An Interactive Fiction on the Differences in Feminism between West & Arab
Ansh Patel
Class:
Instructor:
“It’s engaging, educational and an important effort” – IndieStatik
“Touches on such topics as religion, education, appearance, and family and allows both sides to present their views without asserting which is superior” — IndieGames (Browser Pick)
Included in The New School’s syllabus for “Dialogues on Feminism and Technology”
Narrated in the form of a conversation between two feminists — one from the West and the other of Islamic faith, conversing about the various differences in their perspectives and opinions in a constructive and positive manner.
You, the reader is the third character in the story. A faceless, genderless entity who follows the two female protagonists while channeling the flow of their conversation onto a variety of topics which highlight the beauty of diversity which different cultures can bring to a movement with a common purpose.
On the way you will meet different characters each of whom represent some ideology or aspect of our modern society and make decisions which may or may not alter the discussion you may participate in.
A summary of topics that “Woman” briefly covers:
- the general misconception surrounding Islamic traditions including hijab and burqa
- importance of religion in Islamic feminism
- a brief argument with a character brought up with a patriarchal mindset
- transfeminism and the “fluidity” of gender
- fundamental difference between Western and Islamic feminism — family and “roles”
- “Individualism” and “altruism” — a look at the key philosophies behind the Western and Islamic culture
- motherhood and abortion
- post-9/11 paranoia fueling hasty judgments and prejudice
- difference in how women’s perception of “equality” varies from culture to culture
- “equality” having different meanings for women in different cultures
Purpose
In a world filled with diversity which is rapidly intermingling with one another, it is becoming ever more important to understand a foreign culture’s point of view even if we do not agree with it. Ignorance breeds prejudice, so the main purpose of “Woman” is to briefly describe the general viewpoint of progressive-women in both the cultures.
Woman, a tale on the issues which concern women today, was built with the sole purpose of highlighting such contrasting views of these traditionally conflicting cultures and how women in each culture have a different notion of “equality” . It hopes to dispel the misconception that Islamic culture is regressive when it comes to women empowerment by citing variety of concepts and popular examples associated with Islamic feminism to prove otherwise.
It was written in hope to dispel any prejudice we have for each others’ culture due to our own ignorance in not understanding their viewpoint. Woman presents those very viewpoints in a simplistic manner and through their conversations, the characters analyze various philosophical differences which have led to such a massive difference of opinions between them.
Note: This is NOT a comparison of either movement or culture by weighing their pros and cons. The characters are written in a self-conscious manner but at no point any culture is regarded to be inferior than the other in any aspect.