womensummer22

[womensummer22]

Due to our emphasis on religion recently, I wanted to focus on our freedom of religion and what that means for religion in America. Our first amendment right secures our right to religion. Most people, when thinking of the first amendment, assume it is only the freedom of speech but religious freedom is so important that the founding fathers decided to put that before the freedom of speech. From the first amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The reason I wanted to post this is I think it is very important that we all know our rights as American citizens. If our government, like some of these other countries we talked about, tries to ban religious headwear, it directly violates your unalienable rights and should be vehemently opposed.

[womensummer22]

the "memes" of WWII

So, Rosie the Riveter. She looks beautiful and strong against the yellow poster. She is a cultural icon of strength for the women in the USA during WWII. Female factory workers serving our country looked up to her as a sign of strength. Still to this day, even when I see the poster, I feel empowered to work hard and prove to everyone that I can do it. I think about a time when women filled men's places entirely. I wonder why some men feel so reluctant towards letting women take on tasks.

[womensummer22]

Week 7 Post

Elif Shafak loves Istanbul but one thing surprised me about her. In her book, Three Daughters of Eve, the main character Peri seems to not like the city as much as Shafak does. I found it interesting that she took a city that she absolutely adores and made it a negative in the character's life. Peri tends to complain about the traffic and all of the chaos that occurs in the city. One thing I did enjoy reading in this article and I feel that is important to this course is her statement, "I want women to reclaim the public spaces and connect with the core of the city, feel its female power..." This just goes to show how important women and this city are to Elif. I am so happy that I found this article and was able to read more about why Elif loves Istanbul so much!

[womensummer22]

The beautiful women posted above is Shahd Khidir, a young 26 year old. She is an influencer based in New York, but shares muslim culture across her platform for awareness, as her and her mother originated from Sudan. A huge post that recently went viral of hers was a story that consisted of her friend who had just passed away. She posted in the caption "I am at my office, crying because I have so many emotions in me, and I feel horrible. There’s a massacre happening in my country Sudan’s media blackout and has internet censorship for four consecutive days." Her post has raised so much awareness for the ongoing conflicts arising in the country, many I was unaware of. After learning about all the incredible women this week, I thought that this women would fit perfectly with all of the other women doing good in this world. I would seriously look into her instagram if your interested in current events across middle eastern countries! (@hadyouatsalaam)

-Francesca DiFilippo

[womensummer22]

7/22/22

I chose this quote from Coco Chanel because I believe it fits in with the course's theme of the strength of women and feminism. While Coco Chanel may be known by most as a popular fashion designer, she is also known for being a feminist and a strong supporter of women's rights. What stood out the most to me about this quote is her emphasis on a women's life is based on her own decisions. We have discussed a lot about expectations in the past weeks and I believe this quote is short and to the point in its underlying meaning. There should be no discussion about what a girl should and shouldn’t be other than what they themselves decide. there is not a handbook that lays out a checklist of what it means to be a woman nor will there ever be. This is because you are who you are and should love yourself no matter what other people think of you.

~DeVaughna Tulloch

[womensummer22]

After reading Elif Shakaf's "Three Daughters of Eve", I began to look more into what it is like for female, Turkish muslims. A few times I saw articles about the ban of Islamic headscarves, which was lifted a few years ago. This was really interesting to me because it seems like something strange to have been banned in the first place. Women of conservative religious backgrounds, like Peri's mother in the novel we read, were banned from wearing the hijabs by their government, which in a way forced them to appear less conservative. My favorite line in this particular article about the lifting of the hijabs ban was, "the lifting of the ban on headscarves ends a disgraceful human rights abuse that took away futures of generations of women in Turkey".

[womensummer22]

For this weeks tumblr post, I wanted to share this video discussion eco feminism. Elif Shafak uses this youtube channel the share her thoughts and spread information on different topics and given we’ve been having many conversations about feminism and Shafak herself, I felt this would be a perfect video! Prior to this video, I had never heard of eco feminism which Shafak describes as a combining of academia and activism. It’s a way of encouraging feminist movements through the reconnection to nature through gardening, taking care of trees/planting trees, etc. Shafak also makes the argument that the effects of climate change and damage effect women on a much larger scale than men. This of course leads to women struggling to provide for their family. The chaos that arises from these effects also frequently leads to a rise in violence against women. The goal of eco feminism is to acknowledge these problems and help resolve their effects on women by encouraging the healing and care of nature. 

Maddie Maggioncalda

[womensummer22]

I saw this photo on the internet, and I love everything about it. It looks as if they are all united as one and beyond powerful. Each woman has a different look, background, race, and story that makes them who they are. This photo makes me think of the quote, “Be the woman who fixes another woman’s crown without telling the world it was crooked.”

[womensummer22]

After reading some articles, I found an interesting thing that Mattel once released the first barbie doll wearing a hijab, which was designed after the American Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who was the first American to wear a hijab at the Olympics and win a medal. The doll was unveiled on Monday at Glamour's annual Women's Summit in New York. "Ibtihaj Muhammad challenged every stereotype - to me, that is what defines the modern American woman," Cindi Leive, Glamour's editor-in-chief, said in a statement. This is undoubtedly a big step forward for Muslim women. Ibtihaj has not only inspired women through her sport. She also founded the clothing line Louella, which offers a wide range of modest, fashion-forward clothing for women. It's like telling the world that we are diverse and can be anything we want to be, not the stereotypes people have. Based on what I have read in the last two weeks, I feel that the Hijab is not everything, and it may be the soul of every Muslim girl. But not all of them. The Hijab is often thought of as a static, one-dimensional thing. Of course, it's not that simple, and every Muslim woman who chooses to wear or not to wear the Hijab has a different understanding and experience of it, but in the end, it is not just Muslims with or without the Hijab who can be feminists. Anyone can be a feminist in any form. There is no particular limit to this.

Crystal Jia

[womensummer22]

Different Paths

I thought of a picture like this when referring back to the lecture slides to do this week's annotations and SLD responses. There was a Three Daughters of Eve quote from Peri’s “God” journal in Part I, page 57.  She’s stuck between two paths as she writes, “Is there really no other way, no other space for things that fall under neither belief nor disbelief -- neither pure religion nor pure reason? A third path for people such as me? For those of us who find dualities too rigid and don’t wish to conform to them? Because there must be others, who feel as I do. It is as if I’m searching for a new language. An elusive language spoken by no one else but me…” I feel like this image depicts how Peri feels regarding religion, feelings, and a lot more. It’s hard to find a satisfying balance between the larger aspects of life, and it often leads us to wonder if there really is a third possible path. 

Casey Derrenbacher

[womensummer22]

I have seen variations of this on bumper stickers for years and always found it paradoxical. It seems to call to action that those who follow these religions need to quell their violence towards each other. Those that follow these religions truthfully should not commit violence anyways. For example in recent years there have been terrorists that claim that their actions are a part of Islam or Christianity. But the act of their violence proves that they are not truly followers of their claimed faith. The book we just read touched on this a bit with the tragedy of 9/11 and the treatment of Muslims after. Obviously hindsight is to our benefit now but in reality it never should have been and should not be a question. Those that truly follow the teachings of these religions already coexist and support one another. Those that do not, are prejudiced not because of the religion, but in spite of it.

[womensummer22]

It has occurred to me that I have heard a lot about woman in STEM but I don’t know any famous woman neuroscientists. So, I have decided to post about Maria Mikhailovna Manasseina who did a lot for the neuroscience community. She was the first women to graduate in medicine in Europe. She proved through her research that sleeping was more important than eating. She did lots of research studying sleep and the brain. She also would have been awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry but a man who replicated her experiment later won it instead. I wanted to post this because I doubt anyone else has heard about her and her achievements and she deserves the recognition.

[womensummer22]

As the book we just read was based in Istanbul for most of it I thought that a quote about it would be fitting. However all of the quotes that I could find about Istanbul is about how beautiful it is there.  from the book and the Ted talk all I could really get for a description of Istanbul is how bad the traffic was. As I have never been to Istanbul I can’t really comment on the quote however from the images that I’ve seen online Istanbul seems to be a truly beautiful place. I hope that one day I could be able to go to Istanbul because, in Shafak’s TED Talk she was talking about how she absolutely adores the city of Istanbul and I would like to be able to have a similar appreciation for the city so that I could also understand the setting of the book better.

[womensummer22]

During this week, I wrote a short paper on the novel "Three Daughters of Eve" by Elif Shafak, in which I focused on the themes of religious choice, and cultural diversity. I chose this picture to post this week because not a lot of people seem to fully grasp what cultural diversity is, therefore misusing the term. This image perfectly encapsulates the idea of cultural diversity because it includes a woman wearing what seems to be a hijab, older folks, an African American, and possibly people from other countries all together in the same place (society). All of these people, who have different ideas/beliefs, upbringings, and religious practices, share the same common space, Much like the dinner party in Istanbul that Peri (the main character in "Three Daughters of Eve").

[womensummer22]

This picture shows the symbols often associated with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as a general idea of what each of the symbols represent. I chose this picture as a reference for people to begin to compare and contrast each of these three major religions and, hopefully, grow people’s interest in gaining a deeper understanding of the core beliefs that have shaped so much of human history.

All three of these religions are monotheistic. They all believe in the same all knowing and omnipotent one true God. The Jews believe God has made a covenant with them in which he will protect them and provide land for them. The Jews are still awaiting a messiah (savior) to come and establish their holy land, bring peace to earth, and be The King of The Jews. Christians believe the messiah has already come in the form of Jesus. He fulfilled the prophecies, died on the cross, and was raised from the dead.  In doing so, Jesus has established an opportunity for an eternal life of peace, love, and happiness for those who believe in him. The Muslims believe that Jesus was a great profit.  But the last prophet, and the greatest profit, sent by God was Muammed. For those who follow the teachings of Muhammed, in the Quran, will be rewarded in paradise for all eternity.    

I have come to realize that having a fundamental understanding of the differences and similarities of these three major religions can lead to respectable and healthy relationships among the Jews, Christians, and Muslims as well as those people who have no religious beliefs at all.  In the novel, Three Daughters Of Eve, Peri searches through the views of her parents and her roommates at Oxford in an attempt to learn more about how people’s religious views, or lack of religious views, shape their core beliefs. When we understand the core beliefs of competing religious, cultural, or social systems we are more able to make rational conclusions while forming our own beliefs. A deeper understanding of the competing arguments can also lead to more profound discussions and educational debates on the merits of different religions and other cultural subjects which, in turn, makes everyone more wise and more tolerant of diversity. 

Many people want to help women in different parts of the world but they lack a fundamental knowledge of those cultures which is necessary to give women the help they need to gain more freedom and equality. By learning about the core beliefs of other cultures we can gain a deeper understanding of the foundations of their social structures and begin to shape meaningful changes for women without disrespecting their fundamental religious beliefs.    

-Reagan Smith

[womensummer22]

While looking for something to post this week I found this picture. I thought about The Three Daughters of Eve and thought of Peri, Shirin, and Mona. While they are all different in religion and life experiences they are still friends. They find similarities in each other rather than focusing on their differences and that is something so beautiful. I think as a society we need to start seeing our similarities rather that pointing out all of our differences because that it only going to divide us more.

Domenica Paccione

[womensummer22]

I found this article on the pros and cons of identity politics. It explains the origin of identity politics, and the pros and cons of it. It also goes into depth about where identity politics went wrong over time but also how it has made changes for the better. In The Politics of Fiction Ted Talk, Shafak brings up identity politics and I think it’s an important topic especially because of how confusing it can be.