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Title: Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi, Ruth V. Ward ISBN: 0-201-62649-7 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: June, 1994 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.19 (32 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Fantasy and the Hope
Comment: It is rare and hard to find a book like this. So emic, so true, so feminine. Through the simple stories of her life as a child, Mernissi shows us the falseness of Western stereotypes and the tragedy of Islamic sexism. She shows us what a true harem is- the pure companionship of women, and not the sexual lasciviousness which the Western imagination dreamed up in it's ideal of the exotic- in the process revealing far more the degradation of Western society than they anything true of Arabic culture. But she writes with great honesty about her own people as well, and the control that a woman is constantly placed under, perceived as the "devouring vagina" (as she writes in another work, Beyond the Veil), needing to be controlled and put into it's place for the protection of men. One sees here, not through telling, but through story, how Moroccan women have so little freedom to be who they desire in a world where all that is public is also male. But we also see the beauty of women together in that same society, and through that, can dream.
Rating: 4
Summary: Very sad
Comment: This is a great book that describes a world that is foreign both to nonMuslims and the vast majority of Muslims. The book describes a world where females are shut out from the world, locked in a house, unable to live a normal life. Many of the women are starved for affection as a result of having to share their husband with other women. The story of women deprived of the things that should be normal, everyday life (monogamous marriages, jobs, schooling, shopping, charity work, interacting with men), who retreat to fantasy worlds is truly depressing reading. One reviewer described this as "Islamic culture", which it most definitely is not. The seclusion of women is a preIslamic cultural practice that has no basis is Islamic teachings. Unfortunately Mernissi leaves the impression that this is common behavior in the Muslim world. 99% of Muslim men are monogamous and many Muslim women live lives not much different from those of western women. In the most populous Muslim nations such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, India etc. this kind of lifestyle is nonexistent. Men and women are not separated in daily life and mongamy is the norm. Men who practice polygamy for any other reason other than for the purpose of caring for orphans are violating Islamic principles, not following them. I'm also troubled to see some Muslims condemning this book. Wake up, take your heads out of the sand and realise that there are many Muslims twisting Islamic teachings to oppress women. Does it matter that Islam gave women lots of rights if some Muslim men forbid the exercising of those rights?
Rating: 5
Summary: A Beautiful Story of Family, Love, and Strength
Comment: I began this book with many typical Western preconceived notions. I expected the exoticized harem of one sheik with many wives that we hear about in the movies and in literature. However, this discussion of a real harem without all the exotic trappings shows Mernissi's family life and her experiences growing up while finding her place in the world. It is a story of family, but also Mernissi's own feminist story of breaking through the patriarchal walls and gaining a higher education and social standing despite tradition. Telling the story from the perspective of a female child coming of age shows the reader how far Mernissi came from her childhood locked within the walls of the harem. Mernissi's mothers, aunts, and cousins, while not able to escape the harem themselves, plant the seeds within Mernissi that allow her to find her own path in the world outside the harem.
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Title: Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in a Modern Muslim Society by Fatima Mernissi ISBN: 0253204232 Publisher: Indiana University Press Pub. Date: April, 1987 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Scheherazade Goes West by Fatema Mernissi ISBN: 0743412435 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam by Fatima Mernissi, Mary Jo Lakeland ISBN: 0201632217 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: November, 1992 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World by Fatima Mernissi, Mary Jo Lakeland, Fatema Mernissi ISBN: 0738207454 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 16 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Street in Marrakech by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea ISBN: 0881334049 Publisher: Waveland Press Pub. Date: November, 1988 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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