Woman in the Muslim Unconscious (Athene Series)

Description

Why are silence, immobility, and obedience the key criteria of female beauty in the Muslim society where I live and work? Imam Ghazzali, when he was explaining the Muslim theory of marriage in his famous work, The Revival of the Science of Religion, had to define the ideal woman. He described her as follows: On the whole, regarding the proper conduct for a wife, one can say, in brief, that she must remain in her private quarters and never neglect her spindle. She must not make frequent trips to the balcony nor spend her time gazing down from there. Let her exchange but few words with her neighbors and not go to visit them. So why are silence and immobility - the signs and manifestations of inertia - the criteria of beauty in the Muslim woman?2 What does beauty have to do with the right to self-expression? Why, according to the canons of beauty in Islamic literature, does a woman who does not express herself excite desire in a man? Contents 1 The Question 2 Framework of the Analysis 3 Relationship Between Sex, Politics,and Economics in Dependent Islam 4 Genesis of the Erotic Discourse 5 The Omnisexual Woman:' A Voracious Crack 6 The Omnisexual Woman in Action: Subversion of the Social Order 7 Man as Fashioned by the Omnisexual Woman: Tent-Pole Man 8 Conclusion:The Limits of Using the Male As the Source of ''Truth'' About Female Reality 9 The Female BodyAs a Field of Sacred Writing 1 0 The Ecological Field: Universal Inequality and Sexual Inequality 11 The Economic Field: The Link Between Worshipand Consumption 12 The Domestic Field: The Fetishization of Sexuality 13 Conclusion: Female Beauty as a Mirror of the Male Condition Index