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A review by itzreibrary
My Past Is a Foreign Country by Zeba Talkhani
5.0
‘But beauty is the illusion of power and choice. Nobody’s beauty has served them beyond their marriage. As they say in my community, once you are married, it’s the same pots and pans for all women.’ –page 58.
‘By emphasizing beauty, the patriarchy has created a structure in which women are forced to focus on superficial aspects. Judging a gender by their looks can only foster insecurities and that is the intentions.’ –page 59.
‘…I realized, that if your faith is threatened by a young girl’s questioning, maybe it’s time to revisit our values.’ –page 87.
‘My religion is above the culture I had grown up in. My religion is better than the people who oppress their women in the name of Islam. I had seen too many Muslim women believe that submission to man is equal to submission to God. And if that’s not blasphemous, I don’t know what is.’ –page 88.
‘Issues that impacted me and women who looked like me were not discussed as widely as ‘Western’ issues were. And when Muslim women were discussed, it was to blame us rather than help. The hijab and niqab were always discussed as practices forced on Muslim women, even when we talked about how it was in individual choice. Instead of focusing on our voices, it looked as though mainstream feminists were keen to create their own narrative for us. I think they like the idea of “saving us from ourselves”.’ –page 194-195.
The quotations above in my opinion are quite representing the contents of this book. Zeba Talkhani, an Indian girl who lived in Jeddah until she graduated from school, shared her experience of Indian culture and Saudi Arabia's patriarchal and oppressive laws for women. In her teens, Zeba suffered severe hair loss and this became a big problem especially for her family, since Zeba would not ‘sell’ to be a wife. Not to mention her nature of being curious and always questioning everything that limit her movements, including Islamic laws, and the ambition to pursue her career rather than busy ‘dressing up' in order to get good prospective husband. After college and living in Germany and then England, Zeba also experienced discrimination because of her color.
I love this book because of Zeba's forthright and honest writings. Zeba also shares tips on how to stand up to a nosy family members who like to intervene and saying hurtful things, as well as how to defend oneself to a situations one cannot control (she called this ‘radical self-care’). I love how she praises Islam and always glorify it, how she worships his parents even though they are different and often argued.
This book is very worth reading, especially for young adults who are searching for their identity.
‘For years I yearned for love and acceptance until I realized that the voice I was looking for was mine.’ –page 198.
‘By emphasizing beauty, the patriarchy has created a structure in which women are forced to focus on superficial aspects. Judging a gender by their looks can only foster insecurities and that is the intentions.’ –page 59.
‘…I realized, that if your faith is threatened by a young girl’s questioning, maybe it’s time to revisit our values.’ –page 87.
‘My religion is above the culture I had grown up in. My religion is better than the people who oppress their women in the name of Islam. I had seen too many Muslim women believe that submission to man is equal to submission to God. And if that’s not blasphemous, I don’t know what is.’ –page 88.
‘Issues that impacted me and women who looked like me were not discussed as widely as ‘Western’ issues were. And when Muslim women were discussed, it was to blame us rather than help. The hijab and niqab were always discussed as practices forced on Muslim women, even when we talked about how it was in individual choice. Instead of focusing on our voices, it looked as though mainstream feminists were keen to create their own narrative for us. I think they like the idea of “saving us from ourselves”.’ –page 194-195.
The quotations above in my opinion are quite representing the contents of this book. Zeba Talkhani, an Indian girl who lived in Jeddah until she graduated from school, shared her experience of Indian culture and Saudi Arabia's patriarchal and oppressive laws for women. In her teens, Zeba suffered severe hair loss and this became a big problem especially for her family, since Zeba would not ‘sell’ to be a wife. Not to mention her nature of being curious and always questioning everything that limit her movements, including Islamic laws, and the ambition to pursue her career rather than busy ‘dressing up' in order to get good prospective husband. After college and living in Germany and then England, Zeba also experienced discrimination because of her color.
I love this book because of Zeba's forthright and honest writings. Zeba also shares tips on how to stand up to a nosy family members who like to intervene and saying hurtful things, as well as how to defend oneself to a situations one cannot control (she called this ‘radical self-care’). I love how she praises Islam and always glorify it, how she worships his parents even though they are different and often argued.
This book is very worth reading, especially for young adults who are searching for their identity.
‘For years I yearned for love and acceptance until I realized that the voice I was looking for was mine.’ –page 198.