Women in Islam Movie

Something about this move kind of rubbed me the wrong way. While I agree that that this movie got a point across, women in many Islamic countries are treated poorly, I feel at times it was a little over the top. Not only was the plot a little strange (although it may actually happen in many cases) and again very over the top, but i feel that the movie was rather repetitive in a "beating a dead horse" way. The same issue was raised at least 6,000 times and nothing really changed, except the girls age. Multiple times she was forbidden to go to college, could not get a divorce, and was stalked yet she got in trouble. While I understand that all of these issues may be real life problems for women in the Middle East, I think the movie would have been much more effective if there was some kind of change in the plot or maybe a little twist rather than just the same thing over and over or what about making the movie 30 minutes shorter? I feel that changing the length of the movie and/or having some sort of surprise or twist would just make the movie even more effective. In the end, I understand why the movie was made and what it was trying to express, i just feel that it needs a TON of editing or maybe even some rewriting so that the viewers do not become bored and a fall asleep or lose interest in the bigger picture. (Sorry this is just getting posted now, i clicked "save now" by mistake instead of "Publish post" and just noticed it)

Women and Islam

I have to say that I was very surprised by what our guest speakers had to say about how women should be treated according to the Quran. I would have never expected that the Quran would essentially put woman at the "top of the food chain" so to speak. I guess a common misconception when it comes to woman in Islamic cultures is that they do not necessarily need to be treated nicely. This just goes to show, that once again I am surprised to learn that what I "know" about Islam and/or Muslims is very wrong. Unfortunately, I feel it is safe to say that most Americans (as well as many other more Westernized) have formulated stereotypes that are very wrong when it comes to cultures that seem to be much different than their own; in many cases, these stereotypes are so far from the truth that the truth seems unbelievable. Going into Tuesday's class, I was expecting to hear the speakers talk about how women are trying to overcome many obstacles set before them due to the teachings and writings of the Quran. As I said before, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that women SHOULD in fact be treated with much respect.

Headscarves

This video was not only confusing for me but also rather shocking. I can’t believe that so much trouble could be caused of wearing a scarf on your head. I just don't understand how someone can justify ruining someone’s life by taking away someone’s citizenship and not allowing them to go to college for wearing a scarf. Another thing that was incredibly shocking was the fact that during the graduation ceremony, the women were the one beating and abusing the women wearing scarves. It seems odd that they fight for women’s rights and yet are so counterproductive when they perform acts of hatred against other women. Finally, I could not believe the immaturity of the Prime Minister of Turkey. How can a grown man (and men once everyone jumped in on it) boo a women out of a professional and governmental setting. All and all, I feel that the whole situation is rather silly and almost comical in the sense that all of these problems are caused by a few scarves that women want to wear on their head.

Gold Dust

From our discussion in class I could see that there was some issues with the relationship with the camel. The way I see it, the relationship goes much deeper than just “a boy and his camel”. The camel is not simply a pet or mode of transportation to him, the camel represents his livelihood and to Ukhayyad, the camel is family, quite possibly the only “true” family he has. I also noticed that many people had a problem with him divorcing his wife or abandoning his family for the camel. However, as I interpreted the book, he didn't have a very good or close relationship with any of his family members and thus the camel was the only family that he had (at least in his eyes).
There is another way to look at it also. Imagine that you a blind and maybe your family is not always around or maybe they aren’t very close with you. In order to help you function you own a Seeing Eye dog. Is the dog just a tool that helps you live your life? I would say no, the dog represents freedom and a sense of independence. The dog will become more than just a tool as you and the dog almost become one. He cannot function without you and you ‘’cannot function” without him (at least not easily). Your dog will slowly become closer to you than almost anything in the world. That is how Ukhayyad felt about his camel. It was not just a camel. It was his freedom, his independence and his family.