Barlas Discussion Questions II

Discussion Questions for the second half of Barlas' "Believing Women":

  1. How does Barlas interpret Qur’anic views on sexual sameness vs. difference?  What does she find problematic about the two-sex model and the assumptions of gender and sex that are implicit in it?  Pp. 130-48
  2. What, according to Barlas, is the Qur’an’s position on sexuality?  How does it differ from Western patriarchal notions?  Pp. 149-66
  3. How are family and marriage conceptualized in the Qur’an with regard to parental rights, according to Barlas?  PART I  Pp. 167-82
  4. How about with regard to daughters and fathers, wives and husbands?  PART II  Pp. 182-92
  5. How does Barlas attempt to reconcile the Qur’anic principle of egalitarianism with divorce rights and assumed masculine privileges?  Pp. 192-200
  6. What does she find problematic about the conventional dichotomy (division) of public and private spheres?  Pp. 200-202; also p. 172
  7. What does she mean by “reading in front of the text?”  Pp. 200-210
Citation: Afsaruddin, A. (2007, May 06). Barlas Discussion Questions II. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/arabic-and-middle-east-studies/women-in-islamic-societies/lecture-and-study-materials/barlas-discussion-questions-ii.
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