In the novel "The Woman at Point Zero" the topic of FGM, also known as female genital mutilation, was raised several times. This was strange to me as I myself had never heard or known about this practice as I thought circumcision was only performed on males, so seeing Firdaus' perspective on it made me curious as to what it was, where it is performed and how is performed. it affects people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In our discussion, when we started talking about the use of FGM and how it affects people, it really touched me because I never knew how influential and dramatic this experience was for women: for example, in the novel when I heard that Firdaus got circumcised I didn't think it was a big deal as I had no knowledge about it, so I just thought it was like any other medical experience or surgery and that the pain would eventually go away. However, as I continued to discuss it, it became clear to me that FGM is not a minor thing and that it is actually quite serious, leaving women who have undergone the procedure in constant pain; experience pain or difficulty during sex; repeated infections that could lead to infertility, bleeding, cysts and abscesses; as well as problems during labor and delivery that could put the life of not only the mother but also the baby at risk. Another topic we discussed was prison conditions. This topic intrigued me because, although I knew prisons in general were bad, I didn't think prisons would be this bad. For example, I learned that prisons were rarely, if ever, inspected; prisoners were subjected to torture; the prisons were old and outdated; and were overcrowded in several cases where women were forced to share cells with male inmates. This was very disheartening for me because, even though I believe that prison should not be a perfect place, this does not mean that prisoners should live in such terrible conditions. Overall, I think our discussion helped increase my understanding of the issue. text. This is because with my newfound knowledge on these topics I was able to understand more not only what the characters themselves were talking about, but I was also able to empathize with Firdaus as I better understood the full extent of the pain that he tried. he resisted. Woman at Point Zero is a fictional story written by Nawal El Saadawi. The story follows the conflicted and oppressed life of the main protagonist, Firdaus, following Sadaawi's experience in prison after being arrested for protesting the mistreatment of women. Firdaus encounters many obstacles throughout her life, including sexual violence, FGM (female genital mutilation), domestic violence from her husband, homelessness, becoming a prostitute, murder, and ultimately receiving the death penalty. Religion proves to be a huge obstacle (perhaps even the biggest) for Firdaus and almost all the women in the novel. Some of the obstacles caused by religion include: oppression (education, pleasure); marriage; and male empowerment (since males can obtain higher education such as university, and also occupy all the leading or most powerful roles in society). Each of these obstacles is discussed in detail below. First, in the novel we see that a woman's only role within her marriage is to remain obedient to her husband. Women are not considered important or valued.Firdaus experiences this very early in life when he says: "In the summer, I would see her sitting at his feet with a tin cup in her hand while she washed his legs with cold water. When I got a little older, my father put the cup in my hand and taught me to wash his legs with water. Now I had replaced my mother and did the things she did." This truly defines the role and meaning a woman had in these times. The phrase "by now I had replaced my mother" helps further emphasize the cycle that would occur with these women during these times (living to serve and when they die they are replaced). This makes the reader feel sympathy for these women as they are not truly loved in the home and their only role is to serve the man of the house. Furthermore, women were convinced and said that “a virtuous woman should not complain about her husband. Her duty was perfect obedience". The use of the wording "duty" suggests that women were obliged to serve and complete any request delegated by their husbands, and if they did not do so then they would be considered improper. Even the adjective "virtuous ” acts as an incentive for these women as if they do not live up to this high standard, they will not marry and live a poor life. Secondly, along with obedience, a predominant topic raised several times in the novel is the beatings they believe of being able to beat their wives whenever they want due to a misinterpretation of the Quran can be seen when Firdaus says "sometimes he hit me all over with his shoe quite frequently". it also helps to highlight how brutal these beatings were as it shows that these beatings were not just small incidents, however, it suggests that they were quite gruesome and horrible, when Firdaus states "I was married to a man who beat and kicked me every day ", also helps demonstrate how cruel these men could be, while at the same time showing us their lack of control and restraint. The word "kicked" also suggests that these beatings were serious since a kick is much more aggressive, powerful and humiliating than a punch and therefore causes more serious injuries. Finally, when Firdaus states that her uncle was "well-versed in the teachings of the religion... he could not possibly have been in the habit of beating his wife. She replies that it was precisely the men well-versed in their religion who beat their wives." This suggests that men who beat their wives are doing right and following the rules of their religion, even though it is bringing so much pain to women. This makes the reader feel sympathy for these women, even though these beatings bring them so much pain they are also convinced that this is just a part of life and that they have to endure the beatings as the Quran taught them. Thirdly, as a child Firdaus also experiences and feels the effects of oppression due to Islamic beliefs the denial of pleasure, expression and finally limited education are a classic example which is seen when Firdaus states that his mother " brought a woman who carried a small knife or maybe a razor blade. They cut a piece of meat from my thighs." Or when he talks to Sharifa and asks "but I want to hear, Sharifa... There is no pleasure to be had. ... Sharifa bursts out laughing."The use of the statements "a woman" and "a small knife or a razor blade" indicate that the person carrying out the operation is not a known person (doctor, or qualified person); furthermore "knife or razor blade" indicates that this person was probably not equipped with the appropriate tools and equipment needed to engage in this action (and the knife or razor blade.