Emad Hajjaj recently did a caricature that reminded of an older one he did. Together they serve up an interesting social observation if not a bold underlying message.
The below scene is quite typical after the Tawjihi results come out in Amman…
Feburary 11th 2007
The idea is basically that if the girl FAILS tawjihi then her best hope in life is to be married off.
August 10th 2004
If the girl PASSES tawjihi then she should be married off as soon as possible.
Is tawjihi the new social standard for marriage? The equivalent to being 19 to vote or 18 to drive?
For a while there university used to buy the average female 4 more years before having to deal with marriage. I’m not sure if that’s a guarantee anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against the idea of ‘early’ marriage (whatever the law and/or society deem as early). But only for the right reasons, not because of set standards.
And certainly not because of social salvation.
Related:
Fellow Jordanian blogger Lubna has an interesting perspective on the topic.
“Social Salvation”…now that is a topic to delve into. Not just for the girl, but the mom and the dad, mish?
kinzi, yes i suppose there’s a parental aspect to it as well.
Naseem… one more post reply to a post of yours (this one).. mind visiting?
Lubna: I’ll do you one better and link up your posts. It was an interesting read actually. You are right and the strange thing is the group of women you’re discussing is much larger than people think. i think the upper middle class and the upper class are probably the only ones who have a limited population of women who are like that, possibly because they can afford it and possibly because of western influences in all its shapes and forms.
Late again, but this is so sad.
I mention the parents, the mom especially, because with my chronological peers the pressure is on them to get the daughter to keep the cycle going. Her honor is distinctly tied to her daughter’s honor, and she lives in fear that her daughter might blow it at the last minute and blow the mom’s (and whole family’s) honor. The mother’s reputation as a ‘good mom’ isn’t sealed until the daughter is married and in the cycle again – if the daughter blows it, her life investment in that girl is for nothing and she will live under that shame of that failure.
i don’t think that all parents like this, cuz i have lovely one, i’m tawjihi for this year so i wish to have high markes, cuz my parents know i’ll do it, so plz wish me luck
i want to say Congratulation for who get pass .. and good luck for who didn’t..
That’s not necessarily true. Marriage shouldn’t be the only hope in a girl’s future whether she fails or passes tawgihi. Arab females should be more outgoing. Life doesn’t only revolve around marriage. Marriage should be the last thing on anyone’s mind. First have all of your dreams come true. In other words study and major in the major of your dream than experience the work life. , by passing though all of this you’ll be ready for marriage and any circumstances in life. If you just throw yourself into marriage right after tawjihi your personality will be limited and any problems you’ll face with you husband would most likely be very difficult for you to handle due to the fact of your lack of education. Please I am not trying to bring anyone’s potentials down. I mean my grandma didn’t finish school but she’s a great wife and a wonderful grandma, she had the capabilities and potentials to cope with life without the help of school. Some females have are gifted with capabilities and potentials to cope with life like my grandma while others need the time to build their personality through the help of collage. If you have the chance to enter college and to major in anything, you should. But if you don’t have the chance to earn your education and you’re already married or engaged, you can still cope with it by learning through reading, education isn’t only in college and university. You can obtain your on knowledge and education on your on by reading and having the intention of learning.