Customer Reviews

In Search of Islamic Feminism: One Woman's Global Journey

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book describes Fernea's personal quest for Islamic feminism throughout the Middle East. Each chapter describes her experiences in a different country. It is never made clear whether the ordering of the chapters corresponds to the chronology of her visits, although she mentions in the beginning that she began in 1994, and the most recent entries seem to be from about 1997. Although some of the visits seem to be specifically for this project, others appear to have been incidental, where she did research for the project while on various lecture tours arranged for other purposes.

Fernea writes from a very personal point of view in this book. Indeed, the book, with its details of such things as the food she ate and her misadventures with her hostesses' dog, comes across more as a travel journal than an academic survey. Throughout, she seems to go out of her way make it clear that she does not consider herself an expert on the topic, but rather as a curious seeker. She also laments frequently her limited ability in Standard Arabic. Coming from an author of her stature, this is a bit surprising. But then again, this is in line with her previous ethnographic studies on the Middle East, which described her and her family's personal dealings with the culture as much as they described the culture itself. And perhaps given the topic and the ethnicity of the author, this was the only possible approach for a book exploring these questions.

Fernea presents few clear conclusions in her search for Islamic feminism. Those generalities that are mentioned come mostly from the mouths of the women she interviews. The clearest message is that women in the Middle East seem leery of the term "feminist". To them, "feminism" seems to represent attitudes of Western women (of perhaps questionable morals) who want to subvert their culture. On the other hand, virtually all the women interviewed in the book are concerned about women's issues and would like to improve the lives of women in their communities. Several of the women stressed that there is no overall "Islamic" culture; each Islamic country has its own culture. The issues that are important for women in any given country arise more from the culture than from the religion. Nevertheless, the religion does provide certain rights and expectations for all Islamic women; whether the women can take advantage of these rights depends on the conditions prevailing where they live.

This book represents yet another chapter in the Fernea's growth in understanding about the women in this region. As such, it will be a welcome addition in the library of anyone who has read her previous books, or for anyone else who is exploring women's issues and Islam.

This book is nice as a travel book. Description of the "adventures" was really enjoyable. But that was it! The author seemed so much interested in the external appearances rather than the core. For example, I noticed the way she handled the Islamic dress code. As a feminist, she obviously has her biased stand against it. There's much more in the life of a Muslim woman than the way she dresses, but it seemed that this issue was one of the author's most primary targets. She handled the issue in such a naive way and displayed any positive views expressed by some Muslim women in a disagreeable manner.

I was astonished to learn from the book that Mrs. Fernea doesn't know standard Arabic. This means she doesn't have direct access to all the Arabic written material. All her sources must be second hand. If this is the case, then I wonder how she can be described as an "acclaimed Arab Studies scholar." Neither her short visits to Arab and Muslim countries, nor her stay with her husband in a remote village in Iraq qualify her to be an authority in Arab studies.

I found the writing interesting, and the subject fascinating, but I found myself frustrated by the author's difficulty in talking directly about the status of Muslim women with her interview subjects. The author spent many pages writing about the menus and dress of the many middle and upper-middle class women she interviewed. It seemed as though her interview subjects resisted her efforts to discuss the status of women in their countries, so we too as readers had to wade through much distracting material and misunderstandings about feminism and gender. Great travel stories, but not a great source of information about Muslim women.

I have read this book and did not find its content to be enlightening or illuminating regarding women and their role in the Islamic society. The author spends more time decribing her travel schedules and the clothing of the characters she interacts with vs. attempting to understand and honestly portray the women and their way of life in a society. It is recommended she spend more time researching the topic before claiming to be an 'expert' on a topic.

This is a disappointingly superficial 'analysis' of feminism in islamic areas; it is really more of a travelogue with feminism as a loose theme. More attention is paid to the colorful sights, food, characters, clothing, etc. than to any depth of perception or analysis of women's lives and feminism.

This is a rambling account of the author's travels in Islamic countries as she tries to understand the existence and nature of their feminism. But she recounts a hit and miss series of encounters, a day here and there in each place, and never summarizes what she understands each country's feminism to be, or to compare them. It is a book with potential -- there is value in recounting her personal experience -- but it is too often at the level of what people wore and ate, and disconnected comments about women and feminism. The author doesn't take the next step toward making sense of it.

This is a book that everybody should read, not only people that are intrested in Middle Eastern Studies. Just like it says on the cover it really shatters stereotypes of women in the Middle East. Very educational but also an easy read.

I was expecting a lot more from Fernea. She coedited one of my favorite books on the topic "Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak", which actually helped me in my decision to major in Arabic and Persian. I am not an American (and not from the Middle East either), so perhaps I am doing injustice to her perspective, but I found her questions and comments very immature and naive, more suitable to a 20-year-old girlie the first time abroad. Wow, there is such a thing as free university education and health care in Central Asia, stemming from the evil Soviet regime! Oh, things in Iraq have changed since the fifties! She has been teaching Middle East Studies for such a long time, yet she is constantly struggling with comparatively easy Arabic sentences! Another annoying detail is that in her transcription of the conversations, everybody calls her bj and repeats it in every single sentence. On one page, you will find bj repeated 10 times -it really disturbed my flow of reading! Simplifying and monotonous, with a touch of Orientalism. Her intentions were probably good, but it seems cashing in was more important... innocents abroad, in short!

I was expecting a lot more from Fernea. She coedited one of my favorite books on the topic "Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak", which actually helped me in my decision to major in Arabic and Persian. I am not an American (and not from the Middle East either), so perhaps I am doing injustice to her perspective, but I found her questions and comments very immature and naive, more suitable to a 20-year-old girlie the first time abroad. Wow, there is such a thing as free university education and health care in Central Asia, stemming from the evil Soviet regime! Oh, things in Iraq have changed since the fifties! She has been teaching Middle East Studies for such a long time, yet she is constantly struggling with comparatively easy Arabic sentences! Another annoying detail is that in her transcription of the conversations, everybody calls her bj and repeats it in every single sentence. On one page, you will find bj repeated 10 times -it really disturbed my flow of reading! Simplifying and monotonous, with a touch of Orientalism. Her intentions were probably good, but it seems cashing in was more important... innocents abroad, in short!

I am an Egyptian American. This book illustrates Fernea's understanding of different layers of the Islamic culuture because she has lived there and mixing with Middle Eastern People. As a researcher, she was a participant observer. She understands the Muslim experiences without bais nor discrimination. Therefore, she was open to her findings without bias due to her difference as a Western feminist. (PS. I hope I can be able to get Ferea's e-mail, if possib and I'd like to consult her in some issues because I am involved in a similar research right now. Thank you.)