My feminist side hadn’t developed up until I was old enough to comprehend the inequality surrounding me. Growing up in Saudi Arabia, the culture was very different. If there's one thing I’ve learned, it’s that women are seen as inferior to men. Women are generally expected to stay at home and bare children as well as keep the home fed and clean. Men, on the other hand were the head of the household. They were the breadwinners, the providers. For the most part, women were not allowed to do almost anything without a man’s permission. They weren’t allowed to travel, make important financial decisions, etc. Women were also expected to cover up completely because the official religion was Islam. These rules didn’t really apply to young girls or children, but sons were more valued. I remember going to an all-girls school (schools were separated by gender) and it being extremely closed off. We weren’t allowed to leave until our fathers (women couldn’t drive at the time either) came to pick us up and called our names through a microphone in which we’d hear through the speakers on the other side of the wall. My brother on the other hand had the freedom to run around with his friends and leave whenever as there was no wall keeping them in.
Who I am today is completely thanks to my background and how I grew up. I’d say feminism is a large part of who I am because of how and where I grew up. I would also consider myself literate in language. I’m fluent in Arabic, English, and still working on French. I see language as a large part of who we are as it’s how we communicate with each other. The more you know, the more people you can communicate with and that alone opens many opportunities for travel and work. To this day, I use English and Arabic both inside and outside the home. At home, I talk to my parents and siblings in both and more than likely at the same time. Same applies to my Arabic speaking friends. We usually start off in English and switch mid-sentence to Arabic especially when the conversation has gotten heated or more exciting. Although unlike English, Arabic was my first and only language as a child.
Even today as we live in the states, my family continues to follow some of the traditions from back home. For example, my mother expects my sister and I to provide guests with refreshments and keep the place tidy. Her first instinct when it comes to doing a chore around the house would be to call my sister or I rather than one of my brothers. This used to happen quite frequently up until I decided that it wasn’t fair to expect more of us because we were girls. My dad would also try and teach us how to cook or try and get us interested in baking as a hobby but never with my brothers. I finally told them that I wasn’t going to stand for the stereotyping and I will not do anything based off my gender. Now, they are a lot better about this and rarely treat us differently. My dad had stopped trying to teach me too cook because he knows I have no interest in learning but is instead teaching my sister and younger brother as they’re both interested in cooking. And when it comes to technological help, he comes to me. He also comes to me to help him put something together/ or build something new. I’m currently trying to help my friends to stand up to their sexist parents as well. And this, makes me literate in feminism. I refuse to be a part of a society that promotes inequality and so living and working in such place is not an option.
I came into the States with zero knowledge of the language or culture. We moved here from Saudi Arabia in late 2008 and by early 2009, my parents were working to educate us and get us caught up with kids our age here. I remember one specific instance where my dad and I spent the day in bed reading a children’s fairy tale book about Disney princesses. That book was the first thing I read in English as I began learning the language. My siblings and I also watched a lot of TV, and more specifically a lot of SpongeBob. I recall watching this yellow sponge speak in a foreign language that I’d never heard of before and watching as Patrick's body language/ facial expressions confirmed or hinted at what was going on. Television played a huge role when it came to learning English. This of course led to my development and improvement in public school as well as gave me the ability to make lifelong friends. Nowadays I speak primary in English and almost everything I do revolves around it. Learning this language set the foundation of my life as English is quickly becoming a must know if one wishes to be successful in almost anything. ​
A New Way of Life
I also hope to be fluent in French and even start learning a new language like German or Dutch. My plan is to move to Europe and that’s largely because there are so many opportunities for the career I’m looking to pursue. That being said, Germany, Italy, and Belgium have been at the top of my list with Belgium being number one. Belgium doesn’t have an official language but is composed primarily of the three largest groups of Dutch, French, and German speaking people. If everything goes according to plan, I would be fluent in English, Arabic, and French by this point. German would be next on my list.
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This page is very VERY feminine. When I began putting it together, this isn't exactly what I had in mind, but as I began incorporating certain aspects of the Literacy and learning project, the page began to take a more feminine theme. This may come off as a bit odd to anyone who knows me now, but I decided to stick with it because it did fit the theme of this project very well and it is an important piece of who I am. I chose to use this project because I feel as though it describes who I am and how I came to be. So I thought what better project to include about a project about my identity. With this background, I matched the text box and the colors. The font used gives off a free spirited vibe. It almost makes it easier to read. When it came to the text itself, I tried to break it up and separate it so that certain areas wouldn't be text heavy. I also included some dividers and arrows to separate certain parts as well as help the page flow more easily.
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Describe your image
Describe your image