Allegra Abbey
Culture and Conflict in the Middle East in Regards to Women and Sports
Gender plays a large role in culture. In Middle Eastern
culture, women are stereotyped as being veiled, segregated, and secluded.
Slowly, the Middle Eastern countries are becoming more liberated by female
action. Through educational reform and westernization, Middle Eastern women are
becoming involved in sports. Conflict has been prevalent between males and
females because of the traditional views and attitudes of males (283).
Although, Islam originally favored physical development of both males and females,
but somewhere throughout time, laws made to restrict females through cultural
influences overshadowed that view. Due
to males dominating the Middle Eastern culture, females participation in sports
is still exponentially smaller than male participation (287). The conflict
involved between men and women fighting for more women’s right, in this case
the right to play sports, is always rebutted by ancient Islamic teachings by
women. Women are continuously constrained by traditional customs that glorify
their purity, body, and virtue. Because of
this, Middle Eastern men believe that that is why women should not play sports.
They believe sports are for men only because sports taint the decency of
females (295). The seclusion of women
not only deals with sports, but also education. The Middle Eastern male culture
believes that women do not need to be education. I believe that without
education, nothing in this world will ever get better, just stay the same.
Therefore, Middle Eastern women that lack education, because their culture
denies them this right, will never have the full opportunity to take control of
their own lives to overpower the Middle Eastern men that not only control them
but the culture and society that they live in.
Sfeir, Leila. "The Status of Muslim Women in Sport: Conflict between Cultural Tradition and Modernization." Sage Journals. The University of Texas at Arlington, n.d. Web.
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