Arab Women Reaching Out for the Forbidden Tree

Abstract

In the light of Joumana Haddad’s I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman, this paper aims to draw attention not only to the social identities and living conditions of today’s Arab women but also to their struggle against the male oppression and gender inequality existing in every field of daily life. The article discusses Haddad’s approach of metaphorically killing Scheherazade and possible alternatives. Throughout history women have been despised and made to live according to the roles that are designed and attached to them by the males. Although we have come a long way in the struggle of disposing the impositions, male-based values and recreating the social and personal identity of women, there are still millions of Arab women who are being deprived and restricted of their human rights in every field of life such as family, education and career.