Sunday, November 11, 2007

Dreams Of Trespass

For my next reading assignment, I decided to read Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi.

This is a very interesting autobiographical story about a girl growing up in a harem in Fez, Morocco in the 1940'a. For those of you who don't know, a harem is "living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household." It isn't the typical ideal of men and concubines, but more of a place for the women of the family to live so that they are not violated or misled by men outside of the household. The harem dictates how the women live, and seems more like a prison that a place to live. The women are not allowed to leave unless it is the early morning hours. Fatima is constantly told not to question authority, and lives a very sheltered and secluded life. Unwilling to live her life in such a sheltered environment, Mernissi seeks solace in discovering what is truly on the other side of the walls of her home that keep her prisoner. She is urged by her mother, though, to escape the harem life she is living, and the novel introduces a lot of feminine ideals and movements for the Islamic religion. It was enlightening to learn that this particular religion was not as opressive to women as the media has made it out to be.

I really enjoyed this novel, and I would recommend it to anyone, especially someone who is into feminine movements. Not only was it easy to read, but it promoted a lot of the ideal that I hold personally for my self and for women everywhere, which is to not allow themselves to be overpowered by others who think lower of them simply because they are women.

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