While it is possible to read this book prior to reading Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood, I would recommend reading Dreams first.This book looks at the idea of the harem from the Western male view, something which confuses Mernissi because her view of the harem is radically different (a...
I read this after reading Scheherazade Goes West - which expands on the differences shown here.This is actually a wonderful book about Mernissi's childhood in a harem and a comparison of that harem with that of her grandmother. Instead of telling, Mernissi shows you the different lives of the women ...
Mernissi’s book is a history of Islam and the introduction of the veil. She draws upon Islamic scholar, to prove her thesis that the veil is social construct more than a religious must. Her chapter about the hiqab is game changing. In part, her thesis is that the Prophet was too pr...
This book intrigued me for a long time -- who isn't intrigued by the idea of a harem? As such, I'm glad that the book exists. Through it, Westerners can dispel the salacious or exotic associations that the word "harem" brings up -- opulent rooms full of beautiful women who are all sexually bound to ...
Frustrated by charges that feminism was a Western ideal, and that Moroccan women had nothing to complain about, Mernissi conducted a series of interviews with women from across the country, of different generations and classes, to prove the critics wrong. I'm so glad she compiled the interviews--th...
Libro molto interessante,anche se per "colpa" sua non vedrò più nello stesso modo l'harem. L'autrice ci spiega (e spiega a sé stessa) le differenze fra l'harem visto dagli orientali e quello visto dagli occidentali. Smonta completamente la nostra visione di luogo dove il califfo/sultano teneva rinch...
L'autrice mi è stata consigliata da un'amica su Facebook e devo dire che il consiglio è stato azzeccatissimo! Il libro racconta la crescita di una bambina in un harem che cerca d capire il mondo che la circonda ed il perchè le donne siano chiuse in un harem e siano considerate diversamente dagli uom...
A great book that gave me a new way to look at feminism.
I'd read Dreams of Trespass and I loved it. Then I saw this book on the sale table at a local bookstore. I'd seen it online but when it was there in front of me, on a SALE TABLE!!! you guys, I just couldn't resist.I really enjoyed this book. Although some parts of it are a bit redundant, I love F...
I liked this very much. It was light without being shallow. Its primarily the memories of a girl growing up to about the age of ten in the 40's in a Moroccan family compound where purdah was kept. Sometimes it shades over into the fantastic, but that's part of the story she is telling, that women...
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