Summary of ARW Autumn

  My impression of ARW Autumn was “Time flies”.

Time passed very quickly for me.

I think the reason is I had a lot of readings and tasks during this autumn.

We read about 70 pages of ELP reader and wrote the essay.

In terms of reading about Culture, Perception & Communication, I learned that we unconsciously perceive thinks based on our beliefs or stereotypes. It was very interesting for me to know how perception is influenced by our experience or interpretation.

Also, writing essay was meaningful and beneficial for me. I wrote about the honor killing in Iran and the suggestion of more humanistic legal punishment on women. Through research and the process of writing my essay, I noticed that how difficult it was to write the persuasive essay. Specifically, finding good source was difficult for me. I also felt the necessity of extending my vocabulary when I wrote my essay.

Lastly, we read about Issues of Race. Because Japan is thought to be homogeneous country, I did not have the chance to think deeply about Issues of Race until I read it. As I read the ELP reader, I learned that the idea of race was rooted in the society and had the great influence on people.

The most valuable thing I learned in ARW Autumn was the importance of knowing other points of view on issues. There are many perspectives which are not familiar with me about Issues of Race, for example. I think knowing other viewpoints enrich and expand my thought. I think it’s very important to be a critical thinker.

Diamond

Summary

Diamond points out that the concept of race itself is arbitrary. He says that there is “common sense” view about race. It is the idea that we are different kinds of races when our appearances are not similar or consistent. He also notes that the classifications of human races are more complicated and problematic than that of animals because it includes political or social issues. He concludes that the resulting classifications would not be concordant at all because there are many variable traits.

Reaction

I understand that the race is so arbitrary that many anthropologists say that one cannot classify human races. Also, I was interested in the part of “concordance” and “hierarchy”. At first, it was difficult to catch the actual meaning of his explanation. However, I finally understood what he means through discussion at class. Critically thinking, there are few citations of his source in his article. That’s why this article is not enough persuasive to convince me fully.  

Shreeve

Summary

Shreeve points out that it is very difficult to define the word “race”. He writes whether or not the word race should be used in scientific fields. He says the classifications of people are changeable and subjective. Race seems to be useful for organizing data. He uses the example which shows that race is used in police work for investigation. He also shows medical research which based on race as an example. 

Reaction

Shreeve introduces many viewpoints of different anthropologists or scientists. By showing various aspects of race, Shreeve askes us “What do you think about race? ”. It was difficult for me to know what Shreeve’s opinion exactly was in this article. However, it seems that Shreeve thinks the meaning of race depends on the situation or person. That’s why we should not be ignorant about the issue of race.

Gould

Summary

Gould claims that scientists are likely to think they are objective although they are unconsciously influenced by their perceptions or the society. He says scientists should be aware that they are not neutral.

Also, he says the studies or research of scientists have the influence on the society. And he points out the importance of communication between scientists and the society.

Reaction

When I read Gould, I thought that the scientists had really great impact to the society. I also think it’s ironic that Blumenbach who was opposing the slavery leads the idea of human order. I agree the claim of Gould that scientists should recognize that they are influenced by their own beliefs. Unless they do not be aware of it, it’s risky and may be harmful to the society.

The Injustice of Honor Killing: The Necessity of Adopting More Humanistic Legal Punishment in Iran

The Injustice of Honor Killing: The Necessity of Adopting More

Humanistic Legal Punishment in Iran

Fig. 1. Can it be justifiable to kill women in an inhumane way to keep “family’s honor”?

           Hubpages

                                                          Marina Nakamura

          

                                                               ID: 151312

                                                       Professor Christianson

                                                            ARW Section BD

                                                           1 November 2011

                                                             Outline

Research Question

Should more humanistic interpretation of Sharia be promoted?

Can it be justifiable to kill women to keep “family’s honor”?

Thesis Statement

The government of Iran should adopt more humanistic legal punishment on women. This is for the following two reasons:

1) Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights.

2) Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.

Ⅰ. Introduction

A.    (Hook) News about honor killing with stoning

B.     (Background)The context and interpretation of Sharia

C.     Thesis

Ⅱ. Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights.

A.    The reality of legal punishment against women. How severe?

B.     The reasons of honor killing

Ⅲ. Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.

A.    Gender inequality of legal punishment in Islamic society.

B.     The idea that women are inherently weaker than men.

Ⅳ. Conclusion

A.    Repeat thesis and main points

B.     How it can be changed?

                            The Injustice of Honor Killing: The Necessity of Adopting More

Humanistic Legal Punishment in Iran

Can you believe the fact that hundreds of innocent women are killed by their family in the name of keeping family’s honor? According to Iran human rights, the non-governmental organization which aims to address the problems concerning the human rights situation in Iran, fourteen years old girl was killed by her own father in 2008. He killed his daughter by stoning and shooting four bullets at her when he found out about his daughter’s relationship with a boy (“14 years old”). This kind of cases is called “honor killing” that means people are murdered by their family in compensation for having destroyed family’s honor. Women have to sacrifice their lives when their behaviors are thought to be immoral in the society. The retributive penalties for law-breaking are based on Sharia which is a system of religious laws followed by Muslims. Many Islamic countries adopt Sharia into their national laws to some extent. However, the extent of interpretation of Sharia is quite different from countries to countries according to each country’s social structure or cultural value. In particular, there is harsh and inhumane legal punishment on women in Iran which is very strict Islamic country. Therefore, the government of Iran should adopt more humanistic legal punishment on women. This is for the following two reasons:1) Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights. 2) Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.

Ⅰ. The violation of human rights

First, the way of punishing women in Iran violates the fundamental human rights. Honor killing is often carried out by stoning that a crowd throws stones at the person until he or she is dead. Stoning to death is completely against articles 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the right to life and prohibits inhuman punishment (“Universal Declaration”). The act of honor killing is violating the universal human rights that have to be ensured for every single person in the world. In other words, stoning is a barbaric show that infringes human’s dignity in public. The situation of honor killing in Iran is so serious that some quick measures should be taken. According to news24, South African Internet news source, forty-five young women became the victims of honor killing in Khuzestan, which is one of the Iran’s provinces in a two-month period of 2003 (“Honour Killings on the rise”). However, the number of the honor killings is unclear and vague. This is because he information about present situation in Iran is limited and most cases of honor killings are not reported to the police. In other words, it is very difficult to know the actual situation of honor killing. Moreover, the people who have the power to control Iran do not allow international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International to enter a country and conduct research about honor killing (“Report Honour”) . In addition to this, even if women’s sins are suspicious and uncertain, they are killed so that male’s relatives can restore the credit and honor of their family’s name in the society (“Honour Killing: Crime”). Thus, women in Iran face the violation of human rights in their daily lives.

Second, honor killing is carried out for a variety of reasons. According to Institution for the Secularization of the Islamic Society, the Muslims organization that pursues the separation of religion and politics, women are killed when they refuse to have an arranged marriage or when they simply have contacts with men who are not family (“Institution for”). This fact seems to indicate that women in Iran do not have any freedom in choosing their husbands or falling in love with men. The cases of honor killing are usually justified in the name of Islam which has a male-oriented tradition and Sharia. However, in reality, there is nothing in the Sharia or Koran that allows or justifies honor killing. According to Tahira Shahid Khan, a professor specializing in women's issues at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, the concept that women do not have any rights and are the property of men is deeply rooted in Islamic society (“Thousands of women”). In other words, women seem to be in much weaker position than men in the Iranian society. Thus, killing women in the name of honor degrades women and deprives their fundamental human rights.

Ⅱ. Encouraging inequality between men and women

The legal punishment in Iran shows the concept of gender inequality that strongly exists in the society. The law and the legal punishment are harsher on women than men because they are based on the idea that women are inherently inferior to men. For example, there is inequality in terms of the credibility of testimony. According to the writer Nawal El Saadawi

who examines the historical role of Arab women, the testimony of two women in courts is equal to that of one man (xi-xii). This fact seems to imply that women are not capable of giving credible information compared to men. Moreover, the blood money, which is the compensation money to the dead victim’s family of a man, is twice that for a woman (Moghissi 110). In other words, it is officially recognized that woman’s life is less valuable financially than a man’s in Iran. As a consequence, the view that women are less important than men has encouraged the murder of women under the name of keeping family honor. According to the Iranian Chief Justice, Ayatollah Yazdi who served as the head of Judiciary system of Iran, women have to face and live in constant fear of murder because some men threaten their lives (Moghissi 110). Why are there these gender inequalities in Iran? This is because traditionally men have the obligation to keep women’s religious soul pure and sacred in Iran. The family structure is based on conservative and patriarchal systems. Also, men have the moral duty to protect women from dangers in the society. That is why women have a lot of limitations and bindings in their daily lives. However, this means men have justification to punish severely women when rules are broken by women. Actually, Iran is highly male-centered society where the dignity of women is deteriorated. In short, inequality between men and women can be clearly found in the Iranian society.

                                                               

Conclusion

In conclusion, more humanistic legal punishment on women should be carried out in Iran. As shown above, women are systematically oppressed in Iran at this moment. There is a clear necessity to abolish the cruel legal punishment such as honor killing immediately to save human lives and protect human rights. Unless the government of Iran adopt more humanistic and gender equal punishment, more and more women will be sacrificed and lose their precious lives. The first step of legal reform in Iran is supporting international non-governmental organizations that work to protect the human rights. Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International can contribute to make the legal punishment of Iran more humanistic. Also, the international society should put more pressure on Iran to improve the situation of gender inequality.

Works cited

"A 14 years old girl stoned to death by her father - Iran ...". Iran human rights. Iran human
        rights, 15 Feb. 2008. Web. 29 Oct. 2011.

"Honour Killing: A Crime against Islam." Islam Awareness. Islam

     Awaremess, Web. 28 Oct. 2011.                                   

"'Honour killings' on the rise." news24. news24, 27 Oct. 2003. Web. 29

     Oct. 2011.

"Institution for the Secularization of the Islamic Society." Center

     forInquiry. Institution for the Secularization of the Islamic

     Society,19 Dec. 2003. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.

Moghissi, Haideh. Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism. New York:

     Zed Books Ltd, 1999. Print.

“Report Honour Killings in Iran”. Landinfo, 22 May. 2009. Web. 30 Oct.

             2011.

Saadawi, Nawal El. The Hidden Face of Eve. New York: Zed Books Ltd,

     2007.Print.

" The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." the United Nations, Web.

     28 Oct. 2011.

"Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor"." National Geographic

     News 28 Oct. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.

                  Source of photograph

Photo 1 < http://thriller.hubpages.com/hub/No-Honor-in-Honour-Killings>

The 20×20

　The experience of creating the 20×20 encouraged me to think deeper about my essay topic. I was very shocked to find the cruel and powerful picture image of honor killing of woman on the Internet. I hesitated to use this picture because this picture may make my section mate very shocked or uncomfortable. However, I decided to show it in order to tell the reality of harsh honor killings.

The difficult part of the 20×20 was creating it in proper order to make it persuasive. When I was creating my presentation, I changed the structure of order several times. During my presentation in the class, I tried to speak in a good pace. Actually, my section mate gave me the comment that my speaking style was easy to understand. Also, I was given the advice that I should have made more eye contact. If I have a chance to show my presentation in the future, I want to make more eye contact and communicate with audience actively.

This is the link to my slides.

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/lilitan-1246692-20x20-ppt-template/

Essay Draft

Can you believe the fact that hundreds of women are killed by their family in the name of keeping family’s honor every year? According to Iran human rights, fourteen years old girl, identified as Saeedeh, has been stoned to death by her own father in Iran. Her father, Mohammad Sharif said that when he found out about his fourteen years old daughter’s relationship with a boy, he took Saeedeh to the mountains around the city of zahedan and killed her by stoning and then shooting four bullets at her. (“A 14 years”) This kind of cases are called “honor killing” that means people are murdered by their family in compensation for having destroyed family’s honor. Retributive penalties for law-breaking are based on Sharia which is a system of religious laws followed by Muslims. However, the extent of interpretation of Sharia is different from countries to countries according to social structure or cultural value. In particular, there is harsh and inhumane legal punishment on women in Iran which is strict Islamic country. Therefore, the government of Iran should adopt more humanistic legal punishment on women. This is for the following two reasons:

1) Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights.

2) Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.

The way of punishing women in Iran violates the fundamental human rights. Honor killing in Islamic countries are often carried out by stoning. Stoning to death is an action that a crowd throws stones at the person until he or she is dead. Stoning is a barbaric show that infringes human’s dignity in public and violation of human rights. It is against articles 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of articles 6 and 7 of the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantee the right to life and prohibit torture and inhuman treatment. (The Universal Declaration) Honor killing is carried out for a variety of reasons such as girl’s refusal to an arranged marriage, not following the Islamic dress code and simply having contacts with men who are not family. No matter how inhumane it is, the victims of honor killing can’t be saved. This is because there is no court hearing or official organization that judges offenders. The cases of honor killing are usually justified in the name of Islam and Sharia. The Sharia provide two spheres of human activity : those actions that relate humanity to God and those that relate humans to fellow humans. The juridical deliberations in the exclusively male-oriented traditional centers of Islamic learning, the madorasa, have disregarded female voice in the emerging discourse connected with women’s issues and human rights. (Perspectives on Islamic Law, Justice and Society) There is nothing in the Sharia or Koran that allows or justifies honor killing. According to Tahira Shahid Khan, a professor specializing in women's issues at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, the view of women as property with no rights of their own is deeply Islamic culture.(National Geographic News)

The legal punishment in Iran shows the concept of gender inequality. Legal punishment which driven by Qisas (law of retribution) in Iran is obviously based on the idea that women are inherently inferior to men. Important thing here is that the law is undoubtedly harsher on women. Let’s take the age of criminal responsibility for example. It is fifteen for boys but nine for girls. The testimony of two women in courts is equal to that of one man. (the hidden face of eve) Also, the process of stoning to death is barbarically harsher for women. Men are to be buried up to their waist and women up to their chest. The possibility of escaping from the hole is higher for a man than for a woman. Moreover, the blood money payable to the family of the victim for the death of a man is twice that for a woman. In terms of financial aspects, a woman’s life is officially less valued than a man’s in Iran. This has encouraged the murder of women under the name of “keeping family honor”. According to Chief Justice Ayatollah Yazdi, “Many women and girls live in constant fear for their lives because some men murder their lives or daughter on slight suspicion and then are easily set free by paying a very low compensation money”. This social structure implies that men possess women and women’s bodies. Purification of the woman’s body and soul is a religious and political duty for the individual man, and through him, by extension, for the Islam state. Therefore, when rules are broken, it is man who has the obligation and justification to punish the rule-breaker. Setting a higher price on a man’s life also means that rape and woman’s murder go unpunished. Under the Iranian criminal code these crimes are punishable by death. However, under the new “Islamified” law, the family of a murdered woman is required to pay a substantial amount of dieh(blood money) to the murderer before he can be punished. If the family of the victim cannot come up with dieh, the murderer can be free from punishment. Actually, Iran is highly male-centered society where the dignity of women is deteriorated. Facing constant fear of oppression, women are forced to follow men. (Feminism and Islamic)

In conclusion, the government of Iran should carry out legal punishment on women in more humanistic ways. As shown above, women are systematically oppressed in Iran. There is a clear necessity to abolish the cruel legal punishment such as honor killing immediately to save human lives and protect human rights. Unless the government of Iran adopt more humanistic and gender equal punishment, more and more women will be sacrificed and lose their precious lives.

Essay Outline

 Essay outline

Research Question

Should more humanistic interpretation of Sharia be promoted?

Can it be justifiable to kill women to keep “family’s honor”?

Thesis Statement

The government of Saudi Arabia should adopt more humanistic legal punishment on women. This is for the following two reasons:

1) Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights.

2) Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.

Ⅰ. Introduction

A.    (Hook) News about honor killing with stoning

B.     (Background) How women are opressed in Saudi Arabia

C.     Thesis

Ⅱ. Benefits of Sharia

      A. The content of Sharia

      B.  Good points of Sharia

Ⅲ. Punishing women inhumanely is the violation of human rights.

A.    The reality of legal punishment against women. How severe?

B.     What human rights organizations say about severe punishment.

Ⅳ. Punishing women differently encourages inequality between men and women.

A.    Gender inequality of legal punishment in Islamic society.

B.     The idea that women are inherently weaker than men.

Ⅴ. Conclusion

A.    Repeat thesis and main points

B.     How it can be changed? Current movement toward freedom in Arabic countries.

Essay Topic

1) The issue I plan to research and write about 

Sharia(the traditional Islamic law) in the modern Islamic society from gender perspectives

2) The reason why this issue is important

Some Muslim women are punished and sometimes killed in a very severe way because of Sharia.  

For example, a woman who gets raped by man is punished with stoning in Afghanistan and Iran. Also, there is so much limitation for women especially in Saudi Arabia. Women cannot drive a car, go outside freely and make decisions concerning about their daily lives.  

3) Connection to me

I saw a movie Osama which was about the serious situation of Afghanistan under the control of Taliban. I wondered “What would I feel if I were in a same situation of Muslim women who were oppressed?”.

Also, I want to know more about the reality of Islam because I’m very interested in Islamic society which is mysterious and attractive for me. At the same time, I feel very sorry about the women who don’t have freedom.

4) What I want to find out

I want to know 1) the contents of Sharia, 2) more about the reality of severe punishment such as stoning, 3) the current movements of Muslim women for more freedom, 4) what human rights groups think about severe punishment against women, 5) inequality of legal punishment between men and women

5) English sources

HONORING THE KILLER

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/04/19/honoring-killers
Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)

http://www.rawa.org/index.php

violence is not our culture

http://stop-stoning.org/node/13

My reaction to Fisher's text

 According to Fisher, the psychological process associated with interpretation and assigning meanings to persons and objects is known as perception. I think it is quite natural that everyone has a different perception. Fisher tells us a lot of deeper analysis of perception, which is very interesting. I was especially interested in the concept that perception is evaluative. Fisher says that we tend to remember more experiences that we valued highly and fewer of those we would like to forget. I think this is what we call “beautification of memory”. In my experience, I actually have tendency to beautify my past experience or memory. For instance, I remember a lot about positive aspects of my club activity such as winning the competition or making friends. However, there must have been so many negative aspects as well. Having read fisher’s article, I could recognize this tendency more clearly.

My reaction to Barna's text

I enjoyed reading Barna’s text because it was convincing and understandable in general. Especially, the part Preconceptions and Stereotypes was interesting for me. In my experience, I had a stereotype that Islamic women were oppressed and didn’t have freedom so much. This image was created by a linkage between information of radical Islam such as Taliban and Islamic women. However, I realized my preconception was completely wrong when I went to Qatar which was a devout Islamic country. I met a young girl who was wearing a black veil that I thought was a symbol of oppressed women. She said to me that being Muslim was very meaningful and happy for her. I was shocked to know that Islamic women were proud to follow the strict rules of the Koran. From this experience, my personal view toward the Islam has changed. My vision was actually widened through international communication. As Barna mentions in conclusion, I agree that international communication competence is the capacity to manage key challenging features of intercultural communication. I think the importance of this competence has increased in the globalized world.

Summer Reading Reaction The Joy Luck Club

I read The joy luck club which is written by Amy Tan.

This novel is the story about four immigrant women from china and their four daughters who are born in America. I knew that Amy Tan reflected her own experience as a Chinese American on this novel. I was interested in how the Chinese American got through difficulties when they moved to America. I also felt an interest in relationship between mothers and daughters. That’s why I chose to read this book.

In this novel, there are four pairs of mother and daughter. Firstly, there are Suyuan Woo who established the joy luck club for playing a mah-jongg and her daughter, Jing-mei Woo who works as a copywriter. Secondly, there are An-mei Hsu and her daughter, Rose Hsu Jordan who is a graphic artist. Thirdly, there are Lindo Jong and her daughter, Waverly Jong who is very good at playing chess. Finally, there are Ying-ying St.Clair and her daughter, Lena St.Clair who feels Chinese spirit. Each woman tells her own story of their childhood or lives in America.

Main theme of this novel is the relationship between mothers and daughters. There are conflicts and reconciliation of them. They have difficulties understanding each other fully. What makes it so difficult? Mothers who managed to make their own way in America want daughters to have both aspects of Chinese and American. They expect a lot of things of their daughters. At first, daughters reject to accept Chinese traditions and resist to their mothers. For young daughters, old Chinese customs seem strange. As they know about her mothers’ childhood more deeply, however, daughters see the similarities on them and feel closer to their mothers.

In my experience, I didn’t have a clear rebellious period. Yet, I remember I sometimes cried when I felt my mother didn’t understand me at all. I think mothers often care about daughters too much. It makes it complicated to understand each other.

Especially, I like the part that Jing-mei met her mother’s twins finally. I like the words of Jing-mei that “It is my family. It is in our blood. After all these years, it can finally be let go.” When I read this part, I think Jing-mei was released from perplex feeling against her mother.

In conclusion, this novel made me reconsider what the ideal relationship between mother and daughter is.

What I want to get from ARW Autumn

I especially want to improve my writing skill this autumn. This is because I noticed that my writing skill was lower than other skills this summer. I'll do my best on writing academic essay. I'm sure I can learn a lot from the process of writing academic essay. I want to find a good topic which is interesting and meaningful. 

Summer Vacation 2011

I went to Australia as SEA program for six weeks this summer. It was the first time for me to study abroad. I went to Monash university which was located in Melbourne. Monash university is  famous for the strong debating club. I was very interested in the debating team because I was a member of ICU debating society. I learned about not only English but also the diversity of cultures during this six weeks. This experience became unforgettable for me.