Ultimately, El Saadawi believes that where religion evolves within patriarchal cultures, men distort religion to act in their own interests and to help justify their own privilege and the oppression of women. Over the centuries, Islamic doctrine was thus shaped by men and reflected their interests, with women’s voices being effectively unheard in this process. It just so happened that Islam developed in those areas of the world which already had extremely patriarchal social structures. (Possibly our fixation with the oppression of women in Islamic cultures is a result of a broader anti-Islamic prejudice?)įor El Saadawi, the oppression of women is caused by ‘the patriarchal system which came into being when society had reached a certain stage of development’. A classic example of this is in the 14 th century when the Catholic Church declared that women who treated those who were ill, without special training, could be executed as witches. She points out that male female oppression exists in many non-Islamic cultures and is in fact just as common in Christian cultures. However, despite the prevalence of female oppression across the Islamic world, El Saadawi does not believe that female oppression is caused by Islam. In addition, women are also victims of forced prostitution and slavery which provide further evidence of patriarchal dominance of Arab men over Arab women. Young females are frequently the victims of violence at the hands of their fathers, uncles or brothers. She was forced to undergo female circumcision as a young girl, without any warning or explanation and points out that male violence against women within the family is common in many Arab cultures. She has campaigned vigorously for women’s rights in the Arab world and has been imprisoned for her activism. She offers an Egyptian Feminist perspective on the role of religion and thus broadens our understanding away from the typically white female voices of feminism.Įl Saadawi is a women’s rights activist, who has herself experienced oppression within Egypt. In The Hidden Face of Eve (1980), Nawal El Saadawi considers the role of religion in perpetuating female oppression in the Arab World. I’ve taught A-level sociology for 16 years and have been an AQA examiner for 10 of those, so I know what I’m talking about, and if you purchase from me you’re avoiding all those horrible corporations that own the major A-level text books and supporting a fully fledged free-range human being, NOT a global corporate publishing company. The content focuses on the AQA A-level sociology specification. Three 30 mark essay questions and extended essay plans.Three 10 mark ‘analyse using the item’ 10 practice exam questions and answers.Three 10 mark ‘outline and explain’ practice exam questions and model answers.52 Pages of revision notes covering the entire AQA ‘beliefs in society’ specification: from perspectives on religion, organisations, class, gender ethnicity and age and secularisation, globalisation and fundamentalism.Eight mind maps covering the sociological perspectives on beliefs in society.If you like this sort of thing then you might like my ‘ beliefs in society’ revision bundle. Please click the links below for more details:īeliefs in society revision bundle for sale The mind map above summarises the following Feminist perspectives on religion. It follows that women can use religion to lead fulfilling lives, but need to fight oppression within mainstream religions organisations to do so, or even to develop their own unique, individual paths to a feminine spirituality. It is really men hijacking religion and downplaying the role of women in the development of some religions over the past couple of thousand years which is the problem. Historically, for example, Goddess religions have celebrated the creative and nurturing power of the feminine. However, Radical Feminists do not necessarily see religion as inherently patriarchal. For example, by providing psychological rewards if they accept their role as mothers and limit their horizons to fulfilling that role well. Radical Feminists also believe that religion often serves to compensate women for their second class status within religion and society more generally. Men have interpreted religious doctrines in order to justify their positions of power. They argue that such religions have developed in patriarchal societies and have been ‘hijacked’ by men. Radical Feminists emphasize the patriarchal nature of some mainstream religions such as Catholicism and Islam.
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