The Women of Alwal Alis Tribe - Essay Example

11th October The Women of Alwal ‘Ali’s Tribe Ethnography is the method used to obtain a clear understanding of diverse cultural phenomena shedding light on the knowledge of the existing system responsible for guiding the life of any given ethnic group. Lila Abu-Lughod describes the cultural phenomena of an Awlad ‘Ali people found in Egypt. The basis of her research is on dynamics existing in different genders with a concern on the rights of women in the Middle East, the link existing between the power and cultural forms, the representation as far as politics is concerned.

Lila Abu-Lughod in her work about the veiling sentiments brings out the importance of covering of the head among the women. Once a woman comes across an elderly man, she is supposed to cover her head as a sign of respect for the elderly. This is not the case in case the same woman would come across a younger man. It is essential to note that, the women covered their heads, which was seen as a sign of respect to the elderly, were solely meant for the Bedouin men. The Bedouin women do not cover their head when they come across other elderly men from other communities. “.One notes the distinctive glint of silver on her wrist, a vibrant full-length dress gathered at the waist by a red cummerbund and a head covered in black (Abu-Lughod, 1986:2).

” In case, any woman declines to use the head cover or the red belt, this action is termed as the scandalous or inappropriate. In the ethnography, the author brings about the concept of marriage among the Awlad ‘Ali tribe. The marriages among the people of Awlad ‘Ali was the arranged marriages it was mostly between cousins, also polygamous in nature.” Some moved away, and others married cousins, and stayed within the community…..Rashid, whose marriage to a second wife…set up a separate household with Fayga, and had many children (Abu-Lughod, 1993:42).

” During these marriage ceremonies, the family of the bridegroom brought presents for the girl “. a shawl, and a red belt, and a silk belt, and a white blanket, and a black headscarf, and rice platters (Abu-Loghod, 1993:49).” The advantage of these marriages according to the writer is that one has to be married by a person who was particularly familiar with the bride “we ate out of one bowl (Abu-Loghod, 1993:47).” However, the author has vividly displayed how the girls got married at an extremely young age.

In her work, one can notice that she is not for the idea of this marriage. In the story of her grandmother, she was married at an extremely young age. Her lack of experience due to young age made her not to ask for help from other women when she was about to give birth “I always gave birth by myself (Abu-Loghod, 1993 :51). One can always wonder the reason why the women of the tribe of Alwad ‘Ali, one showed respect to the men of their tribe only. Respect should be across the border; therefore, it does not make sense why these women covered their head when they came across the elderly men of their tribe but failed to do the same when they met elder men from other community.

Another issue that one leaves to wonder is the question of marriage where the author tells us that some girls got married by their cousin, meaning other community also married them, the question would be on the criteria that qualified some girls to be married by their cousins while others did not. In most Islamic communities, the woman does not have a say as far as most issues are concerned. For instance in Iran, the position of the woman is mainly in the house. They are only supposed to stay in the house doing the household chores; this includes taking care of the family and satisfying their husbands sexually.

The girls are also married off at an extremely young age, all there is to the process seem legal, is getting the consent of their older males. Contrary to this setting, the story about the grandmother does not clearly portray this oppression. The grandmother has arranged marriages had failed in a number of time “she cried, protested, threw bowls of fresh food, and went to bed without eating. In the first instance, her father’s new wife intervened, so her father refused the proposal claiming that Migdim’s little sister was too attached to her and their mother’s death was too recent (Abu-Lughod, 1993: 48).

The grandmother’s father defiled the norm, as opposed to the reality of the Islamic society. Work Cited Abu-Lughod, Lila. Veiled sentiments: honor and poetry in a Bedouin society. London, England: University of California Press, 1986. Print. Abu-Lughod, Lila. Writing women’s worlds: Bedouin stories. London, England: University of California Press, 1993. Print. Gocek, Fatma Muge and Shiva Balaghi. Reconstructing gender in the Middle East: tradition, identity, and power. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. Print. Abu-Lughod, Lila.

Women writing culture. London, England: University of California Press, 1995. Print.