Two Women

I thought this movie was an amazing portrayal of the entrapment faced by many women in the Middle East and the movie did an excellent job depicting the "taboo" subject of spousal abuse in the Middle East. It was really interesting to see the relationship of Roya and Fereshteh develop and how the two women coped with different aspects of their culture. The series of flashbacks added depth to the video. We notice from the beginning the movie the differences between Roya and Fereshteh. Roya is well off and Feresteh is smart and beautiful. Feresteh is adored by many suitors and situations become threatening when one in particular who stalks her with a knife and acid. Due to the problematic situations that occurred while Feresteh was at the University, she was forced to go back home and was also forced into a marriage that she was a fan of. Fereshteh's marriage was anything but a fairytale. Her husband was controlling and manipulative. Feresteh lost all respect for herself and found herself stuck at home with no means of communication. Her only hidden pleasure was her books that she had to keep from her husband. The couple could not hold a conversation without fighting and matters became so bad that her husband ran them off the road in a heat argument while they had their new baby in the car with them. While her husband was away, Feresteh would encourage her boys to read, however once her husband found out, he was outraged. He wanted to have complete control of Feresteh which meant not letting her further her education by any means. Feresteh could not stand the confinements under which she was held and was forced to flee. Little did she know that her old stalker was waiting for his revenge. It an effort to protect his wife, Feresteh's husband ran to her defense only to be left in critical condition which ultimately led to his death. Feresteh did not know what or how to react to the situation. You could sense her relief yet she was terrified for her children's future. However not once did she show remorse to her dead husband. She questioned whether or not she really loved him but she did not feel sorrow for him. She felt more sorrow for herself that she was going to have to manage on her own. The movie ended with Feresteh contemplating different scenarios for her life. But how was she going to manage? How was she going to live for herself and for her children after being confined for so long? The movie left you wondering and that's what a truly liked about it.

Guest Speakers

Gulnar’s visit to our class was very informative. It was amazing to see how much see knew about the Quran and women’s roles in it. One part of Gulnar’s presentation that really stuck out in my mind was when she took the words “Rahman” and “Raheem” and related them to the word “womb”. It put in perspective how the Islamic culture cannot be anti female. Pre-Islamic social culture did include the mistreating of women and women faced intense discrimination, but however now women are viewed as equal. Now women have many right’s including educational rights, economic rights, marital rights, social rights and political rights. Gulnar also gave examples of the notable Muslim women in the Middle East. I never realized that the Hijab (head scarf) that are worn my women in the Middle East is never mentioned in the Quran, therefore it is not necessarily a part of their religion but more a part of their culture. The concept of the Hijab is really interesting to me. To Gulnar, it represented modesty, morality, and respect. I was really interested in the story about her daughter just up and wearing the Hijab one day. It shows the importance of the Higab to other people. When Dr. Webb’s other guest came in, it was really cool to see the other side of some things. She had a different perspective about the Hijab and that was refreshing. Both women stressed how times have changed and with time, so have their home lands. Both women were very proud in their culture and it was a nice to see their perspectives.

Dr. Mirzeler's visit

It was amazing having Dr. Mirzeler come to our class. Not only did he shed light on the novel, Memed, My Hawk, but he gave us an amazing picture of his home land. The most interesting thing that I gained from Dr. Mirzeler’s visit to our class was his story on honor killing and how it affected his family. When he was younger, he was almost forced to kill his older sister because she dishonored her family. Luckily Dr. Mirzeler is still able to keep in touch with her and the rest of his family. I was surprised that he was so open to talk about the situation with us. Like he mentioned, family honor is one of the most important aspects of his culture and when that honor is disgraced, methods must be taken. I have to wonder what Dr. Mirzeler’s sister thinks about the situation now and how it has affected her. Dr. Mirzeler mentioned that his family was able to “marry away” his sister before they had to take measures. How did she feel about that decision? Did she know the man? Is she happy now? I wish Dr. Mirzeler was able to stay longer because I know out class could have had an amazing discussion with him. Dr. Mirzeler’s visit was really insightful and a wonderful treat.

Women's Rights

Why is it acceptable for a Christian to wear a scarf but not acceptable for a Muslim woman to wear a head scarf? 99 percent of the Turkish population is Muslim, yet it is against the law for head scarves to be worn. However if women wear their scarves has a grandma would wear it then it’s perfectly fine. Is it fair that women are not allowed to graduate id they wear their scarf? Is it fair that they can even be imprisoned? To many women, the head scarf is considered part of their culture. In the movie, we saw how the effects of the law can take on one’s entire life. An intelligent woman left Turkey to escape the torment she received for wearing her head scarf, yet when she reached the United States, matters didn’t get much better. This woman graduated from an outstanding university and was even elected into office, however once she took the stand, she was booed to leave. How dehumanize can some people be? She was also stripped of her Turkish citizenship. Women’s rights have been an ongoing battle in societies all over the world. The head scarf was banned to increase equality for women. Isn’t it hypocritical then to tell a woman not to wear something she is proud of wearing? Watching this movie and the one concerning honor killing helped emphasize the hardships that are faced by women in Turkey.

Women on the Front Line: Turkey

I know we've talked a lot about honor killing in this class, but it wasn't until watching this movie that I realized how crazy and encourage it really is. When we first read Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery, we related the Bey's anger towards Harbi to honor killing, however when watching this movie, I was say it has nothing to do with that. The basis of honor killing is when the men of the family kill women in their family due to an act that was performed by the woman that dishonored the man. Let me emphasize how THE MEN KILL THE WOMEN! Never the other way around when in regards to honor killing. One story from the movie that really shocked me was how a father killed his one and a half month pregnant daughter and said it was because she had dishonored the family. 40 percent of men in Turkey still support this idea. It's not a myth or folklore; it's a major tragedy that is still occurring to this day. Now men who kill for honor are sentenced to life in jail, however men use to get away with these murders. Yet now the older members of the family will have the boys of the family perform the murders so the punishments will be lighter. Honor suicides are taking place now in replace of honor murders. The rise of suicides doubled from 2006 to 2007. However, disguising the murders as suicides defeat the purpose of honor killings. One thing that the movie mentioned that always surprised me was so they considered the men committing the murders and victims too. The men are under pressure from their society to main the honor of the family, and by killing the women who dishonored them, they are upholding the family name. If the men were not to kill the women, they could ultimately be raped by other members of the village or the men would be shunned. When the women are buried, they don’t receive a proper burial, and cinder blocks are used in replace of head stones. This whole concept blows my mind. Laws has been set in place to minimize these killings, however being that it is a part of the culture, will they ever terminate?

Short Stories

When comparing the two short stories, I personally liked The Lawsuit better. The younger wife seemed to resemble someone like a step mother and I thought it was interesting to see how she brought the lawsuit upon her own family. The situation in the story really reminded me of step families within our own county. One problem that I did have with the story was how dramatic it seemed. However it was a short story so I guess a lot had to be included in it to make it complete. I also would have liked to see what the verdict would have been in the case.
The second story, A Long-Term Plan, was filled with irony. A man in his 70’s was so use to using other people for their wealth, especially his mother’s, becomes an overnight millionaire and after making plans for what he is going to do with his money, he slips into a food coma. He had lived his whole life doing absolutely nothing to benefit others. Karma? Both stories by Naguib Mahfouz were interesting.

Gold Dust

At the heart of Gold Dust is the relationship between Ukhayyad, son of a tribal chieftain, and his beloved piebald thoroughbred Mahri camel. The relationship is both a physical interdependency and a spiritual communion. At times the camel seems to be a projection of Ukhayyad.
A tribal sheikh tells Ukhayyad:
"We always say that the Mahri is the mirror of his rider. If you want to stare into the rider and see what lies hidden within, look to his mount, his thoroughbred . . . Whoever owns a Mahri like this piebald will never complain for want of noble values."
Ukhayyad would do anything for his camel and we witness this when he almost dies himself when trying to cure the camel’s mange: "Flesh met flesh, blood mixed with blood. In the past they had been merely friends. Today, they had been joined by a much stronger tie."
Ukhayyad has an innocence about him. He does not understand all the rules of the desert culture and tends to be blind to the deviousness of others. His father had wanted him to marry his first cousin so that Ukhayyad rather than one of his father's nephews would inherit leadership of the tribe. But Ukhayaad married instead the beautiful songstress Ayur, a refugee from the drought-stricken south. His father's curse "Marry her and be damned!" lies like a shadow over him. Ukhayyad also sees himself to be cursed because he failed to keep his promise to sacrifice a fat camel at the desert shrine of the ancients where he had prayed for his camel's recovery from mange.
The novel is set at a time when life for the desert dwellers is precarious. In the north there is fighting with the Italians while in the south there is severe famine (at one point a starving Ukayyad cooks and eats his leather sandal). Ukhayyad's alienation from his tribe may seem like freedom, but it leaves him vulnerable to exploitation.
When Ayur's rich trader relative Dudu arrives from the south, Ukhayyad is manipulated into pawning his camel to him. Dudu then makes the return of the skinny and deteriorating camel to Ukhayyad conditional on his divorcing Ayur who, Ukhayyad learns, Dudu had wanted to marry himself.
Matters escalate and Ukhayyad is virtually forced by the shame of his circumstances into becoming a vengeful murderer.
The group in Tuesday’s class did an excellent job getting us to really take a deep look inside the details of this book. I hadn’t really thought much of the book until the group had us answer specific questions to the plot. In general I thought the book was interesting. Not one of my favorites but a pretty good read.