Women in the Middle East and Greece Essay -- Essays Papers

Women in the Middle East and Greece Historically, women were long considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, and unable to perform work requiring muscular or intellectual development. In most pre industrial societies, for example, domestic chores were relegated to women, leaving heavier labor such as hunting and plowing to men. Women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men as well. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions. In the twentieth century, however, women in most nations won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Perhaps most important, they fought for and to a large degree accomplished a reevaluation of traditional views of their role in society. This reevaluation of traditional views is what created the area of focus for my learning plan while studying in the Middle East. My original idea was to investigate the steps taken by women in the Middle East and in Greece towards their independence and success as individuals and as a group. I wanted to know what types of public and private reforms initiated their freedom. I also wanted to find out if some women still lived according to their traditional history and the reasons behind that. For example, whether or not their personal beliefs, pressure from society and family, etc. . . . contributed to their traditional lifestyle. Throughout our program, I still maintained and took into consideration the general and primary focus of this learning plan. However, to my surprise, I began to touch on very country specific topics concerning the lives of women. This was because each country we visited was so different than the others, each had its own view towards wome... .... 2 Jan. 2005. . Morocco Transcript. Hopes on the Horizon: Africa in the 1990's. 1995-2005. PBS Online. 10 Oct. 2004. . Mrs. A. Saves Olympics, Challenges Patriarchy. The Associated Press. 2004. MSNBC News. 2 Jan. 2005. . Nefertiti: Queen of Dynasty XVIII. 2004. Minnesota State University, Mankato. 20 Nov. 2004. . The Woman who was King. Kings and Queens. 1997-2005. Mark Millmore's Ancient Egypt. 20 Nov. 2004. . Toprak, Binnaz. Civil Society in Turkey. Women's History in America. Women's International Center. 1994-2004. 7 Jan. 2005. .