Participants
The interview conducted involved six women who were at their sixties, seventies, and eighties. The women did not have any formal education. All the knowledge the women had was about the beliefs and culture. Three of them believed that the only knowledge one is supposed to have is about your culture and religion and about your roles in the community. They believed that modern women are immoral because they do not cover their heads and they work instead of staying at home, look after their husbands and children, and take care of their homes. Some of the women I interviewed were proud of their culture and beliefs while others felt that they needed to revolutionize to move with the current world.
Three of the interviewed women differed about the perception of the other women about being educated. They argued that the reasons for men seeing themselves as being superior are the ignorance of the Asian women to embrace the culture of education while still practice their culture and religion. Arabel did not care about the world’s perception about them for as long as she practices her traditions she is satisfied. She quoted “As long as I practice my culture the worlds perception about me is useless” For Jasmine, Noor, and Elizabeth, they showed more concerned about how the world perceived them. In the Asian continent, most of the older women continue to practice female genital mutilation as a way of protecting their customs, (Abbas, 2003). Noor seemed to curse the act since she experienced the consequences of FGM while giving birth to her children but Arabel did not seem to care as long as the act upholds their culture.
Discussion
My thoughts about the Asian women are that they need to embrace the education system. They should not view educated women immoral or irresponsible just because they can go to work like their fellow men. I am not trying to fault their beliefs, but the issue on FGM need addressing because many women lose their lives due to complications brought about by the act. The Asian men too have an obligation to motivate their women on education (Arnot, 2003). According to me, the wearing of the hijab should be optional.
Conclusion