Blog # 4

In Darraj's "It's Not an Oxymoron, " she is talking about the contradiction that many think of when they think of arab feminism. This thought was proven wrong by Darraj when she realized that it is not an oxymoron like the title says. Darraj realized her own idea of feminism after reading other types of culture's feminsim like Bell Hooks, who is a black woman. I did not realize until after reading Darraj's writing that there are all these different interpretations of feminism. I just thought feminism was exactly as what the dictionary said the word was defined as. I actually learned a lot from reading Darraj's work and started think about how feminism applied to me. I'm not sure if it's something you just know what it means to you, just like how Darraj had to search for her own meaning of feminism. I think it's important to understand other cultures understanding of the idea of feminism in order to grasp your own concept of it. I believe that Darraj has been very influential to other arab women as well as women of all cultures. Your religion should not stop you from being independent. I think more women need to realize that we should be breaking away from this patriarchial society, women can be just as powerful as men.