Women Between Submission & Freedom

An Interpretation of Social and Political misogyny

Huda Sharawi is an Islamic, Arab feminist who has lived all of her life in Amman, Jordan. Of Palestinian origin, Sharawi has witnessed first-hand the role of cultural influences in her religion and society. Her book, Women Between Submission & Freedom is a cultural, historical, and spiritual inquiry into the nature of contemporary Eastern and Western Society. Huda Sharawi highlights the gender inequality plaguing contemporary Arabian and Islamic culture. Her analysis begins by outlining personal stories and everyday instances of misogynistic behaviour suffered by herself and those around her. 

Next, Sharawi discusses the philosophical and historical origins of the Arabian and Western patriarchal system. She suggests that the subjugation of women is not the sole result of masculine domination, but also a consequence of the deeply-rooted insecurities of women themselves. Sharawi engages in a comparative study of female leadership and liberation movements across history, suggesting that today’s system of inequality is a recent phenomenon perpetuated by a mix of culture and religious misinterpretation.

Sharawi investigates the theological similarities and differences of the three major Abrahamic religions, highlighting the Judeo-Christian origins of Islam’s gender policies. Despite these similarities, she acknowledges that only contemporary Islamic societies feature widespread social and political inequality. Sharawi concludes that this is the product of cultural influences which have enforced a selective reading of Islamic theology.

Sharawi concludes that if a spiritual reading of Islam has resulted in the non-egalitarian practices of Arabian society, so too can a spiritual and philosophical inquiry of liberalism and human nature repair the fractured state of Eastern and Western misogyny.