Guests of the Sheik and Dreams of Trespass

Just as this photo displays a veiled woman wearing seemingly defiant eye makeup, these chapters demonstrate the supposed contradictory role of a Muslim woman in Iraq. Above all, these chapters ask the reader if gender segregation and happiness can exist simultaneously for a Muslim woman. 

My initial reaction to these chapters is one of delight for the wonderful stories they tell. Fernea writes a beautiful description of an American woman's journey into an exotic land. In all, I interpret these stories to be a voyage of growth and defiance. As Elizabeth learns of numerous Muslim and Iraqi traditions, she struggles constantly with her own preexisting standards of gender, religion, and family. As a reader, I was a witness to her attempts to mediate and understand these dissimilarities. In addition, I see these chapters as demonstrations of parallels between Iraq and the West; Elizabeth notices that the Muslim women indeed share more with her than she had once thought. Whether or not it was intended by the author to highlight these resemblances, I picked up on them during my many readings of the chapters. For example, the Iraqi holiday food (pictured above) is described in a similar manner as that of a Western holiday such as Christmas or Thanksgiving- the women work to prepare the meal for the men and children. Similarities are revealed throughout the chapter as Elizabeth is befriended by the Iraqi village women and comes to terms with the differences between and among them. In addition, she learns that she cannot ever completely understand each Muslim or Iraqi tradition. The Dabke Arabic dance, for example, is an unfamiliar custom that Elizabeth is able to appreciate without completely understanding. I believe that through this journey, Elizabeth realizes that she does not need to fix nor comprehend absolutely the people that she meets or the traditions that she encounters, but rather she needs to be kind and appreciate the foreign culture to which she is exposed.

Dreams of Trespass gives a feminist insight that serves to overturn Orientalist and Western ideology and misconceptions regarding Islam, harem life, and Muslim women. The language and the tone of the book were extremely thought-provoking, and almost inspirational in a sense. Here are some of my favorite quotes, followed by the question that they inspired, and how I personally answered and/or related to the question:

* “As a child in a harem, I instinctively knew that to live is to open closed doors. To live is to look outside. To live is to step out. Life is trespassing”.
- Does this only apply to women? How is this shaped by other social identities – socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, religion, etc?
-Patriarchy is ingrained and practiced throughout most cultures. As a result, women exist as subordinates who are often oppressed and secluded from mainstream society. This oppression is further shaped by whether or not a woman fits the ideal social identity- White, high socioeconomic status, Christian, etc. As an African-American female, I must be conscious of the the "double jeopardy" concept of racism and sexism, social statuses which intersect to oppress racial minorities and women. The fact that I must be conscious of this particular ideological power structure suggests that I am aware of certain invisible boundaries that exist as a result of my social identity. Thus, life for me is tresspassing. Do you consider your life tresspassing? How is your answer shaped by your social identity?

* “Chew [your] words before letting them out…Because once your words are out, you might lose a lot”
-Do men have to "chew their words" as consciously and as much as women, or are they rendered greater freedom of speech?
-In my opinion, men definitely do not have to chew their words the way in which women do. Men's gender as a social identity gives them power- the power of choice. Thus, men have a greater right to CHOOSE what they would like to say, whereas women must be conscious of their environment and their audience at all times. Once again, this exemplifies the idea that women are confined by invisible boundaries and rules which serve to regulate her decision-making in a male-dominated world. Do you feel that you make a conscious effort to "chew" your words before you speak?

*“Any space you entered had its own set of invisible rules…Wherever, there are human beings, there is qa’ida, or invisible rule…Unfortunately, most of the time the qa’ida is against women”
-Agree or disagree?
- I agree that every space has a set of invisble rules that serve to confine women especially. In another gender studies class that I am taking, "Gender, Sexuality, and the Body", Professor Laura Carpenter spoke about the idea of "docile" and "disciplined" bodies. Based on Michel Foucault's notion of how gender is organized and regulated by spaces, "docile" and "disciplined" are a result of societal infrastructures seeking to control people’s external bodies. Unfortunately, these bodies are usually females. Females enter a particular space and must immediately become conscious of what gestures, speech, clothing, facial expressions, etc. are appropriate for that given environment. Would you consider your body "docile" and "disciplined"?