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stennyi's review against another edition
4.0
I have very mixed feelings about this book. For the most part, I don't know enough about Islam and the Koran and the Prophet Mohammed to know whether the author is misrepresenting information or not. I do think that the information and the history and the interpretations are presented in an informative and sometimes speculative way.
One major disagreement that I have with this book is in the conclusion: she states that Arab women's liberation can surpass it's western liberal counterpart. She says "American women will get the right to abortion but it will take a long time before they can prevent the females body from being exploited as a marketable product". It's statements like those that make me feel she is more than a little biased and she fits into the American stereotypical critique of an "oppressed" Muslim woman. She goes on to say "Muslim women, on the contrary, engage in a silent but explosive dialogue with the fragile ruling class whose major task is to secure economic growth plan for the future without exploitation and deprivation".
Now, this book was written in the 70s and revised in the 80s, I think modern Muslim woman today would have to disagree with Mernissi's speculation on Arab women's liberation. It's happening, but it's happening slowly.
One major disagreement that I have with this book is in the conclusion: she states that Arab women's liberation can surpass it's western liberal counterpart. She says "American women will get the right to abortion but it will take a long time before they can prevent the females body from being exploited as a marketable product". It's statements like those that make me feel she is more than a little biased and she fits into the American stereotypical critique of an "oppressed" Muslim woman. She goes on to say "Muslim women, on the contrary, engage in a silent but explosive dialogue with the fragile ruling class whose major task is to secure economic growth plan for the future without exploitation and deprivation".
Now, this book was written in the 70s and revised in the 80s, I think modern Muslim woman today would have to disagree with Mernissi's speculation on Arab women's liberation. It's happening, but it's happening slowly.
stefanie's review against another edition
3.0
As someone who doesn't know much about Islam, I found many fascinating historical facts here.
This was based on a phd thesis and often it made reading it slightly jarring. Also although this is a new edition with the exception of a new forward it has not been updated from the early 1970s. It is excellent from a historical perspective, however I would be very interested to see how the situations is in the Muslim world and especially in Morocco today.
This was based on a phd thesis and often it made reading it slightly jarring. Also although this is a new edition with the exception of a new forward it has not been updated from the early 1970s. It is excellent from a historical perspective, however I would be very interested to see how the situations is in the Muslim world and especially in Morocco today.
sofia_reading's review against another edition
2.0
There were some insightful and interesting points made in this book, but reading this book after Amina Wadud's Quran and Woman, and Asma Barlas' Believing Women, it wasn't as riveting, enlightening or inspiring. I can see why though, in its time it would have been groundbreaking, and without doubt, Mernissi can be credited for much of the application of liberation/feminist theory on readings of the Quran and Islam since.
The book is an interesting read but as can be expected, it is somewhat outdated and there are, in my opinion, better books on the topic with more relevant information and updated examples than this one.
The book is an interesting read but as can be expected, it is somewhat outdated and there are, in my opinion, better books on the topic with more relevant information and updated examples than this one.
chaibreaks's review against another edition
3.0
Fatema Mernissi's book written in the 1960s and focusing on the dynamics of Arab (especially Moroccan) Muslim Society is an interesting study and echoes through other Muslim cultures too. It doesn't explain the problems faced in the current social order, but it does explore some similar aspects and gives you a timeline of change. Mernissi chose to focus on sexual dynamics and how sex plays the foremost role in regulating behaviour and traditional Muslim marriages, and she makes some excellent and bold arguments, though some are unagreeable. Her contrast of Imam Ghazali's view of sexuality and the Freudian concept of sexuality is fascinating. She maintains the argument that the "feminist" emancipation of women in the Muslim world is fundamentally different from the Western. Though outdated and having anti-religion undertones throughout the text, it is an intriguing read.
sofia_reading's review
2.0
There were some insightful and interesting points made in this book, but reading this book after Amina Wadud's Quran and Woman, and Asma Barlas' Believing Women, it wasn't as riveting, enlightening or inspiring. I can see why though, in its time it would have been groundbreaking, and without doubt, Mernissi can be credited for much of the application of liberation/feminist theory on readings of the Quran and Islam since.
The book is an interesting read but as can be expected, it is somewhat outdated and there are, in my opinion, better books on the topic with more relevant information and updated examples than this one.
The book is an interesting read but as can be expected, it is somewhat outdated and there are, in my opinion, better books on the topic with more relevant information and updated examples than this one.
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