Male v. Female (Formal Oct. 31)

Each travel narrative that we have read thus far has offered a unique perspective of the religion and customs of the Middle East. Although each author has their own personal views and experiences, there are certain aspects of their writing that you can come to expect from each gender. While the male authors tend to simplify cultural differences and present their information in black and white, the females are more likely to recognize the gray areas and are more likely to point out the similarities of the two cultures.

Men tend to be more rational than women, but lack the kind of empathy needed to relate to a foreign culture or religion without fully adopting it as their own. The male authors also seemed to hold stronger orientalist views. Most of the male authors had a hard time being surrounded by the religion of Islam without questioning their own beliefs. Joseph Pitts, for instance, converted to Islam during his captivity, but then converted back to Christianity upon his return to England. I believe that men may be more easily swayed when it comes to faith and have a hard time accepting the possibility of the fact that there could be more than one “correct” religion. Most of the men were also more susceptible to orientalism. Within their narratives, writers such as William Biddulph, Henry Blount, Joseph Pitts and Richard Burton all included many common stereotypes of the people of the Middle East. These male authors spoke of a more violent civilization than what was reported by the female writers and seemed confused by the role of women, especially regarding harems, in Middle Eastern society. This is easy to understand, considering the fact that speaking to a woman in public in the Middle East could possibly mean death for our male authors.

Women are natural nurtures and innately more compassionate than their male counterpart. Because our female writers were able to converse with Middle Eastern women, I believe they have a better grasp of the culture as a whole, making them less vulnerable to orientalism. Speaking with the native women enabled the female authors to learn and understand such trivial customs as veiling, harems and the women’s place in society. Many of our female writers engrossed themselves with Middle Eastern culture. Lady Mary Wortley- Montagu and Lucie Duff Gordon even went as far as to wear “local costume” while living in the Middle East. Montagu had so much faith in the Turkish custom of enaculation for smallpox, that she took the practice back to England. Gertrude Bell traveled through the desert on horseback and slept in tents with the tribesmen to experience the nomadic way of life. Montagu, Gordon, and Bell all studied Arabic and Islam as a way of better understanding the culture. Although these women studied the Koran and other religious texts, they never felt the need to make a full conversion to Islam. They were able to recognize the differences and similarities between Christianity and Islam and appreciate the diversity. The female travel writers all seem to have had a deep affection for the native people, which I believe helped to portray a more accurate image of the Middle Eastern way of life.

I believe that the women were better equipped to empathize with the native people and had a tighter grasp on the culture. The men, unfortunately, witnessed more violence and were not able to fully understand key factors of Middle Eastern society, which in turn made them more apt to hold orientalist views. Both the male and female travel writers greatly contributed to our learning and understanding of the Middle Eastern culture, whether it was through their accurate portrayals or misconceptions.