 "Suffocated and Safe" | 2008-06-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1S78P8RQS4NX5 |
Ms. Mernissi states that "The frontier is in the mind of the powerful", and that "...looking for the frontier has become my life's occupation. Anxiety eats at me whenever I cannot situate the geometric line organizing my powerlessness." This book is a very moving first-hand account of the secluded life of a young girl, born into a prosperous family in Fez in the 1940s. She is confined in a harem, which in this case consists of the women and children of an extended family, imprisoned behind walls and a guarded gate for their own protection in an occupied city. "When Allah created the earth, said Father, he separated men from women, and put a sea between Muslims and Christians for a reason. Harmony exists when each group respects the prescribed limits of the other. Trespassing leads only to sorrow and unhappiness. But women dreamed of trespassing all the time. The world beyond the gate was their obsession."
Throughout the book she illustrates the ongoing attempts of her mother and grandmother to discover the outside world, establish their individual identity, and exercise some tiny bit of control over their own lives. Her mother listens to radio Cairo when the men are out of the house, and despite her mother-in-law's disapproval, embroiders birds on her clothes instead of traditional patterns. Although her mother is barred from attending literacy classes by a vote of the leading men of the family, Fatima and her cousins are allowed to attend public school when the country's religious leaders vote to support women's education and schools are opened to female students. Suddenly the outside world is open to her, but she still feels powerless. Her Aunt Habiba provides liberating advice: "It is not enough to reject this courtyard - you need to have a vision of the meadows with which you want to replace it." Fatima must now discover her unique, personal dream, the vision that would give her direction and light. This is a radical change: she is not just a daughter and future wife and mother, she is also an individual with unique and valuable gifts to share with the world.
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| "An Insider's View of Harem Life" | 2008-06-12 |
| - Reviewed By psoup4 |
| I read this after returning from Morocco. The insight into what life used to be like for most women enriched my understanding of the culture which I found fascinating. I'd spoken with several women while in the country who are "liberated" but heard none of the story of the lives of women who adhere to the old traditions. I saw many others who still live behind closed walls. This is the story of the latter group's growing up years that I couldn't have gotten otherwise. |
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| "Silent dreams of flight" | 2007-04-04 |
| - Reviewed By pestowakeupqueen |
"Dreams of Trespass" is Fatima Mernissi's memoir of her childhood growing up in a domestic harem in Fez, Morocco. She lived with her father and uncles and their many wives and children. This book focuses mainly on the role of the women in the family and Mernissi writes vividly of their daily lives and their dreams of "trespassing" through the gates of the family complex into the outside world. Despite their powerless position in the larger world of men, the women claim their own power within the family through storytelling and instilling in their own daughters a sense of independence and a thirst for travel and adventure.
In the West, when we think of the word "harem," images of exotic palaces where men keep hundreds of wives and concubines come to mind. Rarely do we picture Mernissi's "domestic harems" where generations in an extended family live out their rather ordinary daily lives. "Dreams of Trespass" is a refreshing correction to that Western image of women kept as slaves to be used solely for the pleasure of men. This is not to say that Mernissi paints an idyllic picture of harem life. She is quite clear about the womens' position and the hardships in their lives. But Mernissi shows that the women in her family never allowed that to make them slaves. Physically, they may have been property, but through their "Dreams of Trespass," they found other ways to free themselves. |
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 "A Bore!" | 2007-02-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A12QZ4DZKTHHUW |
| I couldn't help but fall asleep whilst reading this book. I only was able to go through about a little over a half, mostly because I was required to read it. Generally, the book is about a middle eastern girl living in a Harem and surrounded by the conflicting Western Power, the French Army. Lots of battles with tradition and western cultures, and primarily about the rift between men and women. So you're in for a subtle yet quite obvious gender conflict, which was in my opinion awfully sexist (I know it's from the view of a woman but that doesn't take away from the fact that she explicitly tries to write as if she were a child again with "innocence" yet fails because of her mature agenda). The author, Mernissi, spends about 10-15 pages per chapter driveling on about the most useless facts or coincidences. Just when you think she's reaching her point and finally bear fruit, it's the start of a new chapter and another take on a topic or segment of her life that is completely irrelevant. |
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| "Middle Eastern Dance Class" | 2006-11-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1B43MYQKBFFQ9 |
| The book was great and interesting. Amazon sent it very quick. |
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| "Innocent Courage" | 2006-10-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: ACYHHGGXK1DKV |
I found this book to be entertaining, educational, inspirational and thought provoking all at once. I personally and Americans in general are largely confused and misinformed about the concept of the harem and how the women in them lived; and it is no wonder or surprise that we are! It seems that even within the high walls and locked gates of the harem the residents cannot agree on the subject! What is a harem? Is it a den of iniquity? A commune? A brothel? A prison? An extended family? A refuge?
Told from the perspective of a 6-9 year old girl growing up in a domestic harem in Morocco in the late 1940s, this book has a freshness and naiveté that only a child can muster as she ponders her place in her home, society, and the world at large.
Her observations of the world around her are uncensored, and guide the reader to a greater understanding not only of other cultures and other women, but of our relationships and ourselves. Only a child has the innocent courage to stand up and say, "The Emperor has no clothes!"
As I learned about another world, I began also to draw parallels to may own life and current times. Changing laws does not grant freedom to individuals. Here in America we have all the freedoms that these women were deprived of and fought for, and yet in many cases we remain trapped- prisoners of our fears, our habits, our insecurities, and our weaknesses.
In this book I found lots of hope and inspiration, reminding me of many ways to experience freedom inwardly- without the necessity of changing outward circumstances.
© 2006 Shahina |
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| "Glimpse into a hidden world" | 2006-02-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2NB091SXITGHU |
This collection of stories is more than simply a memoir of a childhood lived within a secluded harem. It is also a story of a process of change that took place decades ago as the country of Morocco was becoming an independent nation state.
I was fascinated by the stories of the women who spent their lives hidden from the outside world within the family enclaves of the middle class in Morocco. I've purchased it for friends and colleagues who were interested in women's stories, both from a feminist perspective and from a humane one.
The stories are told with sensitivity and compassion, as well as a deep respect for, and understanding of Islam. |
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| "Wonderful again and again!" | 2006-01-26 |
| - Reviewed By wildeguy2000 |
To me it is alarming how prevalent the myth of the "harem" is among Americans. I just watched an interview a few weeks ago and the gentleman interviewer smiled from ear to ear when his guest (a female professor) mentioned the word. I guess I was lucky to have visited a harem in Berrechid, Morocco over a decade ago and got the true story of its cultural evolution over time. Well there were pashas at one time and they did have several wives, but today it is the tales about them that feed our curiosity. Although these stories are not as Romantic as we may like, they still feed the imagination in a remarkable way. This book is simply wonderful in its direct and simple approach to a cultural phenomena that is still evolving, and Mernissi is helping that evolution to occur. It is above all her way of telling old stories that can tame the Shahriyar's in all of us. How could you not fall in love with Chama? Mernissi writes with deep feeling and compassionate understanding for the Morocco that all Westerner's should know but so rarely get a chance to experience. In her writing she takes you behind the hijab and the 40's harem wall to meet with people who have so much to teach us about limits, boundaries, and breaking out. But breaking out means knowing the rules (qa'ida, read 62-3). I think that the lesson is in learning 'how to know.' Not just knowing the rules as they are but in knowing 'how' they exist.
Mernissi explains all uncommon and new words to readers by way of interesting footnotes that are valuable even for people who are familiar with Moroccan societies. That helps the reader again to know 'how' the rules of the harem exist.
More than anything I am attracted to her descriptions of the beautiful people that live in her memories. Though some may see this book as just anthropology, socoiology, or even feminism, I think it is actually a book about the human capacity for compassion and love. In fact when I go back through the book I see it everywhere in Asmahan's "Ahwa!" (I am in love) and even in such names as Aunt Habiba (root habib=friend, companion). Even when she writes about Christians or Jews it is always with a comical kind of curiosity never malicious or spiteful, just enough to make you smile. She brings the outside in. This is a dream book, one you can enjoy in your own interior harem, or if you prefer Castillo Interior (Santa Teresa's "interior castle"). |
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| "Falshoods of American Stereotypes" | 2005-02-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A8MCD011WX0X4 |
| We all have preconcieved notions of the Middle East and the idea of harems. This book, written by someone who should know, will dissipate any stereotypes the reader may have about harem life. By wrestling with the definition of a harem throughout her childhood and her narrative Mernissi is able to reveal to western readers who are unexperienced and often unknowledgeable about harem life the truths and untruths envolved with being raised in a non-western society. A real eye opening read for anyone seeking knowledge about a society all too foriegn to us. |
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| "Great Book" | 2005-01-16 |
| - Reviewed By obladidi |
I am not a feminist, but I have to say that this is the book every girl should read to feel true intellectual empowerement.
Not only does it give an extraordinary look into women's life in a Moroccan Harem, but it also portrays Islam, or the different ways of being Muslim, as a more insightful religion than usually advertized in Western culture.
I know this book has been enjoyed by men because I had to read it for an ethnography class and everyone loved it, but this is an excellent book for girls. Especially if they don't believe they have the means to get very far. It can make women feel guilty for not living up to their potential, especially in the western world were more opportunities for education and advancement are available.
This book is just beautifully written.
It also has some amazing beauty tips : ) |
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