Customer Reviews

Both Right and Left Handed: Arab Women Talk about Their Lives

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As an Arab-American woman, I found this book not only informative but extraordinary because Bouthaina Shaaban understands English and Arabic both well enough that instead of poor translations by a third party or paraphrasing, she actually gives the reader a glimpse inside Arab women using their own words!

The book does not claim to be a thorough study of women throughout the Arab world but a sampling which shows their diversity both in circumstance and culture. Note the huge difference between the young unwed mother in the beginning and the North African woman at the end.

This is an important, even landmark, work in my view. I personally own two copies so that I can continuously circulate one among friends and family. Without fail, those who borrow it, come back to me grateful for having read it.

This book consists of a series of interviews with Arabic women in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Algeria. Because the women interviewed were personal contacts or contacts of contacts of the author, it almost comes across as snapshots in a personal photo album. Most of the women interviewed are leaders, women of prominence in their countries, or university professors like the author herself. The attitudes they express towards the state of women in their countries is remarkably similar, but the reader can't assume that these attitudes prevail in these countries because no attempt was made at trying to reach a representative sample of women. Nevertheless, the book is extremely interesting, informative, and thought-provoking. Many of the women interviewed point out the strength of women and their remarkable achievements during armed struggles. They rail against husbands who ignore their intellectual abilities and accomplishments while requiring them to be perfect house cleaners, cooks, and child care givers. A number of the women reflect that they themselves may be partly to blame in the way that they raise children, especially their sons. Almost universally, they are unhappy with their present state, but on the other hand, they would not want to have the lifestyle of European women. But do they understand the lives of European women any better than European women understand the lives of Arab women?