Does My Head Look Big in This?

                  Does My Head Look Big in This? Was definitely a high school drama!  Even though it was set in Australia and centered around a Muslim girl, the story seemed as though it would fit right in with any American teenager, Muslim or not.  I enjoyed the story, though it seemed repetitive.

                  The story itself seemed very typical of any novel about high school life, with cliquey girls, short-term popularity, and high school crushes.  Amal seemed like a normal girl- although she was a pretty bratty to her parents (for me, at least!).  It is hard for me to do a post on this book, because I did not get a whole lot out of the story.  There were a few things that I learned from it, though.  I learned more about what struggles a Muslim girl might go through if she decides to wear the hijab, how the hijab may or may not affect the girl for the rest of her life, and how girls use the hijab in their everyday lives (like how they match it with their outfits, etc). 

                  Another interesting aspect of the novel was when her friend ran away on account the pressure for her to marry.  It was neat to see the mother and daughter relationship improve after she came back.

On the whole, this book was definitely an easy read, just not quite as informative as I would have liked it to be.

Arranged

                  Arranged was a nice little film.  It was a little politically charged and quite an Americanized fairy-tale, but a sweet movie nonetheless.  I loved the story, but it seemed to me that it was a little too good to be true- just like “world peace commercials,” etc.  It would be wonderful if everyone could live together peacefully and happily- it is somewhat of the American dream, I think-but it is not going to happen.  That may be a pretty Realist perspective, but it’s true.  And I think the same thing is true about the Arab-Israeli/ Muslim-Jewish conflict; the conflict is so long-standing and deep-rooted that the bitterness and animosity will never be fully washed away.  Maybe they can be friends on an individual basis like the two girls were in the film, but on the whole, I don’t think the conflict will ever fully be resolved.

                  I really enjoyed the aspect of the film that portrayed the arranged marriage processes for both the Muslims and the Orthodox Jews.  It was interesting to see how the whole process worked for both religions, and to see what parts of it the girls liked and what parts they did not agree with.  It was wonderful to see both of them so happily married in the end, with such bright futures ahead of them.

                  Watching the film, I could definitely tell that it was an American film, and that this situation would probably only (or at least mostly) happen in the US, particularly in a place like New York.  Plus, New York is far from the Middle East, and thus rather far from the conflict.  One has to wonder if these girls would have been able to be friends if they lived in the Middle East, right in the heart of the conflict.

                  One last thing… the one little kid in the movie asked a question that was not answered.  The question was along the lines that yes, some of the Muslims hate the Jews, but not all of them.  But the little kid asked, “How many?”  This is an important question.  How would one find the answer?  Was it significant that they did not answer it in the film?

                  

Year of the Elephant

                  I confess that though I read and enjoyed the Year of the Elephant, I actually forgot most of what I read (probably from reading too many things at once!).  The story I most remember from the book is “A House in the Woods”; it is the first one I read and its symbolism intrigued me.  While reading it, I actually wondered if the girls were going to be kidnapped by the man in the woods, because it seemed as though the author was setting the story up to be a mystery.  When the ending was not what I expected, I was confused about the symbolism.

                  I wonder if the author was using the story as an analogy of international relations.  She describes the beautiful land in the beginning, and informs the readers that she sees three sisters who “appear” to be sisters.  The oldest takes control and tells the other two what to do, and they set off to build a house.  The two younger ones try hard to please their older sister with their work.  Then comes the old man who sees what’s going on and offers to help the two younger ones.  But then he falls asleep, and the girls start aggravating him.  He comes alive and again helps them.  There were also the hornet, the pebbles, and other things that the girls were collecting; maybe these symbolize things that the girls/states were chasing (such as peace, power, etc?).  Sometimes they were successful in grasping them, but other times, such as with the hornet, they were unsuccessful.  The funny thing is that if the youngest had caught the hornet, it probably would have stung her.

                  I do not know if my interpretations of the text are correct, but it seemed that the author may have been portraying different countries and how they relate to each other, specifically her own country (which is represented maybe by the youngest sibling?). 

Two Women

                  Two Women was an excellent film, and one of my favorite of the media that we have analyzed this semester.  Roya and Fereshtah were beautiful characters with whom I could easily sympathize.  The film also gave a peek into Iranian culture and the issues that have to be dealt with by women living there.

                  Fereshtah was a compelling character.  In the beginning of the film, she seemed almost too “perfect,” being beautiful, smart, and independent.  One could tell that although she studied diligently to get good grades, she also possessed an incredible intelligence.  Then, after being stalked by a male stranger, she was afraid to go to the police, because it would dishonor her family; and her life ended up being ruined.  Her father forbade her to go back to the university and pressured her to enter an arranged marriage.  Her being stalked caused terrible dishonor on her family, her father said; he blamed the actions of the stalker on Fereshtah, and even said at one time that he would kill her for the dishonor she had brought on him.  The man she married also deeply distrusted her, and practically kept her as a slave because of his jealousy for her and his fears that she would misuse her independence, though she never gave him any reason for him to distrust her.  She is only freed when both her husband and her stalker die.  Then she is free to live her own life and raise her two sons the way she feels is best.

                  I loved Roya’s character, though her story is not the main one.  Though she is much more timid in the beginning of the movie, and does not seem as intelligent as Fereshtah, she is the one who ends up with the “good” life.  She is free to finish her education, and she marries a more liberal-minded husband and becomes a career woman.  Her education and independence elevates her and gives her freedom.  But though she succeeds, she never forgets her beloved friend.

 

Women in the Middle East: First Day!

                  This past Tuesday was one of my favorite class periods so far.  Women in the Middle East and in women in Islam are two subjects that are of great interest to me.  It was wonderful to have two different women come to speak so that we could get different points of view.  I only wish Professor Hanan could have stayed longer.

                  Gulnar’s presentation “Women in Islam: Debunking the Myth” was well prepared and thought out.  I could tell that she has done a lot of studying about women in the Quran and knew many of the questions that people outside Islam would want to ask.  But I also had trouble believing that the Quran is this favorable towards women.  It is hard not to draw a relationship between Islam and the oppression of women.  Let me explain why I think this is true.  It is true that almost every society through all ages has oppressed women in some way or another, whether it has been by physically oppressing them or by not giving them equal human rights with men.  Even some so-called Christian societies have oppressed women.  But when I look at the world today, I cannot help but see that most countries that have a majority of citizens who believe in Islam also have a huge problem with oppression of women.  You may again argue that other religions- including Christianity- and other countries have this problem as well, and that it does not necessarily mean that Islam in its true form is oppressive towards women.  But it is just as logical to say that if Islam in its true form frees women, then the majority of people who believe in Islam and/or interpret the Quran interpret it wrong.  Is that likely?  Maybe it is possible, maybe not. 

                  I hope I have not offended anyone; these are just my own observations.  I will leave them up to you to decide whether they are drawing accurate conclusions.  And many thanks to Professor Hanan and Gulnar for coming and sharing their views on this subject.

The Turkey group...

                  We had some interesting discussions last Thursday about Memed, My Hawk and the Turkish short stories.  The Turkey group did a wonderful job this last couple of weeks, and having Dr. Mirzeler in class was wonderful. 

                  The thing that stood out to me the most from the Turkey group was the discussions about honor killings.  Watching the documentary, hearing Dr. Mirzeler’s story, and then discussing in class last week has left that topic on my mind.  The way that honor killings tie in with Arab family relationships especially boggles my mind. 

                  If you ask almost any Middle Eastern person, I think they would say that one thing their many different cultures agree on and take pride in is strong family relationships.  Family members are expected to sacrifice themselves for the good of the whole family and the family “honor.”  The belief is that these selfless actions bring good to the whole family and build strong family ties between the members.  They do.  But these principles of “group-ism” can be taken too far.  If the good of the entire family becomes the primary and un-trespassable goal, then if one member messes up, his good (even his own life) may be sacrificed for the good of the rest of the members.  In other words, when a member is in the good graces of the rest of his family, everything goes well; but if he sins against the family honor, his “good” is no longer a consideration.  Even more, it is not usually a he, but only a she who can dishonor the family enough to deserve the death penalty.  These concepts are contradictory and do not leave room for unconditional love and forgiveness between family members.

                  These concepts make me consider the American family as well, and see many of the opposite problems with it, such as the selfishness of the members, the disrespect for other members (especially parents), and often the desires expressed to be away from one’s family. 

                  Not every family from either culture is going to display these flaws, but it is interesting to note how one culture can take a seemingly “good” thing- such as strong Arab families and American individualism- and take them too far until they become a flaw.  

Memed, My Hawk, and related topics...

                  Memed, My Hawk was a very different sort of book for me. I still cannot decide whether I liked or disliked it, but “like” is a vague term.  I enjoyed part of it, while I did not always enjoy the long descriptions.  But it did introduce some new concepts about Turkey that I had not known before.  Some of these new concepts were the notion of the Aghas, the peasants that were (basically) his slaves, the brigands, and the disconnected Turkish countryside.

                  In the beginning of the story, I could not tell if Memed was going to turn out to be a “good” character, or sort of a “bad hero,” if there is such a thing.  The translation was a little rough for me, and many of the sentences seemed disconnected, which also disconnected the relationships and conversations of the characters.  The characters’ words seemed harsher to each other than they were meant to be, even the words of characters with close relationships.  The ending of the story was somewhat happy, which took me by surprise.

                  What redeemed the book for me was to hear Dr. Mirzeler speak about the countryside and different villages that were the setting of the novel.  It was so neat to hear his own stories from childhood, and how they compared with the stories of Memed’s childhood.  It was also sad to hear that he did not want to go back because many of the beautiful places that he remembers are gone, or at least are not public property anymore.

                  It was amazing to hear Dr Mirzeler’s story that he shared near the end of class yesterday.  Did anyone else think, “Wow, I don’t know how I could ever get through something as terrible as that”?  I was amazed to hear his courage, and am so glad that it all worked out well for his family.

Turkey Group

                  Out of the three things that we have read/watched from the Turkey group (“Women on the Frontline: Turkey,” the headscarf clip, and the three short stories), “Women on the Frontline: Turkey” was definitely the one that impacted me the most.  It is unbelievable that the statistics said that 16-17 girls and women were killed in the name of honor per day in Turkey over the two-year span of the survey.  The film also stated that honor killings affect more women than cancer affects them, and that it affects one in three women around the world (I presume that this “affect” means they are killed?).  The film was maddening to me.  Even though the men that did these killings talked about their honor, their family’s place in society, and deep traditions as being excuses for murder, there are really no reasons good enough to excuse the murder of a family member. 

                  The headscarf film was tricky for me.  I believe that these women should be able to wear a headscarf if that is what they truly desire- it should be a basic freedom of choice.  But I wonder how much traditions are not only affecting their choices, but mandating them.  That is to say, I wonder how many girls fighting for the choice to wear a headscarf are not being pressured to do so by a traditional community where they live, a community who would ostracize them if they did not wear it.  I just wonder how many of their “choices” are really choices.  Even if the government bans certain things, I wonder how many traditional communities follow these bans- communities like the ones where honor killings are happening the most- and how many force “choices” upon their members.  Not to say that a girl would never have the desire to wear a headscarf… but how many actually would, I wonder?  Even more, how many would actually choose to wear them almost ALL of the time? 

                  Finally, the short stories were very different for me.  I did not care for them.  To me, it is as if the authors were drunk while writing!  I did not understand much of anything, especially from the last two!  But maybe they will make more sense after class tomorrow…