Women in the Middle East:

Common Threads and

Diversity of Experience

Common Threads

Fewer women than men in public life

Fewer women than men in the public workforce

Higher rates of female illiteracy

Lower rates of female education

Patriarchal system in the home and in public life

Female Literacy

* Female literacy in the MENA region has tripled since the 1970s, but half the women in the region still cannot read or write.

Women’s Participation in the Formal Work Force & Politics

About 80 percent of men participate in the workforce; only about 33 percent of women (in the MENA region)

About 3.5 % of parliamentary seats are occupied by women (lowest % in the world)

Patriarchy: a system that privileges males and elders, giving males legal and economic power over his family members.  In broader terms, the extension of male dominance over women in society in general. 

Patriarchal system

Public:Public officeCourt testimonyDress codesSegregated work spacesLimitations on movement

Private: Last namesChild custodyDivorce/marriage lawsFreedom of movement & employment

Cultural, linguistic, ethnic diversity

A Bedouin girl

Egyptian women on a bus

Moroccan women demonstrating.

Some Iranian women.

Languages: Persian, Arabic (many dialects), Turkish, Kurdish, Hebrew, etc.

Ethnic groups: Arab, Berber, Persian, Turkish, Jewish, many more

Religion: Shiites, Sunnis, Jews, Christians, Druze, others.

Regional and historic diversity

EXAMPLE-

Saudi Arabia: Women make up 4% of the formal workforce

Egypt: Women make up about 30% of the formal workforce

Women in Turkey: A case study

A Turkish mayoral candidate greets locals at a Diyarbakir market. Photo: NF Watts, 03/04

Historic Backdrop

Kemalist reforms in the new RepublicSources of reforms re: women

EconomicIdeological

Nature of the reformsLegal equalitiesLegal and social inequalities

New Feminism (1980s onward)2002: New civil law

New legal equality within the family

Multiple experiences: Class and status

Women in eastern Turkey.

Class differences: Jobs and status

Former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller

Female employee at a carpet restoration center in Turkey.

Market woman in central Turkey.

My friend Selin making pottery.

Regional Diversity

Map of Turkey; inset map of Turkey’s southeastern provinces

Regional diversity- a Turkish case

Literacy: 78 % literacy for women in Turkey overall (92 % men); in Southeast Turkey, only 55 % women literate.

Education: 92% girls in elementary school in Turkey overall; only 75% in the Southeast

Marriage: in the Southeast, 20% girls marry before age 15 (highly uncommon in the rest of Turkey)

Diversity in Dress: The headscarf

Veiling and exclusion from work NOT synonymous

Full-body covering not specifically required in the Quran

Traditionally veiling was a primarily an upper-class luxury

Village women in southeast Turkey.

Reasons for veiling:

Local custom

Assertion of women’s rights

“Post-modern” reaction

Peer pressure

State/family requirement

Reasons for Veiling: Islam

"Say to the believing man that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them; and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands..." (Qur'an 24:30-31)

Types of head and body cover

Hijab: Head scarf

Chador: Full body coverDrawings from the Seattle

Times

Types of body covering cont.

Burka

Hindu woman covering face with sari or other covering.

More head/body coverings…

Niqab: the face veil

Head and body fashion, images

Palestinian woman in Gaza

American Muslim woman showing difference between the Niqab (left) and the Hijab (right)

Hijab Fashion

Abayas from Al-Iman Fashion

Hijabs from Al-Iman Fashion

Hijab & Abaya from alKaram fashion