ABSTRACT
Characteristic of Arab society in the Middle East is the different status of men and women. Unlike many other societies, and particularly modern Western society, women are in a greatly inferior position both materially and spiritually, and discrimination is apparent in all spheres of life. The birth of a son is cause for celebration; not so that of a daughter. A mother of daughters only is condemned to a divorce that is sanctioned by society. Even in childhood, boys have a preferential status. Complete propriety is expected of a married woman, but not of her husband. It is the accepted opinion that the woman’s function is to serve her husband. This attitude is largely social in origin, and its main causes in the villages are the strong influence of nomadic tribal society and concepts. The situation in cities, which deteriorated from the tenth to the nineteenth century, was due in part to the fact that female slaves were a fundamental element of society during this period. Female slaves in the harems were naturally irksome to the free urban woman.
