Abstract:
Many global feminist issues revolve around the obsession with the burqa. To many in the Western world the burqa symbolizes the oppression of the women ‘behind the veil’. This image of Middle Eastern and South Asian women, scurrying around silently is often presented in our media to reinforce this idea. In, Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?, Abu-Lughod focuses on the negative connotations associated with the burqa and religious traditions that carry oppressive, anti-feminist undertones with our society. In National Discourses on Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh: Enabling or constraining women’s choices?, various women’s organizations and their plans of action to empower Bangladeshi women are explored. In Kathleen Holscher’s article, Contesting the Veil in America: Catholic Habits and the Controversy over Religious Clothing in the United States, bans against burqas are becoming more and more popular and the same issue arises in the U.S. as well. With such controversy surrounding the burqa and the women who choose to wear them, one must understand the cultural meaning behind this form of religious clothing. The larger goal of this essay is to analyze the misconception of Western feminist and women’s organizations that these women must be ‘unveiled’ or liberated as our society sees fit.

Works Cited

Abu-Lughod, Lila. "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on

Cultural Relativism and Its Others." American Anthropologist 104.3 (2002): 783-90. Print.

Holscher, Kathleen. "Conttesting the Veil in America:Catholic Habits and the Controversy over

Religious Clothing in the United States." Journal of Church and State 54.1 (2012): 57-81.

Print.

Nazneen, Sohela, Maheen Sultan, and Naomi Hossain. "National Discourses on Women's

Empowerment in Bangladesh:Enabling or Constraining Women's Choices." Development.

2010. Web. 05 Apr. 2012.

journals.com/development/journal/v53/n2/abs/dev201011a.html>.

Web blog post #5

The first thing that came to mind when watching this video was the similarity between the ideas presented in it and that of the character Pramod in “The Good Shopkeeper”. Pramod is laid off from his job and is told by his wife, as well as many others that he should keep a positive attitude. In the film, this is our societies’ ideology, that if we have a constant positive attitude, then everything will be fine. This is referred to as willful ignorance. Pramod continues to hold onto this ideology, although it’s clear that he has major doubts of its effectiveness. He even attends Shiva’s temple daily, in hopes that his spiritual devotion will work in his favor, as it has appeared to for others. When he returns empty handed, after months of attempting to adopt such attitude, he decides to stray from it.
The American view that sex and anything related to it is taboo has shaped the way in which I view sexuality. For many years I believed sex to be a shameful thing, due to my conservative American upbringing and the presence of Catholicism in my home. I never even received the “sex talk” because such things weren’t discussed. I viewed it has a sin until I became older enough to realize that it is simply a human need and desire. However, my upbringing enforces that sex is a sacred act and decisions regarding it shouldn’t be taken lightly. My combined experiences have morphed two ideals into one. In my eyes, sex is an act with a lot of meaning behind it but it is also a natural thing that should be discussed openly and not swept under the rug.

Web blog post # 4

I strongly believe that every woman should be independent in almost every way. I think every woman should have their own financial support and even after marriage should maintain their independence in some way. I believe this because this value has been instilled in me since I was young. My mother told me all the time that I should “never rely on a man.” This brought on a sense of feminism at a very young age for me. I didn’t play dumb in school like many girls my age and always sought to get high grades, even if a boy noticed. Dating was even discouraged a lot. I was never the type of young woman who had to have a boyfriend like most of my friends. I hadn’t even had my first real relationship until this past year when I was 20. Even now, any woman who is constantly seeking to please a man sets off an alarm to me that there is something going on underneath the surface, that she devalues herself. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my moments, but I feel as though this value has let me be a passive observer and become sharper in my awareness. That’s probably why I identify with Hema the most. I know I’ve mentioned this in previous discussions but she is my favorite character. She deviated from the gender identity of her time and culture and represents a strong, independent, and driven woman. She has a successful career, is greatly respected, and is completely different from the other female characters. She like me at times even actively separates herself from any male ‘distractions’ until she lets her guard down with Ghosh.

Although this value can be extremely beneficial, it has its drawbacks. I’ve noticed that I’ve been a little colder towards guys most of my life, preferring lots of girl friends as opposed to male friends. I’ve even pushed a few potential boyfriends away. Being so independent and focused on self can drive someone to become cold hearted, selfish and desensitized to others or a particular sex around them. It also can be a great thing though, as it as for me. It can drive you to be successful in many different ways including school, work, etc. It can teach you how to be self-sufficient, so once you’re living on your own you will thrive and not panic. I appreciate my mom for teaching this quality/belief. It has created a strength in me and expectations for myself I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Cutting for Stone

The character I have chosen is Hema in Cutting for Stone. During medical school she decides to become a gynecologist instead of clinical medicine and practices in Ethiopia instead of her country, India. Religious influence isn’t evidenced in the book as playing a big role in this decision. However, she seems to feel the need to deviate from anything expected of her gender role. Even when she was younger she rejected her “half-sari” she was forced to wear to school which only embarrassed her and was to her a price to pay for education. When she goes to medical school and realizes that she has a crush on her professor, she changes her studies to that of gynecology as to prove that he has no influence on her. She early on chose a life of independence and headstrongness. She chooses to practice in Ethiopia because she believes that India is a “man’s domain” in the world of medicine. She chooses to leave behind her parents and homeland to pursue her goal in the way she believes she must. Her willpower, take-charge attitude and independence define her character through her every action.

I identify with her character the most because I admire her. She seems to always do what she believes to be right instead of being a passive observer. She is a strong woman, especially in her day and age and that requires a great deal of courage and strength to me. I think everyone including myself needs some of this quality to survive and thrive in life. Especially women, since sometimes we are greatly underestimated and doubted.

my grandmother's favorite story

My grandmother, my mom's mom, is named Josephine Lacey Moselli. She is Italian, extremely fiesty and suffers from alzheimers. However, her long term memory is fully intact. I know this because everytime I see her she tells me the same 3 or 4 stories from her past. One is about how she met my grandfather....

A long time ago my grandmother was convinced to go on a blind date with her girlfriend's boyfriend's friend. They fell in love but shortly after they met my grandfather had to go to Germany for two years because he was in the service. My grandmother said that she liked him but didn't want to be tied down while they were in different countries and so young. She after all was an independent young go-getter with plenty of guys after her. She told him if when he came back and they still had feelings for each other it would work out. But in the meantime they'll write each other while he was in Germany. When she met him at the train station the day he returned, she said she knew at once she still loved him. Even though he had got chunky due to all the "good german food and beer". They decided to get married and elope but my grandfather wanted to move South to Savannah because jobs were more available there. But my grandmother had strict Italian parents who didn't approve of his Irish heritage to begin with. So my grandmother had a tough decision..leave her family to be with the one she loves...or stay with them and be miserable. She decided to elope with him and to this day she tells me it's her biggest regret. My grandparents had an amazing love for each other. It's apparent now even with my grandfather gone. Whenever she tells me she misses him it breaks my heart. She doesn't cry or get upset she just mentions it like she mentions the weather.

I didn't really change any parts to the story. I may have left some details out but not on purpose, just because I can't remember them all. My grandmother tells it the best because she tells it as if it was yesterday. I wouldn't want to alter any of the story anyways because to me it's beautiful and tells so much about my grandparents. Sanjay's retelling of the Ramayana is condensed and has a little bit of his own humor and commentary. I feel like I do this as well when telling storys. We don't tell them word for word, we pass on the story with our own language and story-telling style that varies from story to story. To me this story is humorous and sentimental and based on that, I tell it in a respectful yet light-hearted manner.

My best friend, Jenny Quan, is an Asian woman. She has talked to me a few times about her background but hasn’t gone into detail about it with me. Before this interview I knew that her father is an Americanized Asian man and her mother is still very much about her Asian culture.
The interview I conducted with Jenny turned out to be very telling and pretty emotional. I knew the dynamic of her family is very different than my own but I never knew to what extent. She told me that her mother was born and raised in Vietnam, one of 11 children. In her 20’s she immigrated to the U.S. through a Vietnamese man who promised to bring her and her sisters there if she married him. She had three children with this man then eventually divorced him and married Jenny’s Father, Jerry, and had Jenny. Jenny’s father is at the total other end of the spectrum when compared to her mother. He was born in Florida and raised in Georgia. He is fifth generation Chinese of his family. He speaks English and basic Chinese.

Jenny told me that she only spoke Vietnamese until she was 8 when her mother developed a gambling problem from her new-found wealth and moved away. After that there was no one to keep the traditions, language and overall Vietnamese culture going. Her father attempted to help her learn Chinese but as Jenny told me it’s almost impossible to learn unless you start early on.
She told me about the struggles of not living up to the Asian expectation of being extremely intellectual and being a minority in her schools growing up. The main thing Jenny admitted to struggling with is the language barrier with her mom. Her mom only speaks broken English so it makes it very hard to communicate with her. It has prevented her from having a real relationship with her. Since her mother grew up in Vietnam, it makes it hard for Jenny to tell her that something she says is inappropriate or that she’s wrong because in the Vietnamese culture you should never defy your mother.

I think Jenny is a strong example of the second kind of cultural identity mentioned in Hall’s article. She is a mixture of the old and new. She has been exposed to the 1st generation Vietnamese culture as well as the American culture while growing up here in the United States. Due to unfortunate circumstances she’s lost a lot of the Vietnamese culture she was exposed to earlier in life, but she did reveal to me that she wishes she could go back and hold onto it even harder so that she would still have some part of it today..