Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian novelist, is portraying the concept of interdependence in her work “In Camera”, in which she refers to the oppressed woman’s situation within the contemporary Arab-Islamic society. Saadawi tells us the story about Leila Al-Fargani, a young interdependent woman, living in the constrained civilization where she, as all other women, was restricted to participate in political issues, educational learning as well as the labor market. “Her mother always used to say to her: What’s politics got to do with you? You’re not a man. Girls of your age think only about marriage” (1109). The Arabic traditional customs’, in which the male served as the supremacy, rather expected the women to serve “feminine” duties in a form of house- and child care. After expressing her opinions regarding the Presidents norms, which she opposed, Leila is to serve in prison. While imprisoned, Leila becomes the victim of tortures and abuses by groups of men.

Saadawi demonstrates gender discrimination with this story, in which women are relegated to secondary status, and such governmental status quo is still to be found in the current civilization. “Politics is a dirty game which only ineffectual men play” (1109). The patriarchal society questions the power of individuality, and the concern of such gender stereotypes is ignored. The weakened position of women is to be expected, reinforced by, in this case, the Arabic social and cultural norms and therefore, only men had the right to express themselves politically. “Foolishness means that he doesn’t think, that he’s mindless, that he’s an animal. That’s the worst thing you can call an ordinary man. All the more so if he’s a ruler” (1114). The value of women is no more than an expectation of serving as a housewife, and obey and respect her husband. This historical, social concern, yet existing in our contemporary society, is by Saadawai questioning the human rights, and the essential element of freedom in life. The understanding of self is examined, and the concept of interdependence is to characterize this gender discrimination. Such interpretation is clearly demonstrated by Saadawi, who wrote “In Camera” based on her own life experiences from an Arab-Islamic world that “only wanted males”.

By Catharina Berg

In a Life of a Sensuous Woman, by Ihara Saikaku, the author prefaces the first story in the novel with the statement, “A beautiful woman, many ages have agreed, is an ax that cuts down a man’s life” (Saikaku, 593). The author portrays the life route of an old lady and her romantic involvements, beginning as a young, physically attractive woman, and the obstacles found during her attempt to find love during her aging years. The emphasis in the work is strongly set on the aesthetic definition of women, which is portrayed as the essential element in order to satisfy a woman’s desire for love, vitality and eroticism.

One can draw a strong connection between the story-lines “A Stylish Woman Who Brought Disaster” and “Mistress of a Domain Lord”, as the woman is portrayed as a second priority, and a woman to fulfill her husband’s desires for sexual temptation rather than the desire of love. The novel overall emphasizes the conceptual idea of objectification of women, due to advantages of physical attributions, as well as gender roles and men’s dominating position within the society; the men who are higher ranked in form of well-respected positions in society are desired by attractive women, and vice verse. Even though the woman in the story was not grown up in poverty, her family situation was rather from the society’s middle class, the author places an idealistic standard of women, using physical advantages in order to satisfy the desire of a pleasing relationship based on the sake of prosperity rather than love.

The reflection of the novel’s essential context of sexism, power, and wealth could strongly be acknowledged in our contemporary society, in which we live in a world where beautiful women are commonly portrayed as objective prosperity, while the women themselves receive a route to wealth. Life of a Sensuous Woman demonstrates the role of women within the Japanese Edo time period, where the meaning of love is rather defined as contemporary happiness, based on an exchange of beauty and fortune.