the women which were considered as personal and hidden to safeguard the family honor to the political forefront by her activism .

Conclusion

Thus, in the end, it can be said that the view that gender relations being disparate in Islam cannot be considered as a tool of oppression of women as per the Western narrative as even the Western societies have their set of flaws and their own subtle method of subjugating women. Whether a Muslim woman is being oppressed or not by the Islamic gender equations must be left to the judgment of a Muslim woman herself and must be not be attempted to make an objective reality.

References

1. Ahmed, Leila. Women and gender in Islam: Historical roots of a modern debate. Yale University Press, 1992.
2. Amara, Fadela, and Sylvia Zappi. Ni putes, ni soumises. Ed. La Découverte, 2004.
3. Lewis, Reina. ‘‘Only women should go to Turkey’Henriette Browne and women’s Orientalism.’ Third Text 7, no. 22 (1993): 53-64.
4. Mernissi, Fatima. Beyond the veil: Male-female dynamics in modern Muslim society. Vol. 423. Indiana University Press, 1987.
5. Mir-Hosseini, Z. (1999). Islam and gender: The religious debate in contemporary Iran (Vol. 7). Princeton University Press.
6. Mulvey, Laura. ‘Visual pleasure and narrative cinema.’ In Visual and other pleasures, pp. 14-26. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1989.
7. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Vintage, 1979.
8. Selby, Jennifer A. ‘French secularism as a ‘guarantor’ of women’s rights? Muslim women and gender politics in a Parisian banlieue.’ Culture and Religion 12, no. 4 (2011): 441-462.

In the natural world, humans live in a world where sexual aspects are involved, a vast realm that often parallels the relationship between identity and pleasure. The human’s urge for pleasure is indisputable – a condition that is emphasized in daily life. Throughout history, religious perspectives and various philosophies have aimed to create a universal framework to ensure the fulfillment of sexual pleasures via healthy means. A substructure deemed not only healthy for an individual, but humankind is the objective. American Muslim writer, Dr. Muzzamil H. Siddiqi, once said, “homosexuality is a moral disorder, a sin, and corruption. No person is born homosexual, just like no one is born a thief, a liar, or murderer. People acquire these evil habits due to a lack of proper guidance and education.” Islam’s notion of sexual morality tends to lack a distinctive basis in creating the permissibility of sexuality; however, the Quran offers rational implications in creating a universal and neutral standpoint on sexuality.

It is essential to understand that the Quran does not directly talk about sexuality. Today, not many people realize that sexuality is considered a modern concept. Moreover, the Quran offers a view of sexual acts. Besides, Classical scholars and Prophet Muhammad emphasized desire and sexual acts; however, there was no attention in the distinction between identity and sexual acts (Kugle, pg.192). To a further extent, the modern gulf between “sexuality” and “sex” is just as significant. According to Tam Sanger, “sexuality” refers to the desires and feelings or emotions that an individual presents towards others, as well as actual sex acts. Meanwhile, “sex” is a reference to sex acts. The Quran places a significant emphasis on the relationship between a man and a woman. Besides, there are no rules in place for gay or lesbian relationships. It is instead an appropriate assertion that the Quran doesn’t necessarily prohibit same-sex relations. Islamic law tends to suppress this issue for many reasons. For instance, from a Muslim Jurist’s perspective, a typical heterosexual relationship offers the reproduction of human species. As Siraj Kugle mentions, although same-sex couples can raise children, the sexual experience lacks the effect of having natural babies (pg.193). Moreover, another reason is that the earlier Muslim Jurists stressed the importance of a child’s development. They did not want a young boy or girl to be raised without the presence of the father, as the father is critical in the Islamic household (pg. 195). It is essential to realize that during this time, women did not provide valuable income, men did. Due to this disproportion, it was imperative to have a man in the family to ensure the family is stable both socially and financially. Finally, heterosexual relationships were the core of the framework since it consisted of the majority of people. Therefore, the scholars were concerned with the needs of straight relationships. It is appropriate to assume that homosexuality in the realm of different sexualities does exist. You can’t entirely prohibit the classification of homosexuality because it feels as of nonexisting matter.

From a unique perspective, the analytical viewpoint of sexual diversity from the Quranic experience is critical. We can’t deny the fact that homosexuality does indeed exist. The question is, “did Allah intend sexual diversity?” Animals participate in homosexual practices; however, the Quran notes that animals are obedient to Allah and do not have free will. To a further degree, Surat Ar-Rum (Quran 30:22) explains how Allah’s creation, such as human beings, has different “alwan”. “Alwan” in Arabic means colors and can also mean tastes. In analytical terms, we, as humans, possess unique and different flavors in different things, such as sexuality (Kugle, pg.196). Besides, Siraj also states, “…human nature that has been created diverse, not just in language, ethnicity, and appearance, but also in inward disposition and personality (pg.196).”One can argue that sexual diversity itself presents a transparent type of diversity that Allah created. Moreover, Surah An-Nur (Quran 24:31) briefly, yet states explicitly, “men who are not in need of women.” The reference to the men who don’t like women may potentially be gay; however, they are not heterosexual from a definitional perspective. Throughout the Quran, there are no judgments or condemnations whatsoever towards these “men.” American scholar, Kecia Ali states, “being gay is not a matter of choice – but rather a divinely created reality. The exclusion of “gay people” from Islam…would be excluding a whole dimension of The Creation, and this would, in fact, undermine any claim by Islam to be The Truth (which it is) (pg.89).” Ali gives an interesting viewpoint, noting that the ostracism of same-sex from Islam is a criminal act. In other words, it is as if Islam did not accept people with disabilities. Rather than placing a tremendous emphasis on how acceptable the same sex is, Islamic society should embrace the “dimension,” a part of Allah’s intention in his creation.

Many people ask whether Islam, from a broad perspective, states anything about homosexuality. The answer is simple: no, however, it is not appropriate to refer to Islamic law or Islam. The reason is that people only speak for what they feel is right or wrong; therefore, the Quran is the only valid source of answers. As the basis of Islam, the holy book does not have the term “homosexuality” in it, not once. There is no reference to lesbians, bisexuals, or gays. The term “shudhudh” was created by scholars, which means sexual deviance or unnatural in Arabic (Kugle, pg.199). If there were indeed a term in the Quran, meaning homosexuality in Arabic, then scholars would have clearly used it.

Sure, the Quran has its ambiguous aspect; however, it is crucial to analyze its validity and power from rather a Muslim perspective. Yes, it is difficult to understand the Quran’s natural emphasis and implications, yet, from a logical point of view, it is straightforward when you ask yourself rational questions.

Often, we hear the statement, ‘why would I be punished for things God created in human beings?’ This statement is invalid for several reasons. First and foremost, everything in this world would be categorized under the same argument if this logic was valid. Clearly, nonbelievers would go to hell and burn like summer if Allah created them as Jews, Christians, Buddhists, as nonmuslims. Moreover, Allah would burn thieves, the same thieves with the trait innately created by Allah. Why would Allah do this? Exactly, this is why the statement is invalid. On a higher note, one might argue that various scientific research papers have proven the effects of specific genes, genes that impact one’s sexual orientation. Individuals are born with their sexual orientation — besides, the removal of homosexuality from the APA’s database and manual of Mental Disorders. Moreover, the APA (American Psychiatric Association) has proved that an individual identifying as homosexual, does not have a mental disorder. It is clear that this argument engages in science. This argument is invalid because science is never a means of proving each and everything. Instead, it is a means of hypothesizing things. Another individual almost always rebuts these same hypotheses. Rich Deem, an active apologist, states, ‘The question of genetic influences on sexual orientation has been recently examined using DNA microarray technology, although the results have largely failed to pinpoint any specific genes as a factor in sexual orientation.’ Aside from this, Islam instructs that no reference or science is superior to Allah; therefore, we must accept and abide by the Quran in integrating a ‘halal’ lifestyle.

Let’s say researchers discovered today that homosexuality is healthy. Will you go on to practice it? The bottom line is that we, Muslims, are conditioned to obey Allah and not what science instructs. As an Egyptian Muslim, I accept the idea that the Quran and science never contradict; Quran is flawless; science is fluctuating. Apart from this, the second aspect of the argument regards the removal of homosexuality from the APA’s Manuel of mental disorder is in itself ineffective. When you look at the underlying components of ruling homosexuality non-mental disease, you realize what was happening behind the curtains in 1973. The realization that this removal was instead a forced one and not of natural efforts.

Dr. Ronald Bayer, professor at Columbia University, published a book seven years after the removal of homosexuality and is titled Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis. In his novel, he talks about how homo-sexual activists attacked members of the APA in 1970 at a conference in California. The activists disrupted the meeting, “interrupting speakers and shouting down and ridiculing psychiatrists who viewed homosexuality as a mental disorder (pg.93).” While the APA members were quickly forced to remove homosexuality from their Manuel by the activists, others are convinced that the removal of homosexuality from the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) was not contingent upon scientific research. As Dr. Bayer states, it was merely the pressure of “power politics, threats, and intimidation (pg.194).” Furthermore, American Psychiatrists, Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, and Dr. Charles Socarides argue in their book that homosexuality meets the criteria for the diagnosis of mental disorder, and it should and can be treated.

Muslim women are often seen as subjects that require liberation from the restrictions established by the patriarchal Islamic societal structure. However, this is not always the case and recognizing the clear distinction between choice and force is essential to avoid misleading presumptions. In this literature review, the influence of Islamism on the daily life of women will be analyzed specifically based on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The authoritarian regime has maintained theocracy through the active application of Islamic teachings. Thus, the established hegemony of the traditional religious implementations on the societal structure is highly complex due to dichotomic interpretations of the Quran and the intertwined link with politics. Consequently, gender disparity is prevalent in Saudi Arabia and can be analyzed through a comparison between the annotations of different scholars on separate themes: the understanding of the Quranic verses and the actors involved and its effect on the family structure, Islamic influence on education, and the dress code. The annotations by varying authors will be critically analyzed based on the established themes, which is essential in amplifying the attempt of this literary review on investigating how Islamism influence gender disparity and women’s daily life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Scholars have been analyzing the historical context in the implementation of Islam, specifically based on the Quran and Hadith, and its correlation with the Wahhabi tradition and the formation of Sharia, consequently resulting in the structure of gender segregation as a part of the Saudi women’s daily life. Nora Pharaon provides an analysis of the women’s position in society to the “Arab-Islamic heritage,” which is derived from the long-established civilization centered on the values of religion that holds God’s messages at its core of legitimizing the dominance of conservative tradition. The “Arab-Islamic heritage” implies and encourages female seclusion, continuing to be expressed throughout the public domain under the divided areas in the restaurants and mosques in contemporary society. Madawi Al-Rasheed further adds on to the examination of Islam in regards to monotheism, which is central in the Salafi tradition, also known as the Wahabbism. She states Islam as a “monotheistic awakening” that is mainly focused on the general idea of liberating men from oppression.

Originally, Al-Rasheed states that the Quranic verses prioritize the concept of freedom and indicate the umma, the society, should be consisted of believers with an equal right to freedom and should not face repression nor marginalization in any case under the God. Furthermore, according to the holy Quran, men and women are complements of each other and therefore hold the same position in society. Yet, this statement is overlooked by the male authority. Al-Rasheed continues to clarify the use of texts from the Quran and Hadith as it is taken advantage of as a tool to enforce the subjugation of the people to the rulers and specifically in Saudi Arabia, it is understood for the Muslims to never provoke the leaders in a public sphere. The Ulama directly aligns the obedience towards God and the Prophet with the same implication towards the rulers. Again, this ideology is proved through the Quranic phrases that have been selected by the official scholars and explicitly display their authority on society. Amani Hamda defines Ulama as a male, conservative scholars who are the main interpreters of the religious readings and enforces them on the Sharia. Ulama’s dominance over the societal structure of gender segregation is highlighted as she emphasizes the re-examination of the authentic Hadith and the verses from the Quran to identify the misuse of religious readings.

In the original readings, both Hadith and Quran highlight the importance of equality among all Muslims and the individual responsibilities of fulfilling their acts of piety. However, these readings have been misinterpreted by Ulama, in which Pharaon criticizes. She is critical of the fact that the Ulama and the Muslim jurists that are consisted of men interpret Quran based on their perspective, trying to justify their viewpoint on maintaining purity of Islam through neglecting the context and specifically choosing verses to their advantage. Consequently, all scholars call for an action: Pharaon states that the tradition must be reinterpreted or renounced, while Al-Rasheed claims for a more action-oriented reform of resisting Salafism and replace the Wahhabi tradition of obedience with liberation discourse, such as empowerment, in addition to Hamdan’s encouragement to take the stance to denounce the Ulama and to urge them in acknowledging liberal point of views in regards to women.

Gender inequality is deeply embedded in Saudi Arabia and can be expressed explicitly through the family structure and women’s position within. Originating from the Wahhabi tradition, Saudi women were never seen as an individual with independence, but rather as an extension of their lead men figures in the family. Hamdan explains how sons are more preferred in the society since they are viewed as a protector and a helper to the family, and they are capable of continuing the family’s heritage and legacy through carrying on the family name. This notion extends to the perceiving of men being an instrument for the continuation of Muslim ideologies. Moreover, Saudi women did not receive a civil identity card and appeared under her father’s family card and later in her husband’s identity card after the marriage or on her male relative when her father passes away. Yet, there are no verses on confining women to the household in the Quran, instead, it recognizes women’s rights and independence within the lines of not violating Allah’s limits. In this specific phrase, Pharaon does not specify in the ‘limits’ of Allah and should be further elaborated on.

The structural constraints due to the established guardianship system led women to be more dependent on men, consequently, being perceived inferior compared to men, reflecting the patriarchal structure. This male authoritative law undermined the position of women significantly and all decisions had to be permitted by the guardian, restricting public engagement even more. Quanmar provides an explicit example in which a minor son was the legal guardian of his mother. Furthermore, in the aspect of the judicial system, women cannot seek legal intervention without the guardian, thus resulting in Saudi Arabia to have a large number of women suffering from domestic violence that are mostly committed by husbands or fathers.

The education system in the Kingdom was often used as a tool to convey the progressive development of the Saudi government, but also as an instrument to reinforce the Islamic ideologies. Al-Rasheed mentions the inevitable clash between the government and the Salafi scholars in the process of establishing an educational structure for girls. While the government wished to project their modernization through providing education to girls, the Wahhabi religious scholars opposed and demanded on returning to the traditional Islamic society. Noticeably, the Wahhabi conservative scholars were threatened and afraid that the social dynamics of gender disparity will change by undermining the purity of Islamic tradition. Annemarie van Geel clarifies the situation as a power struggle between the religious scholars and the government. Hence, girls’ education was created in the combination of traditionalism and modernization as Ulama had the authority over the structure and aimed to remain religious. The government managed to successfully establish a modern state and restore the religious, traditional nation. The purposeful act of putting girls education under Ulama’s guidance allowed the structure of the program to achieve a stronger pious nation and teach traditional women roles. As a result, providing education to girls became one of Saudi Arabia’s notable achievements and is often described as “modernization within an Islamic framework.” Despite guiding girls’ educational system, the Ulama still maintained the belief of restricting women’s education and public participation to prevent the mix of genders.

Geel states that before the state schools for girls were formally organized, they faced restrictive opportunities for education. In their program, girls simply had to memorize the Quran while they were still illiterate and were taught on embroidery and a limited amount of arithmetic. After the establishment of state institutions for girls’ education, the education system for boys and girls was contrasting and a gender-biased structure. It can be revealed through the school names for men and women. For men, words such as Falah, meaning success, were named, whereas women’s first schools were organized years later and words such as Dar al-Hanan, meaning house of tenderness, was given. These particular labels provided by the state reinforces the mission of the government that is differentiated between the two genders and further solidifies the gender division. According to the two different extracts from the ‘Home Economics’ textbook, girls are taught to be submissive and obedient and to conform to societal norms and the boys are taught on the insignificance of women and disregards the Prophet’s saying of the equal treatment between both genders. Also, girls were strictly limited even in entering the school due to the guardianship system and had to gain permission from the male lead figure in the family, making it harder for most girls.

The gender-biased curricula for both genders confirm the presumption of the educational mission of normalizing gender differences by promoting stereotypical women’s role as a good mother and a wife that takes care of the family. However, this can also be viewed as a reversed gender-bias towards men since the masculinity of men was also amplified under the same educational structure. For example, as the oil boom occurred, women were considered to be more important in teaching their sons the real rujula, which implies the acquirement of desired male qualities. Al-Rasheed specifically states that the scholars acknowledged women’s education “for the sake of men,” conveying the irony of this phenomenon on how the education of girls was a progressive action for modernity, yet it was still under the fundamental mindset that educating women will be beneficial for men. Al-Rasheed’s statement leads to Geel’s claim that women are often considered as the “culture bearers,” resulting in a clash between modernity and tradition. Moreover, as the number of men studying abroad began to rapidly increase and marrying other more educated women, the government felt threatened and hence educating Saudi women became prioritized to maintain the purity of the nation. Again, this idea is dependent on the notion that men are valuable to society and hence women have to meet the demand to keep the Saudi men in the nation.

In Saudi Arabia, the basic regulation of the dress code is wearing an abaya, or the cloak that covers the whole body and covering the face or head with a niqab or a hijab, depending on the strictness. The strict dress code is the direct outcome of the Ulama’s interpretation of Quranic verses. For example, Quanmar provides an analysis of the statement that the Prophet’s wives were not to meet with the Prophet’s guests and when necessary, they would meet “behind the curtains,” in which the Arabic word hijab is used to describe the curtains, which is used as a headscarf in the modern society. Additionally, he provides another example from the Quran that the Prophet requests the use of his wives’ and daughters’ part of clothing to cover themselves for easier recognition. However, he is unclear on whether the purpose of the covering is because all other female populations do not veil themselves and preferred to stand out from the crowd or if it was to reveal their piety. Furthermore, the Wahhabi interpretations are more strict and focus on the literal translation of the Quranic verses while remaining loyal to the tradition and reject any adaptations or in accepting new interpretations. As a result, veiling in the public sphere is enforced upon women and goes under constant monitor by the mutawa, religious police.

The act of veiling is often viewed as an obligation to the Sharia law and enforcement by the government as a sign of oppression. In the case of Saudi Arabia, a minority of women did not view the covering to be bothersome and as an obstacle that restricts their public engagement. It was perceived as a part of their lifestyle and a tool to keep them safe from the mutawa or unwanted male stares. This perception is extended to Pharaon’s view on the veil of being able to “bridge the gap” between gender-segregated domains and enables expand women’s participation in politics, culture, and society. However, this notion is debatable according to Quanmar since religion is a deeply rooted source of influencing the society and hence the dress code but in Mecca and Medina, spaces are not divided according to gender and veiling is not practiced. In specific, during the act of pilgrimage of Hajj and Umrah, women are encouraged not to veil. Therefore, in reverse, hijab and niqab can turn out to be an obstacle that goes against religiosity.

This article has reviewed literature based on the relationship between Islam and the gender disparity in Saudi Arabia. Having based on the different themes of interpretations on Quran, effect on education, and the dress code, it can be revealed that women were often used as a tool and a symbol to prove the state’s transformation towards modernity. However, women are also the constant target for religious nationalism. The annotations by scholars allowed for an in-depth analysis of the Islamic influence on gender segregation, yet provoked questions for future research. While Quranic verses are interpreted directly in regards to the women’s role in society and how it should be reflected through their behavior and clothing, the scholars fail to acknowledge the verses in regards to the men’s gender norms. When discussing about gender disparity, it may be insightful to consider more of both sides.

In Gender Ambiguity in Islam, South Asia and Contemporary Pakistan, the treatment of sex/gender non normativity in Islam is as diverse as Islam itself. Historical and scholarly sources reveal theological differences in constructions of sex, gender and sexuality. Meanwhile, the history of the Indian subcontinent indicates that individuals with gender and genital ambiguities went from having important social functions to being criminalized. However, in present-day Pakistan, the laws related to Khawaja Siras have both constrained and empowered gender ambiguous people, but these policies diverge from similar laws in other Islamic nation states. Despite the rights granted to them, Khawaja Siras continue to suffer from stigma and marginalization in mainstream society.

In the Islamic Approaches to Sexual and Gender Ambiguity, among the various forms of sex/gender non normativity, contemporary Islamic law accepts most unequivocally the condition of intersexuality, where individuals are born with a mixture of both male and female hormonal, chromosomal and/or genital features. Medieval Muslim jurists addressed the issue of intersexuality because it presented a predicament for the Islamic worldview’s strict gendered and sexed boundaries (Bucar 2010, 604). Although they were a biological reality, without a precise gender/sex, intersexual had no point of entry into the social world (Sanders 1991, 88). As a solution, jurists advocated assigning a gender role to intersexual, and later, when the technology became available, some thinkers supported corporeal modifications to make the intersexual sex more distinct (Bucar 2010, 604). Today Islamic jurists make a distinction between “ambiguous” and “non-ambiguous” intersexual. The latter category includes either “males with some extra elements or females with some extra elements” (Cilardo 1986, 129). According to most interpretations of sharia (Islamic law), the sex of intersexual with unambiguous genitalia can be determined at birth. The “ambiguous” category (khunthā /khunsā mushkil) consists of those whose physiological features do not allow us to determine their prevailing sex (Cilardo 1986, 129).

The opinions of the various sects and schools of Islam differ on ways of determining an ambiguous intersexual’s sex/gender. While some advocate assigning a sex at birth, most agree that the sex of ambiguous intersexuals should be determined at puberty when they develop either male or female physical characteristics (e.g., signs of facial hair, nocturnal spermatic emissions, or a flat chest in the case of men) (Cilardo 1986, 132-3). Some schools accept an individual’s personal declaration about their physiology as confirmation of their sex/gender, but this testimony can be rejected if the person’s sexual organs are known to be ambiguous (Cilardo 1986, 133-4). Finally, those ambiguous intersexuals who do not develop distinctive markings of sex at puberty are subjected to and granted special rules and rights, which relate to such practices as circumcision, prayer, pilgrimage, marriage, witnessing, punishment, inheritance, death, and so on (Cilardo 1986, 135-50).

Islamic approaches to intersexuality demonstrate that Muslim jurists focused on external physical characteristics as determinants of an individual’s sex/gender. The body is given acceptances the key marker of gender. The Quran’s use of gendered terms and images, religious historian, Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, representing a less common viewpoint, argues that the Quran simultaneously invokes gender difference (i.e., between male and female) and ambiguity (2010). However, neotraditionalists typically maintain that God arranged not only humanity but the entire cosmos into distinct and unambiguous gendered pairs (Kugle 2010, 245). Such orthodox interpretations contradict contemporary biology’s discovery of complex gendered behaviors in animal species, and ignore modern physics’ long abandoned simplistic dichotomies (Kugle 2010, 246). Kugle contends that scientific breakthroughs should deepen Quranic interpretations and enable a break from patriarchal predeterminations (Kugle 2010, 246). For instance, Quranic verses that describe human diversity in terms of shades of colors are often taken literally as referring to racial difference while overlooking other forms of human variance as evidenced by modern science and human experience (Kugle 2010, 247-8).

In addition to the Quran, Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam, provides key philosophical concepts that relate to gender ambiguity. According to Sufi thought, the heart is perceived as the seat of the soul, where the soul is understood to be an ambiguous force, a consciousness, which connects the spirit and the body (Kugle 2010, 236-7). “The soul…perceives itself to be female or male, or possibly both-male-and-female or neither-malenor- female” (Kugle 2010, 237). Sufi thinkers locate the soul as being immersed in gender duality. Importantly, Khawaja siras in present-day Pakistan attributed their gender difference to a feminine heart/soul, which they claimed to possess.

The hadith (sayings and teachings ascribed to Prophet Mohammad PBUH) and oral narratives about Prophet Muhammad PBUH provide evidence that he interacted with gender ambiguous individuals known as mukhannath (effeminate men or sometimes transvestite men) and eunuchs during his lifetime in Medina (Babayan and Najmabadi 2008, 163; Kugle 2010, 249). Kugle’s analysis of early Islamic texts and hadith reveals that mukhannaths were defined by their gender performance (i.e., mannerisms, speech and attire) rather than sexual behavior and desire, and their gender ambiguity was seen as an innate disposition (Kugle 2010, 253). Islamic holy literature suggests that there were also “some women who ‘assumed the manner of men,’ who were known as mutarajjulat” (Bolich 2007, 124)..Gender crossing was considered blameworthy only for those who were not effeminate by nature and adopted such behavior purely for ulterior motives (takallufi) (Kugle 2010, 253-4). Kugle contends that Prophet Muhammad’s condemnation that “God cursed the males who appear like females and the females who appear like males,” only applies to takallufi mukhannaths, a belief that diverged from dominant interpretations of this hadīth in Pakistan. Many scholars claim that the Islamic tradition accepts mukhannaths contrary to the popular belief that Prophet Muhammad condemned them. The Prophet’s wives were regularly visited by mukhannaths inside their rooms (Kugle 2010, 250). According to several hadīth, the Prophet banished a mukhannath who frequented his house, not due to his gender difference but because he overstepped ethical norms by using his knowledge of women’s affairs to rouse men to be intimate with women out of wedlock (Kugle 2010, 23).

Mukhannath had special functions in early Islamic society as entertainers, singers and comedians, and as intermediaries who had access both to the private domain of women as well as the public sphere of men (Kugle 2010, 254). However, sources rarely mention the mukhannath following their persecution in the eight-century by an Umayyad governor of Medina who ordered such individuals to be castrated (Kugle 2010, 255). They later reappeared in Baghdad during the Abbasid Empire, but by then the Islamic discourse on gender ambiguity had been replaced with a focus on homosexuality, which viewed the mukhannath as men who played the passive role during same-sex anal intercourse (Kugle 2010, 255-6; Rowson 1991, 693).

Today, many Islamic jurists variously define mukhannath with respect to gender ambiguity, a lack of sexual desire (Haneef 2011, 101), and/or sexual incapacity (e.g., the inability to sustain an erection) (Bolich 2007, 124). They condemn “artificial” mukhannaths or those who “deliberately deviate from the norm of their gender,” but generally accept those “who innately suffer from some kind of behavioral abnormality,” so long as they do not do not engage in illegitimate sexual behavior (Haneef 2011, 101 and 106). Some of the shariáh laws pertaining to erotically inclined mukhannaths include punishments for committing sodomy, prohibition from mingling with and marrying women, and restrictions against providing testimony in court on the grounds that they lack moral rectitude and cannot be considered credible witnesses (Haneef 2011, 101). Hence, juridical logic expects mukhannaths to be either asexual or unable to engage in sexual behavior. In contrast, in contemporary Pakistan, the term mukhannath was largely believed to be applicable to someone with genital ambiguities.

In addition to mukhannaths, the second category of gender ambiguous individuals present during the Prophet’s time was the eunuch. The Prophet’s first documented encounter with a eunuch was when a woman named Marya, presented to him as a gift by an Egyptian governor was escorted to Medina by her castrated servant (Kugle 2010, 250). The eunuch was allowed to live with Marya as her servant once it was established that he did not have sexual access to her (Kugle 2010, 251). The decision validated the value and social role of eunuchs in Islamic society. The Prophet spoke against the practice of castrating slaves, but those castrated elsewhere by non-Muslims were accepted into the Islamic empire where they served as household servants (Kugle 2010, 250). The gender ambiguity of eunuchs differed from that of the mukhannaths in that it was socially imposed rather than being an intrinsic trait, and yet, what enhanced this ambiguity was the deficiency of “testes-produced hormones” in eunuchs following the removal of their sexual organs (Kugle 2010, 253). Due to their ambiguity, eunuchs came to be seen as neither men nor women and therefore, able to mix freely with both (Kugle 2010, 252). Their gender status enabled them to serve as a “human veil” during communal prayer where they were instructed to stand in a row behind men but before women (Kugle 2010, 252).

By the turn of the twentieth century, eunuchs were serving this and a number of other important functions at the Ka’ba, the sacred site of pilgrimage for Muslims in Makkah , and at Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the Mosque of Prophet Mohammad) in Medina, where they were employed (Burton 1857; Young 1993). Originally purchased as slaves by the Ottoman administration from Ethiopia and Sudan, these eunuchs were responsible for cleaning both holy sites, and for keeping men and women apart during pilgrimage at the Ka’ba (Young 1993, 290).

In actual practice the aghawat could not physically divide the crowd by sex, but they could stand for a neutral category, separating and coordinating the categories of men and women. Their castrated state made it possible for them to touch women without breaking their ritual purity (wudu). (Young 1993, 291-2).

Tawashi was the generic name of the eunuchs of the holy mosques (Burton 1857, 418), but the title given to them was aghawat (or agha in short), which means elder, elder sibling, chief or master in Turkish (Young 1993, 290). The term denoted respect for these black eunuchs of high stature. Some sources claim that eunuchs still serve the mosque in Makkah, but they are fewer in number today than in the early 1900s (Young 1993, 298). Khawaja sira informants often mentioned these individuals and saw them as their ancestors. However, they knew little about these eunuchs other than the role they played in the ritual purification of the holy sites of Makkah and Medina.

Religious history and holy literature indicate that Islam recognizes four distinct types of beings: men/males, women/females, ambiguous intersexuals (khunsā mushkil), and gender ambiguous persons (mukhannath) (Bolich 2007, 124).

South Asia has a rich history of gender ambiguity, one that Gayatri Reddy (2005) broadly divides into four chronological time periods: ancient, medieval, colonial and contemporary. Evidence of third-sex/gender figures appears foremost in ancient Indian texts from the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions where they are referred to as kliba, pandaka, trtiyapraktri and napumsaka (2005, 19). The meanings of these terms variously included unmales, third sex, third nature, eunuch, “someone ‘who was sterile, impotent, castrated, a transvestite, a man who had oral sex with other men, a man who had anal sex, a man with mutilated or defective sexual organs, a hermaphrodite, or finally, a man who produced only female children”(2005, 21).

At the end, the historical and legal information pertaining to sex, gender and ambiguity. It will elucidate that the ideas presented here in both overlapped with and diverged from popular understandings of sex/gender variance in Pakistan. For instance, the Khawaja Siras of the medieval period, though vaguely similar, were not the same as those who had appropriated the term in contemporary Pakistan. It will become clear that Khawaja sira identity politics took a lead from localized religious and cultural beliefs that, although diverse, provided either a parochial or an ambivalent outlook on non-normative genders and sexuality.

References

1. Baloch, Gul Muhammad. “Male Sex with Male: A Study of Commercial Sex Workers in Larkana, Pakistan, Regarding their Knowledge about HIV/AIDS & STIs and Sexual Behavior.” Journal of US-China Medical Sciences 6, no. 10 (2009): 13-24.
2. Bucar, Elizabeth M. “Bodies at the Margins: The Case of Transsexuality in Catholic and Shia, Ethics.” Journal of Religious Ethics 38, no. 4 (2010): 601-15.
3. Cilardo, Agostino. “Historical Development of the Legal Doctrine Relative to the Position of the Hermaphrodite in the Islamic Law.” The Search 7 (1986): 128-170.
4. Haneef, Sayed S. “Sex Reassignment in Islamic Law: The Dilemma of Transsexuals.” International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology 1, no. 1 (2011): 98-107.
5. Bolich, G. G. Conversing on Gender. Raleigh: Psyche’s Press,2007.
6. Burton, Richard F. Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Makkah. Second Edition, Volume II. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts, 1857. Young, William C. “The Ka’ba, Gender, and the Rites of Pilgrimage.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 25 (1993): 285-300).
7. Kugle, Scott Siraj al-Haqq. Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims. New York: New York University Press, 2014.
8. Kugle, Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims. Oxford: One world Publications, 2010.
9. Bolich, G. G. Conversing on Gender. Raleigh: Psyche’s Press, 2007.
10. Reddy, Gayatri. “Sexual Differences and Their Discontents: Shifting Contexts of ‘Thirdness’ in Hyderabad.” In The Phobic and the Erotic: The Politics of Sexualities in Contemporary India, edited by Brinda Bose and Subhabrata Bhattacharyya, 301-322. Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2007. With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.

Introduction:

The concept of gender is more culturally defined and performative, rather than biologically determined. A confusing synonym for sex, gender though by definition is based on biology, historically has been used as a term to describe the performative appearance and behavior expected from an individual from either biological sex to conform to. Power dynamics that are played into a poststructuralist view, showcase how heavily male-led societies affect respective gender roles, along with the reinforcement of language in those performances. This essay aims to study the post-structuralist view on how language can be used as a medium to reinforce and cope with gender roles. Scholars who have investigated this subject have done it from a wide range of angles. The first part of this essay talks elaborates on gender roles and post-structural feminism; with its history, cause and effects, present application in the current world, and certain limitations. The second part of the essay dives into the cultural implications of gender roles in Nepal, the different power dynamics, and the part language plays in this discourse. The involvement of poststructuralist feminism in a cultural setting is argued in the third part of the essay, followed by a conclusion.

Gender roles:

By considering it not just as a constant but as something that only exists in the work of its production and constant act, gender is represented, exhibited, and experienced in several ways (Rodino, 1977; Butler, 1990). Butler, in her infamous theory of performativity, challenges the categorical thoughts of gender, stating that it is constituted and reconstituted through an ongoing series of actions performed based on gender norms on a regular basis (Jenkins & Finneman, 2018; Butler, 1988). The socialization process (Atkinson, 1987), continues to put women in a submissive stance, often expected to do work limited to housework and childbearing. Gender role issues permeate nearly in all aspects of family life (Atkinson, 1987). Relating Butler’s performativity theory to the contemporary gender crisis in a male-dominated society, it’s safe to say that gender roles are rooted deeply in our approach.

Also known as ‘sex roles’, gender roles are all behaviors, attitudes, and acts that are generally accepted, appropriate, and encouraged based on their respective perceived sex. Sex, an anatomical entity, is often confused with gender, which comes with dichotomized performances, heavily encouraged and performed by the culture or society. Judith Butler (1990) conceptualized gender as a series of performances. They are generally conceptualized in binaries of masculinity or femininity, with structured roles each, though altered substantially among different cultures and settings. These “performances” include not only the day-to-day activities of an individual but also the considered “set roles” in occupational settings. Most cultures only accept the unfortunate binaries of masculinity or femininity, the presence of any ‘other’ gender is not just disregarded but completely out of the picture. Gender stereotypical behavior such as shy, demure, submissive, and dim nature associated with young girls and naughty, playful, dominant, and intelligent nature associated with young boys from an early age unintentionally segregate them into two different categories. Moreover, the color association between girls and boys, not only imposes stereotypical thoughts in the kids’ minds that turn into action but also continuously encourages the same stereotypical behavioral language. Often, professions considered as “feminine” range from more caregiving and nurturing positions to teaching roles, with the premunition that women/females are predominantly natural caregivers (Puechguirbal, 2010) because of their ability to conceive and raise children. On the other hand, men/males are primarily considered as the ‘providers’ of the family, imposing more socially dominating professional roles such as doctors, army men, construction workers, etc, mostly exuding their physical power.

Furthermore, because of the leading male-dominated society, women have often been found to have suffered on an emotional and developmental scale. Men comparatively have higher entitlement and privilege that women do not have; often access to certain behavioral performances. The same male-dominated influences react differently in women, mostly accommodating to male interests (Hare‐Mustin & Marecek,1988; Hare‐Mustin, 1991).

This clear unequal power dynamic has led to women having to fight for their rights. Structured gender roles have noticeably been heavily criticized because of the obvious presence of the predominant power inequality in the structure. The feminist movement groups, striving for gender equality, have come forward with efforts to lead changes in gender roles with the belief that they are extremely oppressive and inaccurate. Another criticism is the dichotomized nature of the genders. The lack of acknowledgment of a ‘third’ gender, whether it be androgyny or transgender, is criticized as being discriminatory and bigoted.

Post-structuralism/poststructuralist feminism:

Feminism poststructuralism intrudes the binary categories of genders of male and female, making visible the powers of language, discourse, and behavior, questioning the grand narratives whereby individuals are made into gendered subjects (Davies, 2013)

Poststructuralism’s view of gender describes the roles of gender, masculinity, or femininity as a discourse which are embedded with power relations and acts upon individuals within particular societies (Paechter, 2001). Furthermore, rather than trying to uncover the facts and reveal the truth, poststructuralist feminism would instead be involved with disrupting and displacing dominant and oppressive powers (Gavey, 1989). According to Gavey (1989), a poststructuralist approach to experience is radically different. The main goal of the theory would be to develop an understanding of knowledge related to changing oppressive gender relations, whether it be socially or culturally specific. Language in poststructuralism neither considered fixed nor vital, but known to constitute subjectivity (Gavey, 1989), may be deconstructed to show the ways in which the real is constructed, for example through binary categorizations, through habituated, unreflected repetitions, and through particular repeated images, storylines and modes of explanations (Davies, 2013). In simple terms, post-structuralist feminism denies the implication that our lives are determined by our social surroundings but rather allows some significance to the extent of freedom open to choose accordingly. This is in particular very valuable to women because it allows them to resist domination, and get back the agency they have been denied historically.

The cultural implication of gender roles in Nepal.

Any kind of discrimination has a gender dimension. Nepal as a patriarchal society puts a lot of emphasis on specific gender roles to be performed by each gender.

The father of powers, patriarchy focuses on a familial social, ideological, and political system controlled by men, through force, tradition, ritual, law, marriage, and customs, and determines the role of women, but in which she is always submissive of the male (Rich, 1995). In a predominantly male-dominated society, men often hold the higher ground in all conditions, mainly having a clear authoritative status quo, power, and privilege over women. Sons alone hold true entitlement to ancestral properties. Basically, the base structure is based on the notion of interdependence, with the women being the homemakers and the men earning resources in order to ‘make’ the home (Acharya, 20014).

According to Charli Carpenter (2006), ‘Women have traditionally been associated with child-rearing, and the special protections that have accrued to women under international humanitarian law have historically addressed only their specific needs as mothers rather than the vulnerabilities they face as a result of gender hierarchies prevalent in society before and during armed conflict’(p.31). Gender discrimination is based on different gender roles, assigned by individuals and society, regarding one gender holding higher respect than the other. Women, being raised in that society, don’t even realize they’re being oppressed, and often take it as a personal privilege to serve fellow men, and furthermore continuously remove their agencies. The segregated roles in society, though affect both genders, women seem to be victims of inequality more than men. The gender roles are so inbuilt, that not abiding one would almost seem like breaking the societal norms, causing much shame and personal guilt and disgrace. The gender roles, encouraged by linguistic forms, are strictly culturally imbedded, and strengthened by society on a daily basis. As Butler said, gender is a work in progress and practice, many traits and acts that women are raised performing, often stick to a preferred social construction of feminine traits. Women’s inferiority has been maintained throughout history in patriarchal societies, often using biology, religion, psychology, and philosophy to steer clear of their liberation (Darroch, 2008). Gender equality entails the ideas that support rights, responsibilities, privilege, and individual development in the same capacity and level regardless of gender (Iorga, 2014). Here lies a clear inequality in the state of lives and opportunities provided between the two genders, constantly being reinforced by the ancient, traditional, cultural performances of each gender. Patriarchy, like any other dominant culture, cannot be confronted in finality, because of its intersecting nature, which moves through us enlisting us as agents (Foucault, 1980). Though gender stereotypical actions play a huge part in the maintenance of those traits, language also has a big share in its upkeep.

Language in cultural gender roles:

Language is extremely important as a source of power in science and society. It is included in various domains of our social lives including identity, class, gender, hierarchy, and others (Agha, 2006). One of the major ways of showcasing gender roles, the language we use is also counted in the series of gender “performances”. An effective tool of social conduct, language plays a huge part in providing a foundation and continuation for the cultural study of human conduct (Agha, 2006). It is known that language is a major part of the constant construction of gender performance as a social construction and serves as a reference for social behavior. In the context of Nepalese society, insensitive terms and their similar nature of responses are habitually used as a way to cope with inequal social construction of behaviors amongst males and females. A series of normalization of hurtful terms and phrases is also a byproduct of performances of gender. The language we use is far from neutral, the labels chosen to describe people, objects, and experiences advance an interpretive base and often carry the power to create and reinforce stereotypes (Martin, Krizek, Nakayama, and Bradford, 1996; Seiter, Larsen & Skinner, 1998).

Referring to women as weak or unstable is also normalized using language. Gender roles are more adhered to women and girls than to men and boys, thus the use of language as a way of communication, every day, and derogatorily is bound to have lasting social effects. Though it may be true that women suffer much more discrimination and inequalities, men also have their share of tough performances. One of the major traits they develop being raised with toxic masculinity influences, the ‘real man’ or ‘man up’ language often underpins a lack of emotional vocabulary, isolating many mental and psychological problems. Men are also deemed as strong or unable to emote through the same language. Normalization of such language as an insult or generalized language has been witnessed time and again, naturalizing the words and devaluing or invalidating them.

Introduction

Linguistics is the study of language that includes analyzing language forms and contexts as well. My study is concerned with finding and describing the relation between authorial presence ‘voice’ in second language writing (SLW) in undergraduate students both males and females. Because applied linguistics is my area of interest, I will apply the results of this study to second language writing (SLW) to investigate the role of ‘voice’ in argumentative writing in a relation to overall quality of academic writing. The Thanaweya Amma (High School) along with Higher Education systems in Egypt have become increasingly competitive, and this is so true in Egypt where most of the public universities set a very high scale for admission. Most of these public universities have different departments with many prerequisites for internal admission procedures. Tanta University is my targeted public university to investigate. In particular, I will be analyzing selected data from undergraduate students in English department. Due to the fact of the systematic way of teaching and learning English (memorization/centralized system) in high schools, students are not accustomed to express themselves or in other words to use their own ‘voices’ when they write. Consequently, students tend to express their selves in their fresh year of college to show their own ‘voices’ freely with no constraints in their writings. This study examines how these students build voice and self-reference in their argumentative essays. The study is a call for a more inclusive and balanced view of voice in students’ academic writings considering important factors as sex/gender of the second language writers and the overall quality of academic writing.

Why argumentative writing as a sample of academic genres

In academic writing especially argumentative we do not just say what we think (what we argue for) and that is it, but we take care to design a text for particular readers so that our writing could meet the rhetorical expectations and information needed for those readers. “The arguments we make, the positions we take and the ways we try to connect and fit in with others, all contribute to the presentation of ourselves and so influence how others respond to us” (Hyland et al., 2012, p. 135).

Text-oriented Voice in Academic Writing

For Matsuda, a ‘voice’ is not a group of particular textual features, but it is the reader’s idea that came from specific mixture of ways in which both discursive (e.g. sentence structures, organization, word choice, argumentative strategies) and non-discursive tools (e.g. presentational) are used by the writer (Matsuda, 2001, P.40). Some researchers explored the notion that voice is constructed not only by writers but also by readers. In this study the responses of readers comprised an interesting mix of references to style (e.g. conciseness, syntax), knowledge (e.g. use of terms, breadth of knowledge) and rhetorical strategies to describe the idea they had about the writer (Matsuda & Tardy, 2007, P.243). Actually, textual coherence can be done by organizing the information in the text, but it is increased by the use of meta-discourse, which can help to show the voice of authority. Meta-discourse is used to make the structure of the text clear and it can also be used to explain the interpersonal aspects of the communication between both the writers and the readers. Indeed ‘meta-discourse’ works as an umbrella term for a variety of linguistic features that relates a text to its context by guiding the readers ‘to connect, organize and interpret material in a way preferred by the writer’ (Hyland, Guinda, & Sancho Guinda, 2012, P.125).

Voice is responsible for creating a detailed image of the writer in the mind of the reader. In argumentative essays, the evaluator’s image about the author (undergraduate student in this case) is highly critical. Therefore, voice has a powerful function in academic writings that might affect the author’s final position (I mean final grades in this study). Voice has been investigated in some studies before but from different angels, for example it has been contributed to the exploration of its role in writing instruction and assessment as (Matsuda, 2001, P.36). Zhao has investigated whether and how the strength of an author’s voice in written texts can be reliably measured so she has developed an analytic rubric that measures voice strength in second language writing (Zhao, 2013, P.204). Other researchers examine the role of voice in persuasive academic writing to see if the correlation exists between the two measurements or not as (Helms-Park & Stapleton, 2003) and another study selects writings that are of argumentative/persuasive nature and are source-text based (Zhao & Llosa, 2008, P.159).

The measurement of voice strength in second language writing.

The concept of writer identity produces difficulties to the development of rubrics because identity does not lie completely in the text, but it exists in the interaction between writers and readers that is negotiated by the text. Hyland proposes a more comprehensive model that sees voice in academic writing as essentially interaction between writers and readers. This interactional model of voice consists of two major dimensions as he puts it. One is the writer-oriented ‘stance’ dimension, which refers to “how writers present themselves, their opinions, and their arguments through the use of four linguistically available elements: hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and authorial self-mention” (Hyland, Guinda, & Sancho Guinda, 2012, P.137). The other is the reader-oriented ‘engagement’ dimension that is realized “through the use of five other linguistic- and discourse-level elements: reader pronouns, personal asides, references to shared knowledge, directives, and (rhetorical/audience directed) questions” (Hyland, Guinda, & Sancho Guinda, 2012, P.137).

Nevertheless, with an increasing interest in the value of voice as a measurable concept, researchers began to explore the role of voice in second language writing. In a study for Ivanic and Camps, the collected samples are illustrative rather than representative in which voice has been structured as one type of ‘self-representation’ in textual and interpersonal positioning (Ivanič & Camps, 2001, P.7). Another essential study by Zhao where she has analyzed how voice strength scores contribute to the quality of second language writing argumentative essays. “This study founds high correlations among the three dimensions of the rubric and, more interestingly, identified the ideational dimension, which concerns a writer’s presentation of clear and unique ideas, as the most contributive factor” (Yoon, 2017, P.74). Based on these findings, Zhao has confirmed on the importance of fully developed ideas with a strong commitment in constructing a strong authorial voice and a high-quality essay Zhao (2017, P.).

Gender Identity in Academic Writing

A small body of research that examines the role of voice in gendered writings, one of the few is for (Petric, 2010) who interviewed 30 master’s degree students in gender studies at a university in Central Europe to exemplify how those students defined voice. Petric found that students showed varied views, starting from individual voice to writers’ choices of interactions with other voices (Petric, 2010). Other studies reveal the gender issue when it comes to analysis (by coincidence) as in (Zhao, 2013) in which Rater 3 (one of the analytical tools used in this study) drew a conclusion about the gender of the writer: “His examples … his or her examples … I guess it’s a man because he’d been talking about technology … but that example of Bill Gates and Windows, like millions of lines of code, is really able to create a vivid image in my mind through writing. And, um, so I think for that reason, I would give it a high [voice] score” (Zhao, 2013, P.210).

Textual voice elements could be quantified using

• The Authorial Voice Analyzer (AVA), an automated text processing tool that has been used in a recent study for Yoon (Yoon, 2017). The AVA calculates the normalized frequency values of the lexico grammatical expressions relevant to the interactional meta-discourse categories of Hyland as (hedge, booster, attitude marker, self-mention, and reader pronoun) and then calculates scores (stance and engagement) (Yoon, 2017).
• Textual analysis in terms of rubric use along with automatic essay scoring to quantify the voice elements in writings.
• The three-dimensional (the ideational, affective, presence dimensions) analytic voice rubric that Zhao used in (Zhao, 2013) which was adopted as a measure of voice in her mentioned study. This rubric was readily applicable to the writing samples used in Zhao’s study in which each analytic dimension evaluated voice presence on a 5-point scale.
• A triangulation method that consists of three different ways in collecting targeted data, questionnaires for under graduate students under investigation, interviews with selected professors in the same department, and writing samples for both males and females of fresh and last year in English department.

Delimitations of the study

Due to the fact that Tanta is the capital of Delta region and is surrounded by small towns and villages there will be huge gaps in social background of participants since I will be collecting data from a public university. Also, without a questionnaire or interview tool, the educational material used in the English department would be unknown.

Operational Definitions

• Essay: refers to a literary nonfiction genre that presents a perspective on any given topic using various literary devices.
• Meta-discourse: this term is used in writing to demonstrate any phrase that is included within a clause or sentence that goes beyond the subject itself, often to examine the purpose of the sentence or a response from the author. Examples for interactive meta-discourse by Hyland (Transition markers and Frame markers) (Hyland, Guinda, & Sancho Guinda, 2012, P.178)

Abbreviations

• SLW: Second Language Writing
• AVA: Authorial Voice Analyzer
• AW: Academic Writing

References

1. Helms-Park, R., & Stapleton, P. (2003). Questioning the importance of individualized voice in undergraduate L2 argumentative writing: An empirical study with pedagogical implications. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12(3), 245–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2003.08.001
2. Hyland, K., Guinda, C. S., & Sancho Guinda, C. (2012). Stance and Voice in Written Academic Genres. London, UNITED KINGDOM: Palgrave Macmillan Limited. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/aucegypt/detail.action?docID=1039413
3. Ivanič, R., & Camps, D. (2001). I am how I sound: Voice as self-representation in L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 10(1), 3–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(01)00034-0
4. Matsuda, P. K. (2001). Voice in Japanese written discourse Implications for second language writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 19.
5. Matsuda, P. K., & Tardy, C. M. (2007). Voice in academic writing: The rhetorical construction of author identity in blind manuscript review. English for Specific Purposes, 26(2), 235–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2006.10.001
6. Petric, B. (2010). Students’ conceptions of voice in academic writing.
7. Yoon, H.-J. (2017). Textual voice elements and voice strength in EFL argumentative writing. Assessing Writing, 32, 72–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2017.02.002
8. Zhao, C. G., & Llosa, L. (2008). Voice in high-stakes L1 academic writing assessment: Implications for L2 writing instruction. Assessing Writing, 13(3), 153–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2008.10.003
9. Zhao, C. G. (2013). Measuring authorial voice strength in L2 argumentative writing: The development and validation of an analytic rubric. Language Testing, 30(2), 201–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532212456965