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Patriarchal Women Of Islam : The Answer Is No, House Of Flesh, And Another Evening At The

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Patriarchal monotheism can explain why women are seen as inferior to men; this goes as far back as 3,500 years when Judaism was founded to present day. Judaism was the first patriarchal monotheistic religion, but definitely not the only one; following it was Christianity, then Islam. Taking a more in depth look at Islam, the stories “The Answer Is No”, “House of Flesh”, and “Another Evening at the Club” demonstrates the aggressive patriarchal society women of Islam face and how these women seem to challenge these stereotypes. In Islam, women are held to higher standards than that of a man; more is expected of them in the social aspect of their society. At certain milestones in a woman’s life, they take on more responsibilities as well maintaining the standards they’re already expected to have. It is their responsibility, as married women, to take care of the house and kids— a typical “woman’s job”, something seen in all three primitive religions. Before even getting that far, the expectations of a bride consists of not engaging in promiscuous behavior and that they are virgin brides (again, another commonality among the three primitive religions). In the story “The Answer Is No”, the young protagonist is raped by a man significantly older than her; in fact, he plays the role of a second father in her life. As justification for that traumatic experience, he promises to marry her when the time comes. Seeing that she’s an unmarried girl who has had sex before, even though it

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