Gender in Islamic Countries North Africa and the Middle East
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The larger physical area of North Africa and the Middle East share several like qualities that drive the geographers to label them into one region (Del Casino, Knox, Liverman, Marston & Robbins, 2013). The region covers countries above the African transition line to include all the countries in Southwest Asia, which has the technical referral as the Middle East. Islam is a common trait shared by the countries in that region with the day-to-day practice of the religion taking diverse forms within the area. Even though the views of the area have been differing, the stance and opinions on gender still stand and harsh than we can imagine.
The Islamic faith does not only act as a religion in the area as may be the expectation, but it is also a strong force that drives culture and stands to unify or divide people in the region. According to Del Casino et al., (2013), sharia is the criminal code for all Muslim states, and the laws are distinct from the civil laws offering harsh punishments to offenders. The Islamic laws have a bias towards women and favoring men in most occasions offering them opportunities while discriminating on women. As expressed in the text, women cannot affirm to the western cultures and even as some Islamic states they get to go to college, the number is still small. Most women in such countries get opportunities to the workforce to an extent, but it is discouraging that the control of entry to the workforce is still evident.
The rules on the veiling of women are not common across the region even as some states are allowing women to adopt the western code of dressing within the allowable limits. I can give an example of Morocco as a country that has given space for some of the western cultures their women adopt that were not earlier acceptable. According to (Del Casino et al., 2013), women in the Islamic states that have allowed the adoption of western cultures are trading their habitual attires for the western clothing. The advancement of the countries and the urbanization of the major parts give the opportunity for the exposure to the western cultures.
According to Del Casino et al., (2013), men hold dominant under Islamic regions and have more rights over women making the women a weaker gender with no rights as those of other countries. The Sharia law dictates that a woman can only walk in public in the company of a family member that is not the case in our collective cultures. Women who walk alone in public can be arrested and granted punishment as per the law and may face accusations of immoral acts (Del Casino et al., 2013). In the societies of those countries that are not Muslim states and the western nations, we can agree that the women enjoy freedom in an equal portion of men as opposed to the counterparts in the Islamic States.
I feel that the women in the Islamic states face discrimination, and their potentials do not get exploitation to benefit their societies. The restrictions such as those of training and careers are unnecessary, and the fact that women face segregation from male counterparts in public places and homes only serves them as lesser beings, which is not the case. Even as the Muslims strive to maintain their culture and cultural heritage, the thoughts should shift to consider the developments in place in the modern days. The security of maintaining cultural heritage does not revolve around limiting women activities and withholding their rights, but giving equal opportunities for participation in the society.