Recently I opened Czech magazine for women “Žena a Život” (“Woman and Life”). In the section about travelling there was an article which should be an inspiration for visiting Israel. They informed us about what to visit on a short trip to Israel, in which hotel to stay and which airlines to choose.
As all of the articles in this magazine this article is accompanied by large number of pictures. It is perhaps the pictures which should catch our attention and attract our attention to the article. I was alarmed when I read the depiction under one picture. This picture clearly shows Muslim women – they are wearing hijab — shopping in fruit market. The depiction says: “Even on land of Israel Arab women must follow the traditional rule. They must limit themselves only on family and taking care about their family.” (Vápeníková 99) I was already imagining the reaction of a Czech reader, who does not have much knowledge about Islam.
Firstly, certainly not all Arab women are Muslims and therefore not all of them wear hijab. Even not all Muslim women wear hijab. Opposing numerous believes it is the choice of each Muslim woman, whether wear hijab or not. For example in the Czech community of Muslim women there are some which chose not to wear hijab. Secondly, yes, marriage is an important part of Islam. According to Islam, getting married really means fulfilling half of your faith (Al-Qadarawi). Taking care of your family is a common sense of every human being. Still I must ask why would someone write: “Arab women […] must limit them selves only on family”.
I believe that each journalist has to write each word with enormous care and thus forego misunderstanding and building baseless stereotypes. Women magazines should not be any exception.
Works citied
Al-Qadarawi, Yusuf. “The Philosophy of Marriage in Islam.” Islam Online. 10 Jul. 2007.24 Nov. 2007. <http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satelite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Schola…>.
Vápeníková, Jana. “Izraelská Rychlovka. ” Žena a Život. 26 (2007): 96-99.
Anna,I think you are absolutely right, because my religion is Muslim,however you see me at the university and I am not wearing hijab.Women in my country Kazakhstan are not forced to wear hijabs and this is a personal choice of every woman,because my country is multi-religious. And I think that these journalists are using inaccurate language while wrighting such reports.
Comment by alikhanova — January 13, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
I also want to agree with you that Muslim women are not obliged to limit themselves only on the family and not being interested in anything else. However, there are really some countries where women have to wear hijab, but this is because these are the rules of the society and they would be seriously punished if they do not do so, like in Afganistan for example. However, i think we live in a modern world where all cultures and religions are developing and it becomes inaccurate to limit women in a way that stops or slows down their development. Anyway, in most of the magazines and newspapers journalists right about Arab women as people who do not have human rights, just because this is the common opinion and knowledge about them, and that is why they have to make a little research before using strong words like “limit” because they are not completely true and this is misleading for the readers.
Comment by dimana — January 14, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
It is interesting how each culture is different. People sometimes tend to stereotype, however it is difficult for people to differentiate if someone is muslim or not if the person comes from middle east. I agree with Dimana about the “common opinion” of muslim women. But if you are a journalist, you have to be aware of this.
Comment by jakubstanislav — January 15, 2008 @ 6:43 pm
Anna, a fabulous and educational blog with themes very close to my heart! Very well done! Also, you should proud of yourself for igniting discussion here, your classmates are very impressed!
tnesbitt
Comment by Todd Nesbitt — January 23, 2008 @ 11:26 am