Reflections on Islam and Womanhood in Jordan

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, The Abu Darweesh Mosque in Amman, Jordan.

By AMELIA HASSOUN

June 28, 2011

My name is Mia Hassoun and I’m a rising junior at Yale. I’ve been in Amman, Jordan since January studying abroad with CIEE at the University of Jordan.  I decided to stay here for the summer and I am now teaching English, interning at the Jordanian Institute for Diplomacy, and volunteering for Reclaim Childhood, coaching soccer and basketball to Iraqi refugee girls.

I chose to study in Amman because, as a Palestinian-American who did not grow up speaking much Arabic, I wanted to learn the language. After being in Jordan for a while I was drawn in by much more than just my linguistic goals. My best friend in Jordan, Hala Ramadan, is an extremely outspoken Jordanian feminist. Through my conversations with her I have become interested in the way that this society, heavily influenced by Muslim ideas, creates difficulties for women in particular. Hala believes that it is religion itself that is the premier obstacle to the promotion of women’s rights in Jordan. As a cultural Muslim, an anthropologist-in-training, and a feminist I myself am very interested in investigating her claim more fully.

From my experiences thus far in Jordan, I have also observed the many different roles women inhabit in society here. Women here seem to be subject to a much wider range of obligations and expectations than I am generally used to in The United States. Parents expect their daughters to dress and behave a certain way depending on how they view their religious and cultural obligations. Women, in tribal culture, are the carriers of their families’ honor, and as such must be protected at all costs. On top of this, religion, mainly Islam, has been interpreted to mandate certain levels of covering, from full body to hair to simply modest dress, and these interpretations have also dictated the responsibilities women are able to assume in Jordanian society. It is these relationships between tribal and religious culture and the subsequent expectations of women in Amman that I look forward to exploring further.

Amelia Hassoun is a junior in Yale College. She is a staff writer for Broad Recognition.