Comparative Analysis of Gender Roles in Two Different Societies

This essay offers a comparative analysis of gender roles in two distinct societies: the Bakhtiyari tribe of Iran and a Palestinian village. It examines how political and economic shifts influence the status and privileges of men and women. The essay contrasts the experiences of Bibi Maryam, a Bakhtiyari woman who gained prominence and economic independence, with Abu Jamal, a Palestinian villager whose life was significantly impacted by conflict and economic hardship. The analysis highlights differences in literacy, economic opportunities, and social mobility, illustrating how societal structures and historical events shape gender dynamics. The essay delves into the roles of women as administrators, mediators, and economic contributors in the Bakhtiyari tribe, while contrasting this with the struggles faced by Palestinian men and women under occupation and economic depression. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of understanding these diverse experiences to gain insights into the complexities of gender roles across different cultural contexts. The assignment uses the reading 'Struggle and Survival' and focuses on how gender roles are shaped by societal, economic and political factors.

Abstract:
This paper discusses in detail how the changes in political or economic scenario
change the status and privilege of different genders. Status of women in Bakhtiyari tribe of
Iran reached a new high with the constitution revolution and with Khans enjoying the riches
of their noble hood. Bakhtiyari tribe is a solid example of how women (some of noble origin)
played an important role in not only family but as well as on community scale. On the other
hand, Abu Jamal’s story depicts how life changes for males in a war-torn country. This did
not only bring in economic problems for the family, but even changed their social look with
unpredictable danger to their life itself. It shows how a man tries to protect his family against
the circumstances and living on limited resources that they have. While the women of
Bakhtiyari tribe were literate, Palestine males were often illiterate owing to their
circumstance.

Introduction
This paper is going to shed light on the two individuals i.e., the Bibi Maryam (a
woman belonging from the Bakhtiyari tribe) and Abu Jamal (a Palestinian villager) from the
reading of Struggle and Survival. It shall elaborate on how the changes in the economic and
political scenario has changes the privileges, advantages and living of different genders in
different societies, by comparing and contrasting the life of both of these individuals.
Thesis statement: Comparing and contrasting the life of Bibi Maryam and Abu Jamal
in context to their genders and belonging.
Discussion
Bakhtiyari tribe:
Bibi Maryam’s story1 challenges the division of work between the genders in the
Middle Eastern society. Bakhtiyari women are the mainspring of every- thing good that is
attempted and done in the country. They have attained a position of themselves, without any
effort on their part, which many of their suffragist sisters in the West would struggle for.
Especially of late years, when the men of the tribe have been absent for months and even
years at a time in Tehran, or governing distant provinces, the women have come to the front
and administered the possessions of their husbands admirably.
Bakhtiyari tribe follows the culture of intermarrying of their women among the tribes.
This depicts the status of women and the respect they yearned. In fact, tribal women served as
mediators in disputes between the men. The major reason that caused this empowerment of
women in the society was increase in status of bakhtiyari men from nomads to elite agents of
1Edmund Burke, David Yaghoubian, Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East: Second Edition
(University of California Press, 2006), 103-116

government, transforming their lifestyle. This led the women to take responsibility of not just
household but even the estates in the absence of men. These women (bibis) took all decisions
about harvesting, sowing of crops and water distribution among various estates. Women also
produced handicrafts.
Another, important thing to note is that women in Bakhtiyaris were literate. Many of
the Bibis have a great ambition to learn modern languages. Even in the subject of arithmetic,
bibis held an expertise. The Bakhtiari Bibis are great doctors and prescribe not only for
themselves, but for their villagers and dependants. They also held great skill as chemist
preparing the medicines with utmost care and utmost precision2. The Bakhtiari men are very
fond of their wives. They rely on their woman for advice. The women are consulted on every
possible occasion, political or otherwise, and their advice is generally very good and to the
point. When their husbands are away, letters are constantly passed between them by means of
mounted messengers, and all important events were telegraphed to them. During the years of
absence of the Khans, the bibis gained an economic independence, which was not known to
the previous generations of tribal women. Bibis not only managed the estates but also
developed them increasing their productivity3. Some bibis owned grain mills and carpet
factories. The labours at these factories are mostly the wives and children of the servants on
the estate.4
The money from the sale of the carpets are transferred to the bibis' private funds, and
hence, most of the bibis accumulate wealth independently, rather than depending on their
husbands for finance. This gave the women in the tribe economic security and more respect
2 Elizabeth N. Macbean Ross, A Lady in Bakhtiari Land(London: Leonard Parsons, 1921), 93
3Elizabeth N. Macbean Ross, A Lady in Bakhtiari Land(London: Leonard Parsons, 1921), 105
4Edmund Burke, David Yaghoubian, Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East: Second Edition
(University of California Press, 2006), 108

in the society. Every married bibi has their own accounts and nothing could be obtained
without their permission, not even bread. The gardens and the stables were supervised by the
Bibis. They used to look after the horses every two or three days in their husbands’ absence,
to observe if they are kept in good condition. Therefore, women in Bakhtiyari society became
equal partners and stakeholders with their male counter parts.
To sum up, Bakhtiari Bibi had a very enviable position. She was looked up to and
respected by her children. She is of the greatest possible assistance to her husband in the
management of his estates and all his multifarious business affairs.
Bakhtiyari women were also politically aware and concerned about the constitutional
revolution. In fact, they wrote letters to the wives of uncommitted chiefs, in order to send
their husband to defend the constitution5.
But the position of women started to decline with the increase of British influence on
the tribe after the discovery of oil. The roles of women as administrators and mediators tend
to become less important. The land rents and revenues collected on the estates were no longer
the predominant sources of wealth. The large amounts of foreign capital involved in the oil
fields had altered the social and political conditions in the tribal lands forever.
Palestinian Villager:
The Story of Abu Jamal portrayed by Joost Hiltermann6 finds its relevance to the
times after the Second World War. It portrays how the life of Palestinian people changed
following the conflict, leaving them to live on the meagre.
This period witnessed the economic depression faced by the Palestinians due to iron
fist policy used by the Israeli military in 1980’s. Through this story, author has portrayed how
5 ArashKhazeni, Tribes and Empire on the margins of nineteenth century Iran (University of Washington Press,
2009), 190
6Edmund Burke, David Yaghoubian, Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East: Second Edition
(University of California Press, 2006), 268-280

the peasants of Palestine rose up protecting their families and trying to find new jobs in the
atmosphere where they were being downtrodden by the military might. Palestinian males are
forced to take whatever job that they get. Abu Jamal works as a shepherd, a Red Cross relief
worker, a soldier in the Jordanian army, a laborer, a waiter, the manager of a small café, a
construction worker, and sometimes as a welfare recipient as well.
Israeli occupation has affected the peasants and their family in countless ways,
drastically constraining their movements, possibilities for work and their access to services.
Life has become increasingly hard. On the top of all these, authorities impose heavy tax on
them, draining their savings.
The outbreak of the intifada in December 1987 was followed by worse living
conditions for the Palestinians. The strikes and increased militancy of the Palestinians were a
response to the brutal "iron fist" policies of the military authorities in the preceding years.
This also lead to the emergence of Palestinian leadership. The resistance groups often
organized strikes, with Israeli government imposing curfews further worsening the life
conditions. This has lead to the development of informal sector of the economy itinerant
peddlers, backyard gardens, chicken farms, etc.
The author mentions the condition portrayed by Abu Jamal is a common view in the
Palestinian society.7 Families were forced to migrate from their village to cities and feed off
from the crumbs it provided them without any job security or life security. People tend to
work in any kind of job ranging from agriculture to industry services; anything that could
earn them enough to feed their hunger. Not only employment, even housing was rare to find
and they had to move from village to village in search of place to live. Compactness could be
understood analyzing the situation that 20 families lived just in 1 square km of area.
7Edmund Burke, David Yaghoubian, Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East: Second Edition
(University of California Press, 2006), 269

Before the World War II, males used to go to catholic schools for their education but
the scenario was changed right after that, as the country was submerged into the darkness of
war. With the defeat of the Arab armies, an uneasy peace came to the area, and with it
thousands of refugees expelled from their native lands. Before Israeli occupation, Abu
developed considerable skills as comic orator and performed as clown at village gatherings.
His success as coffee shop operator was short lived. Abu Jamal's career as a coffee-shop
operator did not survive the war. “Although he reopened the café later in 1967, he grew
increasingly apprehensive about his position in such a public area as a coffee shop, given the
proliferation of collaborators, the scourge of the Israeli occupation, and the influence they
had on the mind of his customers. He shut down the shop shortly thereafter and sold the
business finally in 19718.
Marriages were a major source of friction here. The families were not able to muster a
savings neither to get medical treatments nor to pay up for the hospital bills. There was also
restriction on village women from moving outside their houses.
By the mid 1970’s, conditions of Israeli occupation were bringing dramatic changes
to the life of the Palestinians. Arm struggle was launched by those living outside. A
movement away from agriculture life took place. Inhabitants were left between two ways of
life: of peasants or proletarians. But the struggle lacked any involvement to reduce gender
inequality prevailing in the society.9
Women have to struggle to avoid being marginalized by the political leadership and
relegated to the roles of "mothers of martyrs" who should merely "protect, preserve and
procreate10.
8Edmund Burke, David Yaghoubian, Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East: Second Edition
(University of California Press, 2006), 273
9Rita Giacaman, Life & Health in three Palestinian villages(Ithaka Press, 1988),18
10Joost R. Hiltermann, Behind the Intifada: Labour and Women’s movements in the occupied territories
(Princeton University Press,1991), 202

By 1988, People tried to adjust their life-styles to the new realities of the uprising but,
the condition of economy worsened, and men found it difficult to even make their ends meet.
Compare and Contrast
While going through the readings of Bibi Maryam: A Bakhtiyari Tribal Woman by
Julie Oehler, one could find that the Middle Eastern society was free of all the gender
inequalities that are still faced by faced by most of the women in the patriarchal society11. In
fact, it is a society where the women plays a very important part in the overall activities and
progress, right from being a part of occupational activities to being a leader and breaking
family limitations. Julie Oehlar has portrayed the image of Bibi Maryam as a strong willed
and independent woman who have attained such a position and power being a Bakhtiyari
tribe, which many of the women belonging from the West would have envy, whereas in the
story of Abu Jamal: A Palestinian urban villages, Joost Hiltermann has depicted how a man
tries to save his family from the circumstances and living on the limited resources that he
have12. On one hand, Bibi Maryam is not only literate and skillful; in fact, she also acted as an
advisor for her husband and sons. She was an equal partner and stakeholder in her husbands’
property. While, on the other hand, Abu Jamal is illiterate and unskilled. He worked as a
shepherd, a soldier in the Jordanian army, a labourer, sometimes a waiter, a construction
worker as well as welfare recipient. This inconsistency was because, unlike Bibi Maryam,
Abu Jamal is not even independent enough to choose his own occupation. Education is of
much more importance among the Bhaktiyari women than the people of Palestine. The
Bhaktiyari women wanted to learn more, to know more and to educate themselves more,
11 Edmund Burke, David Yaghoubian. Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East: Second Edition.
University of California Press, 2006
12 Joost R. Hiltermann. Behind the Intifada: Labour and Women’s movements in the occupied territories.
Princeton

while in Palestine, the women were far not even allowed to move out from their respective
houses. Bhaktiyari women want to learn more languages apart from their own mother tongue.
They were economically secured as well However, they were not able to do so, as there were
none to make them learn foreign languages. Furthermore, there women of Bhaktiyari tribe
were so educated that some of them were teachers, doctors and even chemist, but this is not
the case in the Palestine village. They were even interested in political speeches and had a
desire to study history. In Palestine the view was completely different. Not even common
male were able to educate themselves well, education for women was like a dream that could
never come true. Where Bibi Mariyam, a women from the Bakhtiyari society is continuously
thriving her society by taking part on each and every economical and political business; Abu
Jamal on the contrary is struggling hard and continuously changing his profession to give his
family a good life and to earn handsome of money to meet their daily bread. In contrast to
Bakhtiyari tribe, where they maintained peace among themselves by inter-marrying their
women among the men of their own tribes; marriages in the Palestine village was a major
source of friction, with the whole can embroiled in minor disputes. With the same, unlike
Bibi Maryam in the Bakhtyari tribe, the women in Palestine were restricted from moving
outside their houses. On one hand, being a woman, Bibi Maryam has an enviable position in
her society and is practically independent of her husband in regards to economy and property;
the position and status of Abu Jamal, a man, on the other hand is reduced to low due to the
occupation of Israel and the resistance that followed. Where Bibi Maryam is playing the role
of an advisor and guide for her husband, Abu Jamal on the contrary is not even capable to his
own decisions regarding his occupation because of the crisis faced by his land. So, on one
hand, it depicts how the life of women in Bhaktiyari Tribe was so full of dignity, respect and
happiness through portraying the life of Bibi Maryam. On the other hand, it shows how the
men in Palestinian society abruptly changed with the changes that came post-colonization

through portraying the life of Abul Jamal. The freedom of men was curtailed and the
decisions they took to get their end meet were out of misery and helplessness.
Conclusion
To sum up, we have witnessed how the wheel of time and the changes it brought
along, drastically changed the life of different genders in their tribe. Bakhtiari Bibi is
practically independent of her husband in regards to property and economy. They have their
influence on their husbands, sons and the society. Bibi Maryam, lead her tribe and even
forged alliance when needed. Bibis were of the greatest possible assistance to their husband
in the management of his estates and all his multifarious business affairs. All these came
about, when the tribe witnessed riches with increasing trade with foreigners and
constitutional revolution. In fact, once these conditions were reversed with oil becoming
more important and khans losing their status, the status enjoyed by bibis also declined. A
reverse situation can be seen in case of Palestinian peasants, where the occupation by Israel
and the resistance that followed, reduced the status of men to low. They were not even
capable to take their own decisions regarding occupation, access to education, etc. due to the
conditions that their land faced. In contrast to bibis of Iran, they had to fill their stomach on
the meagre they earned. Even, there were restrictions on women, with only few
circumstances (even in such pathetic economic condition), they were allowed to work and
earn.

Bibliography:
1) Edmund Burke, David Yaghoubian. Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle
East: Second Edition. University of California Press, 2006
2) Elizabeth N. Macbean Ross, A Lady in Bakhtiari Land (London: Leonard Parsons,
1921), 93
3) ArashKhazeni. Tribes and Empire on the margins of nineteenth century Iran.
University of Washington Press, 2009
4) Rita Giacaman. Life & Health in three Palestinian villages. Ithaka Press, 1988
5) Joost R. Hiltermann. Behind the Intifada: Labour and Women’s movements in the
occupied territories. Princeton University Press,1991