Women in Islam
(see also Islam & Islamdom, Islamic Fundamentalism & the several Islamic countries, under Countries & Regions)
Basics
On the Web: Articles
Women's Rights: Why Not? Nicholas Kristof, NY Times (6/18/02). Why does US still refuse to sign UN treaty banning such harsh treatment of women as in this case from Pakistan.
On the Web: Specialized Sites
Asian American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights (ANAA). Pakistani-American organization defending rights of women in Pakistan.
Islamic Institute for Human Rights.
Videos on Women in the Muslim World.
In the Library: Articles
El-Tablawy, Tarek. "Doll offers model for Muslim girls," San Jose Mercury News (10/20/03):8E. Meet Razanne -- the modest, hijab-wearing alternative to the Barbie.
Tzortzis, Andreas. "Germany divided over hijab," Christian Science Monitor (10/10/03):6
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (New Haven: Yale, 1992).
Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women & Islam (NY: Free Press, 2006).
Al-Munajjed, Mona. Women in Saudi Arabia Today (NY: St. Martin's, 1997).
Altorki, Soraya. Women in Saudi Arabia: Ideology & Behavior among the Elite (NY: Columbia U., 1986).
__________ & Camilla Fawzi El-Solh. Arab Women in the Field: Studying Your Own Society (Syracuse: Syracuse U., 1988).
Beck, Lois & Nikki Keddie (eds.) Women in the Muslim World (Cambridge MA: Harvard, 1978).
Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab. Sexuality in Islam (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985).
Cooke, Miriam. Women Claim Islam: Creating Islamic Feminism Through Literature (NY: Routledge, 2000).
Doumato, Eleanor Abdella. Getting God's Ear: Women, Islam & Healing in Saudi Arabia & the Gulf (NY: Columbia U., 2000).
Esposito, John L. Women in Muslim Family Law (Syracuse: U. Syracuse, 1982).
__________ & Dalia Mogahed. Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (?: Gallup, 2008).
Fernea, Elizabeth. In Search of Islamic Feminism (NY: Doubleday, 1998).
Fernea, Elizabeth & Basima Bezirgan. Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak (Dallas: Texas, 1977).
Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck (ed.) Women, Religion, & Social Change (Albany: SUNY, 1985).
__________ & John L. Esposito (eds.) Islam, Gender & Social Change (NY: Oxford, 1998).
__________ & John L. Esposito (eds.) Daughters of Abraham: Feminist Thought in Judaism, Christianity & Islam (Gainesville: U. Florida, 2001).
Howard, Jane. Inside Iran: Women's Lives (Washington: Mage, 2002).
Joseph, Suad (ed.) Gender & Family in the Arab World (Washington: MERIP, 1994).
__________ (ed.) Intimate Selving in Arab Families: Gender, Self & Identity (Syracuse NY: Syracuse U., 1999).
__________ (ed.) Gender & Citizenship in the Middle East (Syracuse NY: Syracuse U., 2000).
__________ & Susan Syomovics (eds.) Women & Power in the Middle East (Philadelphia: U. of Pennsylvania, 2001).
__________ (ed.) Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures (Leiden: Brill, 2003-05).
Kanafani, Fay Afaf. Nadia, Captive of Hope: Memoir of an Arab Woman (Armonk NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1999).
Kandiyoti, Deniz (ed.) Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society (London, 1985).
__________. Women, Islam, & the State (Philadelphia: Temple, 1991).
__________ (ed.) Gendering the Middle East: Emerging Perspectives (NY: Syracuse U, 1996).
Mahmood, Saba. Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival & the Feminist Subject (Princeton NJ: Princeton, 2005).
Mernissi, Fatima. Beyond the Feil: Male-Female Dynamics in a Modern Muslim Society (rev. ed. Bloomington: U. Indiana, 1987).
__________. Women & Islam: An Historical & Theological Enquiry (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991).
__________ The Veil & the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam (Boulder: Perseus, 1992).
__________. The Forgotten Queens of Islam (Minneapolis: U. Minnesota, 1993).
__________. Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood (Reading MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994).
__________. The Harem Within (NY: Bantam, 1995).
__________. Women's Rebellion & Islamic Memory (London: Zed, 1996).
__________. Scheherazade Goes West: Different Cultures, Different Harems (NY: Pocket, 2002).
Meriwether, Margaret Lee & Judith E. Tucker. A Social History of Women & Gender in the Modern Middle East (Boulder: Westview, 1999).
Nashat, Guity & Judith Tucker, Women in the Middle East and North Africa: Restoring Women to History (Bloomington: U. Indiana, 199?).
Nelson, Cynthia & Soraya Altorki (eds.) Arab Regional Women's Studies Workshop (Cairo: American U., 1998).
Roald, Anne-Sofie. Women in Islam: The Western Experience (NY: Routledge, 2001).
Sa'adawi, Nawal. The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World (London: Zed, 1980).
Walther, Wiebke. Women in Islam: From Medieval to Modern Times (rev. ed. Princeton: Marcus Wiener, 1993).
Whitaker, Brian. Unspeakable Love: Gay & Lesbian Life in the Middle East (Berkeley: U. of California, 2006).
Wikan, Unni (ed.) Behind the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman (Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins U., 1982).
In the Library: Fiction
In the Library: For Young Readers
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
CD & Audio
Film & Video
"Against My Will" [2002], dir. Ayfer Ergun, 50m. From First Run/Icarus.
"Arab Diaries: Love & Marriage" [2001], dir. Samia Chala & Muriel Aboulrouss, 26m. From First Run/Icarus. Women & love in Algeria & Lebanon.
"Beyond Borders: Arab Feminists Talk About Their Lives" [2000], dir. Jennifer Kawaja, 50m. From Films for the Humanities & Sciences.
"Crimes of Honour" [1998], dir. Shelley Saywell, 44m. From First Run/Icarus. Femicide in the West Bank & Jordan.
"A Female Cabby in Sidi Bel-Abbès" [2000], dir. Belkacem Hadjadj, 52m. From First Run/Icarus. Profile of an Algerian woman worker & her community.
"Mokarremeh, Memories & Dreams" [1999], dir. Ebrahim Mokhtari, 48m. First Run/Icarus. Profile of a widowed rural woman who became a notable painter.
"My Head is Mine" [2001], dir. Petrus vander Let & Andrea Simon, 40m. From National Film Network. The question of the wearing of headscarves as viewed by several women of Istanbul.
"The Perfumed Garden" [2000], dir. Yamina Benguigui, 52m. From First Run/Icarus. Explores sexual myths & realities in contemporary Arab society.
"Saints & Spirits" [1979], dir. Melissa Llewellyn-Davies, 26m. From First Run/Icarus. A Moroccan woman's personal experience of Islam through participation in three religious festivals.
"The Virgin Diaries" [2002], dir. Jessica Woodworth, 56m. From First Run/Icarus. Young Moroccan woman & an American friend search for answers about virginity, sex, love & Islam.
"Women in the Arab world l. Egypt: To Live with the Differences" [1996], dir. Froukje Bos, 25 m. From Filmakers Library. Saudi anthropologist Soraya Altorki of American U. in Cairo, discusses her fears regarding Islamic fundamentalism & the roles of women.
"Women in the Arab World II. Jordan: Democracy for Our Children" [1996], dir. Froukje Bos, 25m. From Filmakers Library. Toujan al-Faisal, former TV personality, first & only woman in Jordanian Parliament & human rights activist discusses struggle for women's rights & democracy.
"Women in the Arab World III. Morocco: The Rights of Women" [1996], dir. Froukje Bos, 25m. From Filmakers Library. Sociologist Aisha Belarbi of U. of Rabat explains how Islamic Family Law in Morocco affects women.
"Women of Hezbollah" [2000], dir. Maher Abi-Samra, 49m. From First Run/Icarus. Examines convictions of Shi'ite rural-urban migrants from Southern Lebanon in southern suburbs of Beirut.
"Zinat: One Special Day" [2000], dir. Ebrahim Mokhtari, 54m. From First Run/Icarus. Modernity & feminism in life of a health worker & political activist from isle of Qeshm in southern Iran.