Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender

by Nikki R. Keddie (Editor), Beth Baron (Editor)

This history of Middle Eastern women is the first to survey gender relations in the Middle East from the earliest Islamic period to the present. Outstanding scholars analyze a rich array of sources ranging from histories, biographical dictionaries, law books, prescriptive treatises, and archival records, to the Traditions ( hadith ) of the Prophet and imaginative works like the Thousand and One Nights , to modern writings by Middle Eastern women and by Western writers. They show that gender boundaries in the Middle East have been neither fixed nor changes in family patterns, religious rituals, socio-economic necessity, myth and ideology―and not least, women’s attitudes―have expanded or circumscribed women’s roles and behavior through the ages.

Genres: History, Gender, Feminism, Islam, Middle East, Nonfiction

358 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explores the realities that have shaped women's options and choices, and does this in a compassionate, objective way.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Women and Education in the Mamluk Period" by Jonathan P. Berkey>/b>

Women participated in the Madrasa system of education in two ways. As benefactors, women often supplied the endowments necessary to establish and maintain madrasas. Women could also function as supervisors of madrasas if they inherited financial or administrative control from deceased relatives, handling financial assets and appointing professors.

However, women were officially barred from taking part in the education aspect as students or teachers, although records of complaints by scholars regarding the presence of women in madrasas indicates that at least some allowed women to attend unofficially. But most women received their education (if any) at home via private lessons from educated male family members. Also, certain areas of Islamic law were taught to women by other women, and women were allowed to issue ijazas, especially on the transmission of hadith. Because the transmission of hadith was based entirely on memorization there was no need for interpretation or analysis on the part of the transmitter. This was more acceptable for older women because they were less of a threat to sexual boundaries than young women.

[Hafsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays that detangles any monolithic notions of women in Islam. Keddie's introduction lays out some important issues to consider when studying Muslim and/or Middle Eastern women's histories, including male-dominated or ideologically charged sources. Deniz Kandiyoti's seminal essay highlights women's diverse strategies for coping with patriarchy within their cultural, class, and temporal specificities ("patriarchal bargains"). The remaining essays, including Denise Spellbergs' essay on changing interpretations of Aisha, are also important introductory essays for the historiography of women in the Middle East.