Hello, my name is Amy and I am doing a paper on women's rights and the treatment of women in the middle east. It would help me greatly if you could please give me some information on this topic and suggest other sources of information. In this paper I have to also describe their (the women there) daily life and what types of jobs they can hold if any. I also have to compare and contrast the differeces between the muslim religion (how women are treated) and the Jewish religion.Thank you for any help that you can give me. - Amy

Thanks for your note. There are several books that cover the topic of women in middle east and those books are much more expert than I in the situation for women in the middle east. For instance, there is a book called Nine Parts of Desire, which details the situation for women in the middle east.

I think it is very important to learn about the middle east and the muslim religion directly from those who have lived it primarily because there is so much confusion about what are the real roots of Islam and what is intrepretation. There is a lot of confusion about whether the muslim religion is "bad" for women or whether it is just the extreme faction.

Just like with Catholocism--it isn't necessarily the roots of Catholocism that are bad, but the interpretation by the Vatican. As for life for women in Middle East--I think it is much the same as it is around the world--meaning that there are some women who have defied tradition and others who are stuck in unjust situations.

I suggest you reference the book mentioned above as well as other sources I might have mentioned in previous Ask Amys--such as the Sisterhood Is Global Institute, WIN International, ISIS International, etc. Good luck.

—Amy