Emirati Women

Generations of Change

Jane Bristol-Rhys

Women of the UAE speak out about their newfound status
Research based on years of on-the-ground interviews with three generations of Emirati women
Topics covered include marriage, freedom, independence, and the future

Emirati Women

Generations of Change

Jane Bristol-Rhys

Description

The discovery of oil in the late 1960s catapulted the people of Abu Dhabi out of the isolating poverty into which it had plunged in the 1930s and onto the global stage. Massive construction projects built the city and infrastructural developments altered the physical and cultural landscape; in a few breathtaking decades, the lives of Emiratis were transformed by new opportunities and a social welfare system that offered free education, medical treatment, generous pensions, subsidies to families, and government incentives offered to citizens to participate in all sectors of the economy. Oil wealth also brought new expectations and new life-styles that are often sophisticated and lavish yet just as often criticized for being conspicuous displays of unbridled consumerism.

Emirati Women offers a rare view into the lives of Emirati women and how they perceive the changes that have made poverty a dim and almost forgotten memory. In Emirati Women, Bristol-Rhys weaves together eight years of conversations and interviews with three generations of women, her observations of Emirati society in Abu Dhabi, the unflattering stereotypes commonly heard in the extensive expatriate communities, and discussions with her Emirati university students on topics ranging from marriage, independence, freedom, and the future.

Emirati Women

Generations of Change

Jane Bristol-Rhys

Acknowledgments ix
Preface to the 2nd Edition xi
1. Generations of Change 1
2. Representations of Emiratis 25
3. Days of the Past 43
4. Our New Lives Behind Walls 57
5. Marriage, Education and Choices 83
6. Being Emirati Isn't Easy! 105
7. Traditions and the Future 125
References 135
Notes 139
Index 143

Emirati Women

Generations of Change

Jane Bristol-Rhys

Author Information

Jane Bristol-Rhys is a an Arabic-speaking cultural anthropologist who has lived in the Middle East for twenty years and has taught at Zayed University Abu Dhabi since 2001, having formerly taught in Egypt for many years. She is the author of many articles on the UAE.

Emirati Women

Generations of Change

Jane Bristol-Rhys

Reviews and Awards

"This book should be read by everyone interested in Arab women."' — Middle East Journal

"Jane Bristol-Rhys's volume is less a historical account of gender struggle and more a collection of conversations with successive generations of Emirati women. In preparing this work, the author has used both her decades of regional experience and her eight-and-a-half-year stint as a lecturer at Abu Dhabi's Zayed University to admirable effect." — The National

"Jane Bristol-Rhys provides an interesting new look at the lives of UAE women. EL [Her] collection of different women's voices EL can shed new light on Emiratis' lived experiences of change over the past decades. EL By giving voice to women from different parts of society, Bristol-Rhys is able to paint a dense and colourful picture of social life in the contemporary UAE. EL Her collection of different Emirati women's voicesELoffers rare and engaging new glimpses into a society undergoing rapid change."' — Journal of Arabian Studies

"Emirati Women is a very welcome addition to our knowledge of the people of the Arab Gulf and fills a large void in an area where women's voices, are, in general, still marginalised. Little that is published on the area offers readers the local inhabitants' viewpoint which is why the oral narratives and interviews presented in this book illustrate so tellingly the lives of those who are otherwise marginalised and ignored, thereby revealing a fascinating world that is usually obscured in conventional accounts." — Dr Wanda Krause, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London