Muhajababes [Paperback]

Allegra Stratton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2008

Two thirds of the population in the Middle East is under 25 years old, and there's been an explosive growth of college graduates. Still, there aren't enough jobs to go round. They're having a collective quarter-life crisis. In the months before turning 25 herself, BBC producer Allegra Stratton set out to meet them.

She visits Beirut, Amman, Cairo, Dubai, Kuwait City and Damascus during a time of potentially momentous change, looking for youth culture as we know it. She sits in on auditions for the Lebanese version of American Idol and tries to get into a men-only Starbucks in Egypt. She interviews pop stars and filmmakers and djs, visits the gay community, and meets the region's most famous single mother. Along the way she discovers a massive video industry of airbrushed, heavily produced, scantily clad singers that hold the affections of young Arabs. And all of them - members of the Muslim Brotherhood and of sports clubs alike - talk of the same Islamic revival.

Yet there's a contradiction. Many of the fans of these semi-naked popstrels are also extremely devout. 'Muhajabah' means one who veils. So what to call the veiled women Stratton encounters who strive for sexiness by lavishing what's left unveiled - face and feet - with make-up, jewelry, and killer shoes? Muhajababes, and they may represent the Islamic Middle East in a refreshingly surprising way.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Two-thirds of the Middle East—a quarter of a billion people—are 25 or younger, a demographic as large as it is unrepresented in Western media. With aplomb and scads of self-deprecating wit, journalist Stratton, herself 25 years old and a self-professed naïf about the Arab and Muslim world, plunges into youth culture in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Kuwait. Her findings are epitomized by the book's title; the term muhajababes (coined by one of Stratton's interviewees) describe veiled young women who combine traditional piety with a secular sensibility, wearing tight jeans with their head scarves and following pop stars and religious leaders with equal devotion. My methodology was to talk to everyone... who seemed my age, Stratton writes, including men and women, religious visionaries and artists, revolutionaries and small-business owners. In visiting pockets of the Middle East seldom seen in the Western media (a Kuwaiti student union, a Damascus newspaper), she skillfully renders the frequently downplayed differences between the countries and their shared effort to integrate centuries of history with an avalanche of modern influences. The book's lacunae are not unimportant—Stratton doesn't step beyond urban population centers or speak with any local experts who might have helped analyze the tumble of information—but her genuine and frankly affectionate engagement makes Muhajababes an entertaining addition to the shelf of anyone hoping to actually understand, rather than stereotype, Arabs and Muslims . (July 1)
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Review

Muhajababes will disabuse you of your preconceptions of the Middle East forever.”
--The Times Literary Supplement

“Her ability to capture the emotion and logic of her interviewees deserves praise. Through conversations with would-be suicide bombers, a gay exhibitionist who insists Islamist segregation encourages homosexual relationships, and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the reader penetrates further into the hidden world of energy and inner conflict of Middle Eastern youth. At times, the author pierces through the contradictions even those of us living in the region can't seem to describe or fathom. The book is listed in the current affairs/politics category, but after reading it, one wonders if it would be better placed in the self-help section - Stratton gets that close to the psyche of the Middle East.”
--Egypt Today

“Littered with funny, often Charming moments …. Stratton has a candid style, not only with the reader, but with her respondents, who clearly open up to her in confidence …. It is a world that should be visited [and] Muhajababes provides a valuable passport.”
--The Australian

“For its willingness to ask questions about the trajectory of Arab Islamic modernity which are so often left unasked, this book deserves to be taken seriously...”
-- Arab Media & Society

“Fascinating…. Muhajababes is direct, energetic, and unpretentious.”
--The Guardian

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Melville House (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933633506
• ISBN-13: 978-1933633503
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,336,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ALLEGRA STRATTON is a producer at the BBC in London. She has worked at the foreign desk at The Times (of London) and written for The Independent, The Times, and The New Statesman. She lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Far-reaching implications, April 22, 2009

By 

Ernesto Aguilar (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Muhajababes (Paperback)

Although this book is very much promoted as an examination of Muslim youth, in many respects it is far more about the social pressure, religious and political winds and cultural tensions to which young people are more subjects than those who define their lives on their own terms. As a result, a good chunk of Muhajababes is dedicated to the adults whose visions are influencing the young. Stratton does a spectacular job of digging into these adults' mindsets, be they conservative jihadis, feel-good moderates or well-heeled liberals.

Stratton also does a good job of bringing to a larger audience the alternate religious universe created for youth by these adults. Whether it is the video games aimed at glorifying nationalist fantasies and counteracting Western entertainment or Muslim leaders exhorting followers to gain wealth as a demonstration of Allah's greatness, starkly different versions of Islam are pitched to appeal to youth in ways the casual reader probably would never otherwise know about.

The author will most certainly be criticized in this telling of Muslim youth life over what seems to be a lot of focus on largely middle- and upper-class Muslims, many of whom who have access to education, media and power that the poor do not. Indeed, it is difficult to ascertain how representative the Muslim youth culture Stratton presents is to the global Muslim experience. Let there be no question, however, that she has actively sought major cultural players for this book, and, in sharing a behind-the-scenes look at this generational shift, her work succeeds on many levels.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Worst editing job I've ever seen, August 11, 2008

By 

A reader from Auckland, New Zealand - See all my reviews

This review is from: Muhajababes (Paperback)

There are many good points about this book. However, when the editor confuses "peak" with "peek," bookends an activity with "at random," or allows "the morning after the night before," it makes it difficult to read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars questionable effort, August 31, 2008

By 

ginsu "ginsu" (tv land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Muhajababes (Paperback)

I like the topic for the book. But the writing is very sketchy.

SOmetimes the book reads like a magazine article thats over written and padded. Other times the book reads like a boring diary. Basically its a mess. Most of of the writing has this detached mediocre dull tone that reminds me of books Ive read from intelligence officers. I wonder if the author is an intelligence officer of some kind.