Women on the margins

"The history of women in the Middle East has begun to receive some attention from scholars due to the availability of rich archival documents for the former lands of the Ottoman empire. The systematic analysis of these sources by a growing number of scholars has revised our understanding of the social, economic, and legal status of women and men in the early modern Middle East (with the exception of Iran). These works have helped us go beyond the often stereotypical and negative views of women in western narratives and reach a better understanding of the evolution of their roles across Middle Eastern societies."