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Gender Roles In Bedouin Culture

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Gender Codes Among the Bedouin Society The Bedouin society entails a culture that is distinct and unique in which gender roles shape the relationship between men and women in a way that is different from what is typically viewed across many Western cultures. Not unlike a majority of cultures across the world today, the Bedouin culture does place women at a level that is inferior to men through their gender code. But there are many unique ways that this culture defines gender roles through such things as the honor code and wearing of the veil. Within the Bedouin culture, poetry is the one aspect where women are allowed to voice their true emotions without having to fear they will be judged on the basis of their moral code. Ultimately, through the gender codes implemented in …show more content…

A good example that is provided to further prove this point is a case in which a young boy was living with his mother after his father never returned home one day. After some time, the child’s grandfather came to take him and although they had never met before, the child willingly left with his grandfather and left his mother behind, (Abu-Lughod 53). When people hear this story they understand why the boy left: because of blood. The child shares blood with his grandfather because of agnation whereas he didn’t share any blood with his mother, so even though they had never met, the child and grandfather already had a strong bond due to blood. Because of agnation, children will also take their father’s tribal affiliation over their mother’s affiliation, (Abu-Lughod 53). Since the Bedouin community is one of patrilineal descent, children will therefore take their father’s tribal affiliation as it is the way the community determines where one comes from. This could be one of the main reasons why the birth of a boy in Bedouin society is viewed as a better thing than if a woman gives birth to a

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