blog due sept 21

In the Read and Bartkowski article, I was struck by the similarities in the views of both Muslim women who choose to veil and those who choose not to veil. Both sets of women felt that wearing hijab was separate than being true to their religion, and that the reason for veiling is because men are unable to control their sexual desires. However, what interested me the most was the benefits that many veiled women experienced. Not only did they feel closer to their culture, but more importantly, they felt like they could live more freely in society because they were not judged on their faces or bodies and instead seen for more than their appearance.

This prompted me to think that perhaps these women feel like by wearing hijab, they are seen and judged equally to males in society. Our section discussion about the focus on men's lives when portraying life on the streets made me think of this article. Many of the women in the article felt like veiling allowed them to go out and live their lives freely. This indicates that these women, without veils, feel like they need to stay in the home. The woman who go unveiled also feel that their choice allows them to live freely and surpass the idea of being simply housewives. We concluded in our discussion that many portrayals of urban life focus on the men because our society often concludes that women are staying home while the men go out and adventures. This is similar to the idea that muslim women connect their decision to wear/not wear hijab to their desire to live a life outside of the home.

Another topic brought up in our section discussion was how the ideal woman of today needs to do everything: Not only does she need to be thin and beautiful, but she needs to be both a mother and a working woman. (Carmen's ad demonstrated this concept). The Ehrenreich Hochschild article about the transfer of labor jobs from American housewives to immigrant women ties in with this concept. In the past, women were seen as being a useful part of society when they married, raised children, and cared for their home. Now, gender norms of females are shifting, and it is becoming normal and even expected for women to spend their days at work while their children and homes are cared for by someone else. Unfortunately, the people caring for their home/family often have left behind their own homes and children in trade for their new jobs.

In response to Messner's question...

I do not think situated knowledge is an impediment to seeing the world clearly, because I feel like there is no such thing as a "clear" vision of the world. Every person has their own gender, race, religion, position in society, etc., and therefore every person has situated knowledge. Many people are excellent at making objective decisions and statements; these people are vital to our culture as judges, politicians, counselors etc. However, I do not think people see the world less clearly due to their situated knowledge, they simply see it in their own way.