Gender Identity for Women in the Middle East

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Women in the Middle East
Introduction
The case of gender disparity in the Middle East is filled with gender bias, human rights violations based on gender lines, and subordination of genders. Middle Eastern women are particularly affected by this treatment, which has impaired their socio-economic and political activity. Being a woman in the Middle East is a struggle due to the negative gender perception. However, the region is advancing and slowly changing concerning the treatment and accommodation of women. To understand this, it is important to Middle Eastern women in times of war, political turmoils, and their involvement in the reconstruction of failed nations. Additionally, it is vital to look into the status of migrant women in the region and their treatment as migrants.
Gender Identity for Women in the Middle East
Gender identity is key in describing gender disparity, especially in the Middle East. Nationality is built along gender lines, bestowing gender roles 'for the nation' to men and women. Al-Ali (2005) identifies various ways in which women can play their national gender role, which help shape the general perception. These ways include being biological producers of the nationals, that is, the ethnic collectives. Additionally, women are the producers of boundaries of national and ethnic groups. Also, women act as culture transmitters and in the ideological production of the national collectivity. Moreover, women signify ethnic and national collectives, as various collectives can be identified in women. Lastly, women participate in the national soci0-economic, political, and military grapples (Al-Ali, 2005). All the aforementioned roles bestow a national identity on women, defining their treatment and perception.
However, biological reproduction is the most prevalent and direct role of women in nation-building. Women create a nation of common origin, blood, and belonging (Al-Ali 2005). Gender relations are the reflex point in the construction of social identity, a phenomenon Al-Ali calls Kulturnation. In this regard, women become producers of culture and constitute their border guard- limiting the scope of cultural identity. As per Al-Ali, this production of collectives bestows honor on women and, coupled with other regulations and codes, defines a 'proper woman.' The constant imposition of roles determines gender relations in a nation. For example, women are frequently reminded of their biological and tradition-keeping roles, nurturing and teaching their children the national ways. On the contrary, men are approached as the protectors of women, children, and the motherland. It is from these roles that subordination in the Middle East happens.
The case in the Middle East is that women are regarded as the producers of a nation. This identity emanates from the biological sense of production- giving birth to the nationals and the cultural sense- birthing a common collective. An example of Iraq in Saddam Hussein's reign, women were asked to produce future protectors of the nation- the soldiers. Moreover, these women were treated as a symbol of honor and stability of the nation. However, the post-Hussein regime identified women as liberal symbols against Saddam's treatment of them and also against Western political and cultural encroachment. Therefore, the national perception as to the identity of women in the Middle East is guided by the political regime and its understanding of their roles.
Women in the Peaceful Middle East
In the warring Middle East, women were often subordinated because men were their protectors, and as such, remainder under their watch and obedience. However, a peaceful Middle East does not indicate a different situation. Cessation of armed conflict does not automate peace and differential treatment of women. Al-Ali (2005) argues that gender-based violence is still an imminent challenge for Middle Eastern women. His understanding of the gender situation in the region is based on the liberalism of women for control of their lives. This control-‘peace,' as the author calls it, demands the cessation of armed conflicts and the absence of socio-economic challenges like poverty and its causatives. Based on Al-Ali's arguments, women in the Middle East are not yet liberated as they experience vast challenges that deny them control over their lives.
The political structure of the 'peaceful' Middle East is the chief causation of the gender challenges experienced by the women in the region. The general state of anarchy and chaos explains the high levels of violence against women. Also, increased aggression, militarization, and heightened construction of masculinity as established in the prior conflict-era explain Middle Eastern current subordination of women (Al-Ali, 2005). Iraq, for example, has been liberated from the war era experienced post-Hussein regime. However, the country is extremely violent and insecure for women, owing to frequent chaos, lawlessness, and insecurity. Al-Ali asserts greater day-to-day violence against Iraqi women after the end of military intervention and cites increased abduction and harassment, sexual violence, and rape. Therefore, the end of armed conflict and subsequent military interventions in the region did not liberate women from violence but rather exposed them to a systemized violation.
Women in the Construction of Post War Middle East
Even with the great need for human labor and capital in constructing the 'peaceful' Middle East, women have been marginalized and sidelined in the rebuilding of their nations. Peace initiatives, political transitions, and construction efforts are all left to the control of men, despite the acute need for gender homogeneity in the success of such efforts. The conventional militarised gender regimes still guide the region, endowing men with political power and constraining women to the family level. The immediate formal peace negotiations in the Middle East have molded power relations without prioritizing women in the post-war political activity. Nonetheless, Al-Ali (2005) postulates that women in the Middle East have found ways to participate in peace-building but have been unfruitful as their efforts are dismissed as a volunteer despite their political impact.
Various international efforts have been made to try and improve the inclusion of women in nation-building in the region. However, much of the efforts ...