Women Warriors
"The swordswoman and I are not so dissimilar...What we have in common are the words at our back." This is a quote form Maxine Hong Kingston's memoir Woman Warrior, which touches base on what values she carried and what she was taught growing up Chinese-American.
Every family passes down stories from the past, filled with meaning and the values held dear from generation to generation. I grew up with the importance of education engraved in my brain, regardless of being a female. Though woman in society have historically been regarded as less to men, my family babies go above and beyond diminishing this standard.
Being muslim, my family holds our religious teachings and beliefs to the highest regard. My personal favorite aspect is the position of women in Islam. The Islamic religion actually brought justice to women in a time when no where else in the world did women have rights. The religion established the (previously nonexistent) rules of the right of property ownership, the right to independently earn and not have to forfeit income to anyone, and the right to divorce for women. Along with this, women in Islam have the same status as men, the right to the same secular education and equal pay as men. These some of the Islamic teachings I hold most dearly to myself; I'm proud to say that the religion I belong to and believe in set the standard so high in a time where none of this even existed.
My grandmother was one of the few in her time who received a college education in Pakistan, riding there everyday by herself on a bike. This was unheard of at the time. Her parents, my great-grandparents, didn't have a son, so unlike the custom of the time, my grandmother was the one who bought them a house after getting a job as a teacher and supporting the family. She was a true Woman Warrior, showing that the last thing that needs to come in the way of education and independence is your gender.
Unfortunately, the media regularly portrays women as oppressed, dependent, and abused by men. I personally take these false claims as the words on my back I am constantly fighting to denounce. I am a swordswoman in my own right, and my family backs me up.
Every family passes down stories from the past, filled with meaning and the values held dear from generation to generation. I grew up with the importance of education engraved in my brain, regardless of being a female. Though woman in society have historically been regarded as less to men, my family babies go above and beyond diminishing this standard.
Being muslim, my family holds our religious teachings and beliefs to the highest regard. My personal favorite aspect is the position of women in Islam. The Islamic religion actually brought justice to women in a time when no where else in the world did women have rights. The religion established the (previously nonexistent) rules of the right of property ownership, the right to independently earn and not have to forfeit income to anyone, and the right to divorce for women. Along with this, women in Islam have the same status as men, the right to the same secular education and equal pay as men. These some of the Islamic teachings I hold most dearly to myself; I'm proud to say that the religion I belong to and believe in set the standard so high in a time where none of this even existed.
My grandmother was one of the few in her time who received a college education in Pakistan, riding there everyday by herself on a bike. This was unheard of at the time. Her parents, my great-grandparents, didn't have a son, so unlike the custom of the time, my grandmother was the one who bought them a house after getting a job as a teacher and supporting the family. She was a true Woman Warrior, showing that the last thing that needs to come in the way of education and independence is your gender.
Unfortunately, the media regularly portrays women as oppressed, dependent, and abused by men. I personally take these false claims as the words on my back I am constantly fighting to denounce. I am a swordswoman in my own right, and my family backs me up.
Wow, Zahra! Your post was an awesome read. The stories of your family was really interesting, and I love how you tied everything together with the actual story of Woman Warrior. I definitely agree with you on how women can be inaccurately portrayed by media. However I also think it is true that some women in society take their "weak" image to their advantage, such as saying that women can hit men but not the opposite. Overall great job!
ReplyDeleteThis is so deep and touching. I love it. It's interesting how religion says things one way but then people interpret it differently or defy it completely. Like how it's stereotypical for the woman to be catering to the men's every needs when guests come over and such.
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