Madison Goracke on "Do Muslim Women (Still) Need Saving?"

What stood out to me the most was the author’s viewpoint about the victimization of Afghan women, making it seem as if they’re helpless and cannot fight for themselves. As a society, it’s very easy to view the information we’re given in the wrong way. She presented that when there is an incident in Afghanistan, we are all too eager to see the situation as oppression. We are given culture or religious reasons for the problem instead of the actual cause of what is happening.

I was caught off guard with the author’s question: do Muslim women need saving? The author’s stand was that Afghan and/or Muslim women are depicted as “needy” or “need saving” when in all reality, they are struggling with real issues that they are lost because of the misconception. This gets lost in translation when all we’re told to think is that these people are an oppressed people.

People see “Muslim women need to be saved” and automatically think that they are weak and, accordingly cannot handle themselves. The author argued that we need to switch that mindset from “they need to be saved” to “what can we do as a society to help and assist them.” I think that this, in turn, lumps all Muslim women together… it makes it that “single story” that we previously discussed. People of the world have in their minds what they think is correct, and think that if you aren’t connected with the United States or Europe, you are automatically an oppressed people.

I believe that we see all of these issues on a daily basis. Turning on the news, reading the newspaper, visiting a news networking site; all of these sources are guilty of taking the Single Story and running with it. I see the lumping of cultures and religion together when topics of the Middle East, Muslims, Afghans, etc. Now coming to the realization that all of this has been going on all around me in society, it makes me more aware of this problem we all face.

What can we do to involve ourselves with giving our help and support if needed, instead of (unintentionally) helping with oppression?