(First a disclaimer: I didn’t post this in the political/religious thread because it isn’t poliltical or religious, it’s academic and if I posted it there I am nearly positive that nobody would see it and I wouldn’t get much advice…)
I have chosen a topic for my Islam class. It is “Women in Islam,” which is as general a topic as the professor would let me by with.
It has to be at least 10 pages, and is due in 6 weeks, so I have some time left but I want to get a lot of ideas of what I should read and what I should do.
I have already decided to read the books by Irshad Manji (the lesbian Canadian feminist Muslim who was all over the news a while back), as well as my textbooks for the class which are by Esposito, Gregorian, and Kazi and the Qu’ran itself. I also may try to get an interview with some women from the Muslim Student Association, which I’ve already attended.
I’m wondering if anybody knows any other books I should read or other advice for this topic in particular?
I know how to write a research paper (in MLA) because I’ve done it before at the community college, but I want this paper to be done really really well so I am going to work really hard on it, thus this post for advice.
You might take a look at this article. It may be the author who’s interviewed in the article has books that are also relevant to your question:
What would Mohammed do?
Geraldine Brooks, an expert on the role of women in Islam, says the “haters of beauty” behind the Miss World riots misrepresent what is a “pro-sexuality” religion.
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women is the story of Brook’s intrepid journey toward an understanding of the women behind the veils, and of the often contradictory political, religious, and cultural forces that shape their lives. In fundamentalist Iran, Brooks finagles an invitation to tea with the ayatollah’s widow - and discovers that Mrs. Khomeini dyes her hair.
In Saudi Arabia, she eludes the severe segregation of the sexes and attends a bacchanal, laying bare the hypocrisy of this austere, male-dominated society. In war-torn Ethiopia, she watches as a female gynecologist repairs women who have undergone genital mutilation justified by a distorted interpretation of Islam.
In villages and capitals throughout the Middle East, she finds that a feminism of sorts has flowered under the forbidding shroud of the chador as she makes other startling discoveries that defy our stereotypes about the Muslim world. Nine Parts of Desire is much more than a captivating work of firsthand reportage; it is also an acute analysis of the world’s fastest-growing religion, deftly illustrating how Islam’s holiest texts have been misused to justify the repression of women. It was, after all, the Shiite leader Ali who proclaimed that “God created sexual desire in ten parts, then gave nine parts to women.”
A few years ago I read Nine Parts of Desire : The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks. It was quite interesting. Brooks was a journalist who spent some time in saudi arabia, being frustrated byt he fact that the men she was trying to cover wouldn’t see her. Suddenly she had a light-bulb moment, and realised that their wives would. She ended up writig quite an interesting book about it.
Edited to add: Eep! I see Jerry has beaten me to the punch.
Hmmm . . . a generous offer . . . generous and appreciated, I’m sure . . . but perhaps we should have a bit more by way of assurances prior to letting you loose on our dear Cran?
There wouldn’t be the odd spelling error in any of your posts, would there? No comma splices? No run-ons? Nothing . . . <gasp!> . . . trite?
And what about word misusage? Quick! Without looking this up, what’s the difference between “advice” and “advise?” Hmmm?
Do you have adequate references? A leatherbound copy of the Chicago Manual of Style? An Oxford Dictionary? Two freshly sharpened red pencils?
That’s because it’s tooooo broooooaaaaaad. It’s even too broad for a dissertation.
There are whole books written on women in Islam. To get all of that into 10 pages, you’ll have to give the topic short shrift. It’ll be a thin and watery paper. You want a thick and juicy one.
As you read, keep an eye out for a specific aspect you want to discuss in your paper. You can narrow it down a lot and still fill up 10 pages easily.
Just from your post, I was seeing “lesbian women in Islam” as a possible focus.
One thing I found traveling and living in these countries–
there is a natural assumption that when women are
oppressed, the oppressors are men. Often the
oppressors are women, especially younger women
by older women. It’s helpful, I think, to remain
alive to that possibility if one wants to understand
what’s going on.
