The Veil as a Protest Item

Often, Americans see the veil as a tool of oppression of women... even if some choose to wear it to express their own personal style or religious beliefs. If you have been keeping up on some of the political news coming from Iran, you will note that the last election didn't go as smoothly at the current administration would have hoped. Once again activists and demonstrators were arrested for protesting in the streets, only this time...the government decided to use the veil to humiliate one of the protestors, Majid Tavakoli. Apparently, the government thought being reduced to wearing a woman's head scarf would be an appropriate embarrassment. Little did they know, that it would be the impetence to use the head scarf as a tool of solidarity and protest by other men. Take a look at the links...it is kind of funny.

If you don't think Iranians have a sense of humor, you really have to see this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwtJBO9DSWI
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/12/11/world/middleeast/11lede_iran480/blogSpan.jpg

Rick Steves: Iran...Yesterday and Today

Want to get a look at present day Iran, first hand? Rick Steves has produced and interested travel program on Iran. I first came acrossed it while watching PBS during a pledge drive. The imagery is vivid, and can really help bring some of the literature we've been reading on Iran to life. Some interesting things to note: it is a Rick Steves program. Many may be familiar with his series on European destinations. It is sort of a dorky, ackward, American. It is interesting to try and see him cover Iran in much the same way he would cover a bull fight in Spain.

Because the relationship between the US and Iran is so dicey, some may say that his presentation involves a lot of Orientalism, or preconceived notions about Iran that aren't necessarily so accurate. Rick Steves tries to relate a lot of what he sees to what he believes and American audience would relate to, instead of just letting the stories and imagery stand for itself. Also, because the program is done on the pretext that it is a travelogue...it doesn't really go to the tourist sites that Iranians would go to. It more or less covers what an American might know...which is Tehran. Rick Steves also tries to commentate on Iranian politics, that isn't a hundred percent accurate or unbiased.

Still, I believe there is a lot one can gleam from this program. Also, if you want to talk about preconceived notions of Iran...watch the link to his lecture series on Iran. In it, he is a little more candid about what occurred behind the cameras and how his opinion of Iran changed over time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmaoyR2sxSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfcOBNdyiKQ

Lipstick Jihad Two

We discussed Lipstick Jihad in today's class, and there seemed to be a lot of malice towards the book. It sort of bummed me out, considering I sort of liked it. I know that it is not a perfect text, but I wanted to address some of the issues. Maybe it will make me feel a little better.

1. The author seemed whinny and self absorbed.
Well, it is a memoir. It is kind of all about her. That being said, the author has tons of flaws. It is clear that she is conflicted about her own identity and self-worth. Being an Iranian American has not set well with her. She feels as if the minute she admits her Iranian identity, Americans judge her on a flawed set of stereotypes. She secretly avoids it in her teens. Yet, there is a part of her that is totally absorbed with her mysterious homeland. She dreams of it as if it is in utopian technicolor. When she arrives in Tehran, the dream is sort of popped. She isn't really Iranian, no matter how hard she tries. Still, she doesn't feel American either. This struggle is constantly raging in her, which sort of spills over into her perceptions of other things.

For those of you who are annoyed, I can understand that the untidiness of this process is uncomfortable and ugly. As a young woman myself, going through her own identity issues, I can relate to this self-absorbed trying to figure out me and what all this stuff is about. My process isn't pretty either. The fact that this memoir is written before she even hits 30 might explain why there is never any sort of resolution to the problem. She is still figuring it out. I know I am.

2. This book perpetuates an Orientalist view of Iran.
If you came to this book to get an accurate historical perspective on Iran, or contemporary portrayal of Iranian life without Western stereotyping...yeah, this book will let you down. I believe that, at best, you sort of get the author's take on everything. Remember, she is a refugee, with a bias opinion that is shaped by her perception of what Americans perceive Iran is all about. I also think that she holds a lot of orientalist views that she doesn't even acknowledge because she is still processing them. Now, that being said...I think the book does paint a picture on what Iranian history is like for a refugee and how that impacted their family that fell in a certain social class. I would assume there are others who see things simularly. I think it is also interesting that she seems to be so careful at times when she describes things in Iran that she believes Americans might get the wrong idea about. Her hesitancy sort of suggests that there is another sort of social pressure that we put on refugees like her to be ambassadors for their country, when they are sort of quasi-representatives of that nation. In further interviews with her, she says that she has been asked to speak on Iran and other Iranian topics as an expert, and she does not consider herself one. It is us who want to put her in that role.

3. If we can't view this as a good model of the genre of memoir, or see it as an accurate representation of Iran, we should disregard it and keep others from reading it.
I learned so much about Iran when I read this book, and it gave me such curiousity to learn more that I reject this. Is it the best book ever written, no. I think it talks about something that we have so little on. Maybe it was pushed to be published too soon because the hunger to fill the information gap is so high. Just because it is popular and available doesn't mean we have to feed the fire and use it. True. Still, I think it talks about so many things that young America is interested in that it is a great discussion generator.

Here is another note... I think there are a lot of parallels to Cuban refugee communities in the experience of the author and her family. I think you could pair this with Dreaming in Cuban or stories on other refugees and gain value from that perspective. Her experience isn't completely unique, and it could be a springboard to understanding the lives of those fleeing persecution in general.

4. She double speaks. One minute, she says that the Islamic Republic represses women's rights, and in the next admits that the Islamic Republic help gain greater freedoms for women in rural areas. It is hypocritical.
I think in places like Iran, things and not black or white. I think women, like those in this author's family, once the Islamic Republic took over lost a lot of freedoms they had once enjoyed and were peeved about it. In the same way, some very conservative Iranian women were able to experience the reverse. There is complexity there. It is easy to demonize, without noticing that some part of the population benefited greatly by the Islamic Revolution. Likewise, Iran is doing somethings currently that are fantastic, that doesn't mean that they are saints. Couldn't this be said of the US too?

In regards to the critique that the author only noticed the full hatred toward American governmental policies after 9/11...and how could that be because she had been living there so long... I understood that she knew that it existed before, but she didn't really understand the depth or the breadth until that moment. Simular to the slave narratives I have been reading in African American Literature, there is a singular moment where the main character understands the full depth and breadth of racism, or their plight as a slave. Not that they hadn't been exposed to these facts before, but it was the first time they noticed, or understood.

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Again, I understand that this text and the author has faults, I just felt like we might have been too eager to judge and disregard this text. Maybe I am stupid. Maybe I don't have the chops for this whole literary criticism thing. I mispronounce words, or make stupid observations... but at the risk of looking like a total idiot... I want to stand up for this book. Call me crazy. I think it has some merits to help Americans start to understand Iran, or build some interest in looking at Irans as human beings like you and me. The book forces us to look at our own stereotypes and misconceptions of Iran, and asks us to learn something about the heritage of this land and the current plight of its people. Even if it is flawed, isn't it a start?

Saudia Arabia-No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain

I love the show No Reservations as well as its host, Anthony Bourdain. This episode was his journey through Saudi Arabia with a Saudi Arabian-American female host. The country is shown as devout, hospitable, thriving, and full of modernity. Of course, you can't help noticing all the veiled women. Although the female host, when asked about the segregation of males and females, always seems to down play it... I as a woman watching the show can't help but feel a twinge of saddness. I feel that if I were to visit Saudia Arabia, I could never see it completely or fully participate. As amused as I am by the vibrance of the markets, the uniqueness of their culture and cuisine, I think I would always feel slightly uncomfortable. I don't know if it is because I perceive that I would have to repress my feminimity, or be concerned of some sort perceived threat. I want to understand that there are some women who appreciate their culture and want to live this way by choice. Yet, I can't help wondering all the voices that might not be able to be expressed.

I don't know if this reflects poorly on me, or if it is just where I am in my understanding of the situation. I still sense discomfort.

Persepolis

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

For anyone who wants to begin to understand Iranian people, I believe this graphic novel is a fantastic first step. The book follows a young Marjane as she tries to grow up in a war torn Iran from pre-1979 to the early 90s. Her story gives tons of perspective on the history of Iran, it's relationship with Islam, the struggle between the ideals of the West and East, exhile, and repression in her own country. The story is very accessable through vivid images.

I was completely moved by this book. I don't think one can read this book and not feel a sort of compassion for the Iranian people and their struggles. It is the perfect compliment to another one of my favorites, Lipstick Jihad. The two books occur during a very simular time frame, deal with very simular topics, and really paint a simular picture.

I really want to watch the movie associated with this book. My hope is that the illustrations are simular. I wish this book was manditory reading for our politicians, and for the rest of us. There is so much more to Iran than this tyranical regime that is portrayed on our mainstream media. These people have suffered so much, it is a miracle that persevere. I have great admiration for the women of Iran and I really hope that they find the freedom that works best for them in their lifetime.

An amazing book! A must read!

The White Castle-Orhan Pamuk

This was a selection offered by our Turkish group. It is about a young Italian scholar who is captured by the Turks at sea and brought back to Turkey as a slave. He is able to make his captivity a little better by posing as a doctor and using his Western knowledge to become an asset to the Turks.

Refusing to convert to Islam, the Italian is eventually sold to another scholarly man who bears a close resemblance to him, Hoja. Hoja demands to know everything the Italian knows. Together, they work on projects to save lives during the plague, create fireworks, and build an ultimate "weapon."

Somewhere in the balance, the Italian and Hoja get so close that they begin to become each other. In the end, they even switch places. The book cover of my edition states, "Orhan Pamuk's exploration of identity, of the strained relations between a devout, superstitious East and a "rational" West."

As this book is written by a Turk, you would think that the concept of "Orientalism" would be minimized...but I as a reader felt uncomfortable at times because the narration is by a foreigner of the West. I felt at times that the portrayal of the Turks was at times crude. The Sultan was sometimes portrayed as a not so smart leader. Hoja was a sort of crazy, ruthless slave holder, and several there seemed to be a lot of corruption and brutality.

In the end, the Italian seems to assimulate to this new world, and maybe even enjoy it. As a reader, I don't know if I at the end of the story develop a greater affection or respect of the Turks. I think that is what bothered me. If you are looking for literature that promotes a greater understanding of the modern culture of Turkey, I don't think this is the best book. I enjoyed it for what it was, although it could be confusing at times.

Time of Favor

Should there be a devote religious brigade in a military setting?

Could you imagine the US Army having a special Evangelical unit that was inspired by some religious leader? I think this movie examined that a little. A radical Rabbi had sort of backed this religious Army unit. I believe the legitimate purpose was to protect their settlement, but because the Rabbi continuously talked about reclaiming the Temple Mount...it sort of opened the door for one of his pupils to want to put action behind it. If you noticed, the regular Army guys never strayed from protocol. It was the "superior" student that was physically weaker, romantically stood up, and looking for a way to feel better that turned things on their head.

Was it all his fault though? Initially, the Army took the Rabbi into custody...but he was freed fairly quickly...although he was certainly the catalyst for the events. The poor commander got beaten mercilessly, and you don't know if he ever truly recovers his good reputation, even though he had nothing to do with it and in the end prevented the student from blowing up the Temple Mount.

This movie also talked a little about women as property. The Rabbi tried to marry off his daughter to his lead pupil. He didn't understand why she was against it, and refused to let her see the man she did want to see.

This was an interesting look at Israel. I think the account was fictitious, but there were a lot of customs and thought patterns that were able to be viewed and contemplated.

Speaks for Itself

A Lake Beyond the Wind-Palestine

A Lake Beyond the Wind by Yahya Yakhlif

This book is an account of the beginning of end of the life of Palestinians before the creation of Israel, and the future of hardship and displacement that will follow for decades to come.

The events that happen in this book are heart breaking and depressing, just as the situation has been for millions of Palestinians. Critics have said this is a fascinating book from the Palestinian perspective, but I hate to say that I had a really tough time reading it. In all fairness to the book, I might have reader fatigue. I have a full load of literature classes this semester and I might be cracking, but than I got frustrated at myself for not getting into it. Am I so pampered, so privileged that I can't spend some hours looking at the real horrors discussed in this book? Am I so narrow minded that I can't try to open myself to this new voice that is talking about things that I find difficult to relate to? How selfish is that?

My intial feeling reading this book was that males may be able to relate to it better. Knowing more about the history and the geography of the area during the time of the conflict might help make it easier to follow the story line. Still, I thought if I was having difficulty reading it, how could I get high school students to enjoy reading it? I don't know. I'll will be interested in our class discussion. Don't hate me because I wasn't a fan.

The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God-Israel

The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories by Etgar Keret

This book of short stories is a fast and fascinating read. This book has everything from a drawf dressed as a little girl who is smuggling heroine to tales from post-suicide characters in a sort of purgatory sub-world. Sometimes the imagery is sexually graphic. Still, it is laugh out-loud funny and thought provoking. Perception and expectation are often called into question. It is interesting to see the portrayal of Arabs by a Jewish narrator in this post-suicide purgatory where the arguments of this life just don't seem to apply any longer in the bigger scheme of things. I thought it was great to hear from an author with a different voice than what I am used to. Although high schoolers are more than capable to read this, I can't see it passing the parent test. College kids, hell yeah.

Paradise Now

What goes through the minds of a Palestinian suicide bomber? The movie, Paradise Now, attempts to tell that story. Do these men have consciousness? It is the other side of the news story. Do I think it is right? No. Do I understand a little better about what leads to this kind of violence? Yeah. This Israel/Palestine debate is stupid...in the sense that it needs to end. It is disgraceful how these Palestinians have to live. Why can't there be a better solution?

We have got to find a solution to this problem. The status quo ain't cutting it. This movie is a good dialogue starter.

Lipstick Jihad

This book is a memoir of the young author, Azadeh Moaveni. It covers her struggle with her identity as both an American and an Iranian, as well as her return to live in Iran in the couple of years around September 11, 2001. It was a great read, and had many interesting themes and questions rasied in it. As America is trying to figure out it's policies in regards to Iran, it is important to try and gain some insight into this country...most of us know nothing about. I felt this book helped.

First, there is a huge underlying discussion about the identity of the author. She waivers throughout her childhood as to how much she wants to be American or Iranian, but overall...just to be normal. In both worlds, she feels uprooted. A lot of this discussion remindes me of books in Latin American culture, like Dreaming in Cuban by Christina Garcia, that also talks about the struggle of leaving a home country in turmoil and living in the US as an excile. How one longs for the old country, but how the realization that the country that still stands doesn't resemble, nor may ever resemble, that country of their memory. I many ways, I learned that Iranian exiles here in the US share a lot in common with Cuban exiles. Connections like this I think help humanize people like Azadeh.

The next thing you notice is how messed up the country and the government really are. There is a hard line Islamist force of the government that controls the military, police, and justice system that is controlled by conservative clerics. There is a reformist section, that is usually elected to the executive branch of the government that feels anti-West, anti-American, and more socialist...and anti-Capitalist. Then there are those who had some power and wealth under the Shah, sometimes referred to as the richest and the brightest who fled the country during the Revolution in 1979. Azadeh describes this delicate situation, but is cautious to assert that...even though there is a lot that is wrong, Iran is more than just this "axis of evil" label and that the people know the government is corrupt...but they are having trouble understanding how to fix it. They see the Islamic Republic as a failure of sorts, but don't want another Civil War.

There are descriptions of the need for women to wear veils, and the needless beatings or whippings of civilians by young thugs paid by the Islamists to enforce strict observance of Islamic Rules of modesty...etc. There also is a description of how the youth in Tehran kind of "fight the system." Like wearing lipstick, or wearing sandals with no socks. You really start feeling for the Iranian civilians who live in this perpetual state of stress and intimidation. As I read about it, I thought of the fear and intimidation tactics of freed slaves and blacks in America with the existance of Jim Crow laws. The repression of the government on its own people is really astounding, so is this sense of hopelessness or powerlessness. Many Iranians have definitely lost faith in their religion (because it is forced on them) as well as in their government.

There are some other direct correlations with the movie I reviewed, "Two Women." Although the movie takes place before the Revolution, and this book much latter, there is a woman character Fatimeh that mirrors the experience of Fereshteh. I think using this book with that movie, you could do a lot of discussion about gender, power, rights...etc. The book also made me make a list of things I need to explore a little more. For instance, Iranian history, the differance between Sunni and Shiite Islam, Iranian pagan culture...and so forth.

The book was accesible and honest. A great read for anyone interested in Iran.

Sunrise Over Fallujah

This book by Walter Dean Myers is a great novel of the fictional experiences of Robin Perry, a very young African American soldier, in Iraq at the beginning of the war. The book is written for a teen audience, but it really doesn't sugarcoat the experience of war. Along with the descriptions of excitement, and the over powering strength of the American military, are other real accounts of loss, the tragic cost of war and the impact on our armed forces.

There is some disturbing stuff in this book. We were having a discussion in class whether or not this book was appropriate for immature teenagers. My opinion is this: If we are recruiting kids right out of high school to go and fight our wars in these foreign countries, than we are doing a disservice by not exposing them to what war really is about. We have all these recruiters coming in really rounding up what might be considered the "less college bound" students. Why do they not deserve to get a "second opinion" or at least some education on this thing called war.

I believe this should be manditory reading in the high schools. Kids need to understand what our actions are doing in the world. They need to understand the price these veterans are paying. I have attended so many Veteran's Day services with my father, to be disappointed by the absence of greatful citizens to give thanks to these men and women who have done so much. Taking a second to just focus on these kids, this book helps illustrate how ill prepared and naive these kids are on the battle field. Their sacrifice is not even noted in the pages of our newspapers any longer. No wonder politicians, who have no concept of what it takes to serve in the military, are so eager to send them around the world. They don't see the cost. We don't see the cost.

Empathy for the poor civillians killed in the cross fire is a whole other story. This book does humanize them to the point. It illustrates our willingness to dehumanize them as well. I also liked the portrayals of strong women and African American characters. This really is a necessary and great book to be in our schools. Highly reccomended.

Blood and Oil

It is difficult to understand US/Middle Eastern relations unless you understand the American thirst for oil. This YouTube version of the movie, "Blood and Oil," gives a great amount of background knowledge on where this thirst began and how desperate the situation has become. We talk about preserving America's interest abroad, but we are really mortgaging our future. I think there are forces in the world that are comfortable letting Americans believe they are a dominant world power, but are very aware that secretly that status is quickly slipping beyond our reach. This economic climate is very indicative of the disease of excess that we suffer from. Our enemies need not control us by physical force, but by controlling our addictions. China and the Middle East have an unnatural influence on this country and will be able to evict us from our thrown in short order.

Being American, and optimistic, I do believe we have the power to choose another path. I do not know if we have the stomach to sacrifice what would be necessary for us to achieve it.

Pride of Baghdad

Editorial review from Amazon.com From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up—A heartbreaking look at what it's like to live in a war zone. Inspired by true events, this story tells of four lions that escape from the Baghdad Zoo during a bombing raid in 2003 and encounter other animals that offer unique perspectives, such as a tortoise that survived World War I. They begin to question the nature of freedom. Can it be achieved without being earned? What is its price? What do the lions owe the zookeepers who took care of them at the cost of keeping them in captivity? Where should they go? What should they eat? The four lions soon realize that a desert city is nothing like the grassy savannas of their memories. Their experiences mirror those of the Iraqi citizens displaced by the conflict. The book succeeds as a graphic novel and as an account of the current crisis. Henrichon's full palette emphasizes browns and grays that evoke the sands of the country, while his long brushstrokes and careful attention to detail reflect the precise and minimalist dialogue that Vaughan uses. An allegorical tale with compelling and believable characters, Baghdad makes it clear that without self-determination, there can be no freedom—Erin Dennington, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

This book is visually stunning, and mature. It has seens of rape and sex in it. Still, I believe that it has some poignant arguments. To see the conflict from the eyes of animals that were involved in it, helps to humanize the cost of war in a different way... To be honest, I don't think there are easy answers in this book. I also caution that the book is written by Westerners. Still, it is powerful and full of discussion opportunities. It is an easy read, even if it can be a little harder to interpret. That is what would make it interesting to a young adult reader.

Valley of the Wolves: Iraq

I have watched the trailer for this movie, and a few scenes that I can come across for class this week. It looks bloody and vile...but most action/adventure films like this make my skin crawl. I think without a doubt the Americans in this movie don't look hot. Producers have even said that 60-70% of the movie was based on actual events. The American press has labeled it as anti-American, anti-Christian, and even anti-Jew.

I don't know if this film was released in the States? If it was, it definitely wasn't a wide release.

Funny enough, my favorite news network, Fox News...(I think I threw up a little) made sure they made their viewers aware of this atrocity. Click on the following link:

I love that in the opening of the dialogue on the subject was the confession that no one speaking about the movie had even seen it. But, the anti-Muslim banter that occurs afterward was shocking. Are we shocked that someone else in the world may be pissed with the US and hence portray Americans in such a light? The Fox commentators even had a discussion of Free Speech not actually meaning Free... and a shout out that all Muslims hate the fact we have Freedom of Speech in our country. Are you kidding me? No really.....

I must be really un-American.

Two Women

Post is in regards to "Two Women", directed by Tahmineh Milani

This movie tells a moving tell about the plight of women in Iran. These two women meet at college and create a tight sisterhood. Both are well educated, wanting to return to University. At this time, they are close due to conflicts revolving around the Iranian Revolution. Roya is a smart, middle class girl from Tehran. Fereshteh is brilliant student who is from a small town, but is working hard to afford her education in the big city.

The fun for this girl click is that Fereshteh can't shake the advances of men. One in particular, Hassan, begins to stalk her. As much as the girls try to get him to leave Fereshteh alone, he becomes more demanding that she be his. In one event, he tries to defile her with acid to make her unsuitable for no one else, but ends up hitting her cousin instead. Because the authorities are called to intervene, Fereshteh's father travels to Tehran to collect his daughter who has completely disgraced him. As if she was the one to cause this catastrophe.

When she flees the capital, she hopes that he would disappear...but he ends up finding her and sends her on a wild car chase that ends up injuring and killing children in the street. Again, her father screams at her, saying that sending her to school was the worse thing he ever did. He repeats that she is a disgrace and locks her in a storage closet until her trial. Because of upcoming expenditures, another suitor, Ahmad, comes into the picture. He has offered to marry her three times and she has said no. Now that she is in a financial bind, he convinces her father to promise her hand in marriage in exchange for payment of all expenses.

The trial sends Hassan to jail for 13 years for killing the one child, and Fereshteh gets off relatively easy...but is turned over to the hands of Ahmad. Fereshteh protests the proposal, but soon their parents eventually convince her that there is no other option. Fereshteh tries to make the best of it, hoping to make a life for them. But, Ahmad's jealousy locks Fereshteh into a submissive hell. He refuses to let Fereshteh interact with Roya, he won't even let her out of the house to see her own family. Two kids latter, and Fereshteh seems to have lost all hope of the life she once wanted for herself.

Roya on the other hand ends up graduating and joining an architechture firm. She marries the love of her life, and she is powerful and prosperous. She receives a phone call from her old friend asking for her aid. She is at the hospital, where Ahmad is gravely ill. As they reconnect, Fereshteh tells her the story, which ends with Hassan getting out of jail and stalking her again in hopes of killing her. Ahmad and Fereshteh get in a horrible fight, where she finally storms out of the house. Fereshteh knows that Hassan is around, but she doesn't care.

Fereshteh runs, Ahmad is hot on her trail, but at some point she loses him. Just when she sits to collect her breath, Hassan comes after her. She continues to run until she becomes trapped in an alley. Realizing there is no escape, she collapses on the ground and tells Hassan to kill her. Ahmad shows up and beats Hassan with a stick, but it becomes clear that he is in the hospital because the knife wounds from Hassan have subdued him.

So, as I put this DVD in (available via Net Flix), the first thing you hear is Arabic (I think) promoting other films at irmovies.com. It is a little intimidating. I don't know why....but it was a little scary. The movie starts showing Roya as an adult. She was powerful, at a construction site, managing men. Something I was initially intrigued with. The movie than goes into the girls introduction at school. The classroom was mixed, and the instructor seemed very respectful of his female students. There is a montage of the girls learning English and Math, but you could see Fereshteh a little uncomfortable around certain men. Matter of fact, this movie is about women...but you really don't see a ton in this movie. The streets are filled with men, and there are several scuffles...related to the political climate at that point. Another interesting thing is they show Fereshteh and Roya cheating on a test, and it doesn't get either of them in trouble.

The scenes with Hassan are troubling. He will not back down, unless the girls can get a hold of other men who finally run him off. The police are viewed as not something you want to be involved with. Later, through her father, you realize that employing their help is cause for disgrace. So who should protect her? The father is incredibly scary at first. He screams at Fereshteh and blames her for so much. He curses her forwardness and sees education as almost corrupting her.

When Fereshteh leaves Roja and Tehran, she leaves what little freedom she knew. In the town she was going, no woman was educated and the phone was seen as corruption for the young. When Hassan is finally jailed, Fereshteh is placed into another jealous man's hands. During the proposal meeting, she is not given a voice. Her father is eager to give her away, seeing her as trouble and a disgrace.

Quickly you learn that Ahmad is very suspicious of Fereshteh. He wants to conquer her. Her desires to talk to Roja and go to school are quickly seen as ways for her to get with another man. He is so jealous that he almost murders a man for looking at his wife. At this point, Fereshteh's father begins to actually stick up for her. He tells Ahmad that he gave him a wife, not a slave. Fereshteh tell's her father if you really care for her, you would let her divorce Ahmad. So, her father actually takes Fereshteh to the authorities to plee for a divorce.

In this seen, the official asks: Does he pay the bills? Does he drink alcohol? Does he hang around bad/corrupt people? Does he beat you? Fereshteh answers no, but states that he is emotionally abusive, locks her in her house, entraps her, kills her spirit. the official states that there is no cause for a divorce. She is human, doesn't she deserve to be treated with dignity and respect? The official replies that she is wasting the court's time.

Shortly after, she finds she is pregnant and is horrified by this forced motherhood. She didn't want to be married, or with child. She had dreams, ambition, a future...but now she is forced to take care of her family. Killing her. In the finally seen, when she tries to escape but finds herself trapped by Hassan, she pleads for her death. "I've had it with a lifetime of threats, insults, humiliation."

At the end of the movie, you can see Roja completely destroyed after hearing her friend's story. A call confirms Ahmad is dead, and Fereshteh is almost stunned at her predicament. Roya asks what her friend would do now, and Roya's husband responds, "live." To Fereshteh, it is not that easy. She does not know if she remembers how to live. "I feel strange, like a free bird that has no wings."

Funny, during that chase scene at the end...there was absolutely no one in the streets of Fereshteh's town but Ahmad and Hassan. It symbolizes what her life was to that point. She was entrapped by her society, her father, this stalker and her husband. They all seem to want to deny her humanity. Subdue her. Force her to fit their conventions. Of course, she can not live in this world, and has to almost kill herself to become free.

Sorry again for bringing in another class, but we have been reading Little Women in my Adolescent Literature class. Some critics of this novel suggest that Louisa May Alcott kills Jo much the same way. In order for her to "grow up" and be the perfect "little woman" she has to give up her own ambitions and submit the the industry of caring for others in the way society demands. So, one can say that even in America...this same sort of cultural expectation or demand on women exists.

Still, the male dominate culture of Iran makes it almost impossible to free women out of these types of bonds. Women are completely second class citizens. Fereshteh even mentions at the end that she didn't even know if she would still get her children after her husband's death. That they might be taken to their paternal grandfather or uncle for raising. The murdering of the human spirit is criminal and a universal tragedy no matter what gender, race, or type of person you are.

This movie is impactful, but could be scary for children and some teens. It was a powerful statement that deserves to be heard. I am happy that it did show that there are some women who have thrived like Roja, but I ache for the other Fereshteh's that have no voice.

Arabic Literature and the Postcolonial Predicament

Response to reading: "The 'Middle East'? Or ... / Arabic Literature and the Postcolonial Prediciament" by Magda M. Al-Nowaihi

In this paper on the Arabic Literature, Magda M. Al-Nowaihi starts with a statement on the difficulty of doing an overview of Literature of the Middle East and Orientalism. It was a powerful piece that cautioned his bias and voiced his intent in writing the main piece on Arabic Literature and the Postcolonial Predicament.

Getting into the paper, he describes some great works of Arabic literature that could provide a great starting point for reading literature from that area. As the literature developed, he gives a great overview of how the authors thought of themselves and their characters after several historical events.

I was moved by the synopsis of Mahmud Tahir Lashin's short story, "Village Small Talk." the story describes a visit by a son of an aristocratic landowning class and a narrator to a small village in Eygpt. The narrator is horrified by the conditions of the towns people who looked about as well kept as the livestock. The friend states that their lifestyle was suitable to this class, but the narrator tries to impart a lesson on free will and how they could better themselves. The natives respond dumb-founded, and finally ask their local shiek to basically repeat a story about a peasant who went to the city, based on the advice of a friend that ends in tragedy for the peasant. It becomes a tale of the American dream...Eygptian style...and ends leaving the reader feeling like the natives are almost too dumb to know what is good for them.

This tale made me reflect on something I had read recently. In David Walker's Appeal in Four Articles, Walker drones on about enslaved Blacks needing to free their minds from internalized racism and fight back against their masters. He would get heated over stories of slaves spoiling the revolts of other slaves. Walker even had an encounter with a Black shoe shiner. Stating to the man something to the effect that even in his work he is kind of the dirt under a white man's foot. The Black man responded, that shining shoes was one of his favorite things to do. So taken a back by this response, Walker could only reason that a person so beaten down by the ills of slavery could come out enjoying such lowly work.

What is the connection? There is a sort of perceived understanding in Lashin's story that a better life is only achieved through a believe in free will and ambition. The misundertanding of this signals an incompetence or inferiority in the impoverished peasants. This same sort of presumption could be said of Walker in regards to the shoe shine. Also, the view of slaves in some of the Abolishionist literature I have been reading is simular to the culture and the quality of the natives in some of this early post-colonial Arabic literature. Maybe others see it differently, I just think is interesting.

Why is success soley based on the Western ideal of it? In another book, Dhat, by author Son'allah Ibrahim, the story revolves around a middle-class woman "whose aspirations become progressively limited to the acquisition of more consumer goods than all her neighbors-the more foreign and unnecessary the goods the better." Sound like an American Suburban house wife you know of? Yet, where has that got us in America? Are we suffering from the overindulgence of such spending in this little recession of ours? Have you watched an episode of Hoarders? How much is too much?

The last thought I'll leave with you is a memory of a conversation I had with a friend of mine in Nicaragua almost 15 years ago. I was talking with a man name Hugo, and discussing with him the plight of many Nicaraguans. Many lived in shanty towns, in a horrible sort of poverty. Stabilty was not a constant in the city of Managua. He was discussing the desire for more foreign business development and investment in his country. Or maybe it was a discussion between him and some of the Americans we were with. That this influx of money could change the plight of the people there. My 17 year old mind thought to herself, yes...maybe. But, in some ways it would be sad to lose some of what Nicaragua is. I think I meant that with this acceptance of globalization and rush to assimulate to this new age, some cultures are giving up a lot too. This forced shift seems to have both positive and negative connotations, that don't always reveal themselves until the form self is extinct.

History of Palestine

In this You Tube, film documenting the land of Palestine before WWI and through the creation of the state of Israel, you get a different sense of why the conflict in this area has been so bitter. I know few Americans know the true history of this land, though many know and sympathize with Jews from the Holocaust. What is disturbing is that one horror seems to be righted by another wrong. Obviously, Europeans and Americans felt some sort of guilt or empathy for the undescribable horror of the slaughter of millions of Jews. This never should have been an excuse for creating another holocaust of the Palestininans who had nothing to do with WWII.

Our skin may crawl reading accounts of Jews being dragged out of their homes, into ghettos in Germany and eventually concentration camps in Europe. Whose skin crawled when Palestinian families were being displaced? Even killed? Why do we never get to tell this story in the classroom?

Interestingly enough for me, we had a conversation in my Adolescent Literature class about the disappearance of intellect as a quality in American Literature and culture. Basically, Americans were tired of trying to live up to the ideals of intellect from Europe and cast the notion off as an Old World ideal. The model of the self-made man appeared. Street-smarts were valued above book-smarts, and the European cherished notions of philosophy, art, literature, culture were thrown out for models of invention and industry. Culturally, we do not value anything that is considered "old." We do not value the need to study other languages or culture. History is just something we have to take...and even then, it is usually about ourselves.

Why do I beat down on Americans so on this blog? Do I hate who I am?

Actually, I think I do it because I know we are better than this. If we valued truth and knowledge in this culture, we wouldn't have discussions about teaching Darwin's evolution theory in our classrooms. The only way this will change, is if the information is available and we create an interest and a value to knowing it.

Personally, nothing against Jews, the whole history of Israel is a scar that won't heal until they stop being selfish.

Reel Bad Arabs

Reaction to the viewing of Reel Bad Arabs. Click on following link to view.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-223210418534585840#

Reel Bad Arabs is a film that looks at Hollywood's portrayal of Middle Eastern people. The story isn't pleasant. Most of the depictions are racist and dangerous. Middle Eastern men are vilians or money grabbers. Women are seen as disposable, or sexual objects. One movie was noted for the justification of a blood bath of women and children in Yemen, because they were "terrorists." Palestinians were portrayed as the lowest of all people.

Reflection on this film has made me evaluate some of my own preconceived notions and bias of the Middle East. I have always felt some sympathy for the Palestinians. I think in some ways I have always felt like there was more to the Israel/Palestinian conflict than we are told. I am also acutely aware of the presence of Christian Arabs which seems to be consistently ignored by the West. That being said, I have also been concerned of the plight of Middle Eastern women. Magazines like Marie Clare and Ms. have done several stories on the stripping of women's rights and the abuse and honor killing of women in countries like Iraq and Afganistan. Although true, the context makes Arabic men look violent and uncaring. Makes Arabic women seem powerless and fraile. Made for TV movies also caution American women from having children with Arabic men because they might steal the children and return to their homeland where women are powerless to fight back.

Although I am aware of my own potential bias when it come to Arabic men, I know it unfair and unjust. I met a beautiful, faithful, Muslim man from Eygpt who had an American wife. He was devote, and good. I was pleased to know someone like him. By knowing him, I was able to check my own bias. Maybe that is what we are asking here. To recognize the stereotypes and bias we have as individuals, and challenge them. To recognize the humanity of all people. I am positive that a great portion of the women in the Middle East are educated, progressive, and free to express themselves fully. Still I cringe a little when I see a woman in a burka because I associate it with repression, instead of her expression of her own religious beliefs.

I truly hope that in researching Middle Eastern Literature and film that we can find that "other side of the story" that is so sorely lacking in this country. You can't make informed opinions or decisions when you don't have the information.

Lastly, I want to comment on the opinion that in denying the humanity of Arabs and Muslims in Hollywood, we are denying their humanity in life. I recently watch Food INC. (highly recommended) The picture was dedicated to showing Americans where we really get our food from. It is disturbing and necessary to watch. Nonetheless, there is a scene where they show the treatment of our livestock. Chickens forced to live their lives in windowless chicken coops, unable to walk because they are so overweight their bone structure collapses. Pigs and cows covered in feces, paraded to the slaughter house like Jews to the shower houses in WWII. The commentator, maybe it was a farmer, says the reason it is important to understand how these corporations and people mistreat these animals is because if they are that uncaring and inconsiderate of animal life, it makes it that much easier to dehumanize their workers, employees, consumers and people of other cultures. Many parallels...

Orientalism

Written after reading "Orientalism" by Edward Said

In preparation for this journey of immersing ourselves in the literature of the Middle East, one of our first assignments was to read a text that examines the perceptions of the Middle East from the "West." I am very grateful for this exercise because I fear I might have fallen victim to the unsaid but practiced stereotypes of that area from the perspective of a typical American.

Edward Said mentions in this text that there is a perverse misunderstanding of the peoples and the culture of the Middle East from the West that is based on the observations of foreigners who either lived in the area mentioned as occupiers or from individuals who had never set foot in the area. This practice grouped the Middle East with the Far East under the context of "Orientalism," to try and group or categorized the area for foreign occupiers like Britain and France. The intent was to better understand the native people they were trying to rule, or to share that knowledge with their citizens at home. Unfortunately, this attempt was clouded by the lens of an Imperial power that saw itself as superior, possibly demeaning the cultures it was trying to understand to the point that these stereotypes became the "truth" for many foreigners who had no access to differing opinions or views. Hence, Eygptians, Indians, and Asians were all treated under this same umbrella. All Middle Easterns were Arabs. Backward and undeveloped or intellegent people. Said even quoted a notable University's department head, an expert on the Middle East, as saying the area was devoid of value and not worthy of too much focus.

Think of the last film you saw, even television show, that portrayed anyone from the Middle East. What was the depiction? A snake charmer? Belly dancer? Terrorist blowing up someone or something? Even the most benign of these illustrations may be clouding us, or allowing us to completely ignore the humanity and value of a whole section of the world. Remember the old "black face" routines of old? Think of how demeaning that might be for our African American friends...that is the same kind of feeling we are getting at here. The problem is that we might see the ill in racial slurs for Native Americans, African Americans or even the GLTB community here in America, but there seems to be a pass for this same sort of behavior when it comes to anything from the Middle East.

Again, reflecting on my past in Nicaragua, I have seen this before. How badly did the American media paint the Sandanistas during the Iran-Contra affair? When we teach Spanish to our kids in the US, we often teach Mexican Spanish. We rarely note that every Latin American country has its own destinct language and culture, at least one doesn't speak Spanish. Also, I think Americans immediatly assign Spainards to the Hispanic community, stripping them of the notion of their European roots. I can't tell you the number of Americans who came to study in Salamanca, Spain when I was there, who didn't know where on the globe they were and could not understand why they couldn't find a taco. (you really think I am kidding?)

To insert my own bias, I read the title "Orientalism" and thought of the Far East or Asia. Who can remember their grandma referring to Asian people as Oriental? Of course, for many Americans...if you have slanty eyes you are all Chinese. Now, my Sister-in-Law is Japanese...and I assure you in the education I have gotten of the region since I met her...there are HUGE differences between Japan and China, Korea and Thailand. A Japanese person can tell the difference between them and and individual from another Asian country by sight alone. I can't. There are some Americans who feel the same way about Black people. Then, they might call every Black person they see as African American...when some may actually be African, Jamacian, or even a person of an ancestry that never touched the continent of Africa.

When I was in Spain, embarrassed by my countrymen, I also tried to explain to my Spanish friends that it was just plan ignorance. "They don't know any better." This supposed harmless naivity is really having a detremental impact on this world, and our current state of being. Edward Said wrote this book in the late 1970s. If we would have had a serious disscussion in our schools, encouraged more classes on the learning of Arabic language and culture, maybe we wouldn't have been so fearful after 9/11. The understanding might not have prevented the bombing, but a cultural understanding might have given us more pause. Our response for war was based in fear. The lack of knowledge and understanding made it easy for those with agendas to manipulate information and feed it into our minds from a money thirsty media wanting us to consume.

Even if this wouldn't have prevented the war in Iraq, maybe it would have compelled us to be more understanding of our Middle Eastern friends and neighbors, some, who were born American, but were assigned guilt by their family name, food preference or association to the house of their worship. For some reason, it is okay to strip search a woman in a burka at the airport because of "national security."

This sort of racism is deeply institutionalized and engrained in the culture of our country right now. My hope is that Americans are good people. I know many of us who pride ourselves on being open and understanding. The problem is elightenment and a cause to action. We are too satisfied and self concerned that we rarely react to such large causes or ills without a great deal of effort. Again, I state, ignorance is not an excuse. Just because we refuse to look, doesn't mean it evil can't exist. In this case, evil is not the "Axis of Evil" it is our ignorance to reflect on our own stereotypes and perversions of Middle Eastern peoples.

Statement of Initial Thoughts and Possible Bias

I signed up for a Post-Colonial Literature class. I didn't really know what that meant at the time, just that it fit what I needed and I was familiar with the professor. I was returning to undergrad studies to pick up a teaching certificate after graduating from the same institution approximately 10 years earlier. I had initially tried to do it seven years prior, but gave up the pursuit for a full time job doing something else. Last Spring I had an epiphany. I got a Masters in Organizational Management and was working on a Doctorate in Leadership...but decided that I was studying the wrong thing, and in the wrong career. After a good length of discernment, I felt called to return to finish what I had started.

So, stepping into the class...I was just open. As Dr. Webb started talking about the content of the class and the great journey we would be taken on this semester, I felt really excited that I was able to participate. Then he talked about the history of world Colonization and the aftermath, and I was immediately transported to my Senior year of High School. I went to Nicaragua on a Mission Trip, and was so moved by their people and their history. I told their story in presentations to every class the teacher would let me. I described how the US had overthrown a democratic government and help install and back a ruthless dictator. It troubled me and my young mind. Yet, when I gave the presentation...I was called a liar by fellow classmates and told that the US doesn't engage in that sort of conduct. It was unfathomable.

Well, what was upsetting was the reminder that this is still occurring. Back in my teens, my experience in Nicaragua and Mexico motivated me to do more. I chose to study abroad in Spain because I thought if I didn't, I would harbor too much angst for the gringos. The experience shed light on movements in Spain during the Colonization of the Americas that fought for better treatment of the Native peoples. It opened my eyes that there is always more to the story than what we are told. Like so many people though, I tried to assimilate to this crazy chaotic American culture. Get a job, get a car, get in debt, that I lost sight of these causes that I was passionate about. The lecture at this first class touched me profoundly. Made me realize that not only had I stopped being aware, but like most of my countrymen had also allowed us to remain ignorant to the significant impact political decisions are making to humankind around the world.

Not that this class is designed to save the world, but how can we be a truly democratic society if we are not fully informed. How can we make decisions, if we don't know all the variables at play? How can we make value judgments on peoples and cultures of the world when we haven't taken the time to really try and understand them? I hope this class inspires more people to make the sometimes uncomfortable choice to witness the stories and lives of others. Our self-imposed ignorance doesn't prevent us from being responsible for the atrocities that might be going on in the shadows of the world. Maybe we might even learn how someone so far removed might have even the slightest impact on the improvement of humankind.