Woman Between Existence and Exploitation

Yesterday, I was sitting in a beauty salon. A beautiful and well-groomed young woman stood over me, dyeing my hair. Every now and then, she would receive a phone call or make one herself. Sometimes, it was her sick mother calling from home; at other times, she was speaking with sweet shops and kada-making factories, asking them to set aside some Eid sweets for her until the following day, when she would receive her wages. With the little income she earned and barely managed to organize her affairs with, she hoped to take some of those items home. Through my conversation with her, I learned that she was the only person working in the household, supporting both the home and her sick mother. What made her burden even heavier was that her uncles and relatives disapproved of her working because they feared for their social standing and reputation.

The story I am telling is not the story of a single girl in our time, especially in conservative societies like ours. Rather, it is the story of hundreds of women and girls who, like her, live under various circumstances and conditions.

Here, I do not intend to say that all working women are virtuous or that none are immoral. This subject is, in itself, complex enough for a society whose eyes have only recently begun to open to the world, yet remains caught between inherited reactionary beliefs and modern ideas received in ready-made packages. What I want to discuss instead is this: How can women today realize their dignity and existence while balancing the preservation of social values, where they are expected to carry the honor and reputation of the collective in a conservative society, on one hand, **and the modern discourse of women's freedom and the right to work on the other, all under the shadow of a capitalist system that has colonized human beings in all dimensions and transformed them into commodities and products?**

"Here, women find themselves caught between two fronts with distinct appearances, yet sharing the same core principle: both view women as projects for their own survival and development."

In conservative societies, a woman's participation in work outside the home is often discouraged because it is perceived as a threat to the family and social institution. In contrast, contemporary consumer societies demonstrate a strong demand for women's participation in the workforce and public life, because their appearance and friendliness in the workplace possess their own marketing value.

Therefore, this dilemma is not exclusive to women alone. It appears that, in general, human beings within these systems are utilized according to what serves the survival and development of those systems, whether they are men or women. Women, however, experience this more intensely because, throughout the history of different social cultures, their value has often been measured by how effectively they perform the roles assigned to them, rather than by the significance of their existence, capabilities, thoughts, and visions as human beings.

In conclusion, it is evident that one of the hardships faced by women in our societies today is that they become victims of two different discourses: one that fears and rejects their existence, and another that welcomes their existence, but only on the condition that it can be invested in and utilized.

From here, the question itself changes: wherever a woman may be, whether inside the home or outside it, is she truly regarded as a human being possessing rights and responsibilities, or merely as a hired character? And beyond these systems, what is a woman, after all?