Life Behind the Veil-The World of Islamic Women

AMAN: THE STORY OF A SOMALI GIRL, by Virginia Lee Barnes. 1996. (305.40967 Barne.V)

An extraordinary and harrowing first-person account of growing up female in the 1950s and 60s in Somalia. Aman recounts her ritual clitoridectomy at age eight, her friendship with a white boy for which the punishment was harsh, her arranged marriage at eleven to a brutal man, and her escape to the city where the decadent world of white colonists offers her a sort-of refuge. An eloquent and dramatic story of one woman's search for self-awareness and freedom of expression.

ARAB WOMEN: BETWEEN DEFIANCE AND RESTRAINT. 1996. (305.40956 Arab)

This collection of essays by a distinguished group of Arab women writers and other experts (Hanan Ashrawi and Leila Sharaf among them) examines the challenges facing women in today's Islamic cultures who have chosen to struggle against male domination and who seek to establish or restore their basic human rights.

AT THE DROP OF A VEIL, by Marianne Alireza. 1971. (B Alire.M Alire.M)

A college romance during the 1940s between the author, an American who had never traveled out of her home state of California, and a young student from Saudi Arabia led to the first marriage between a Saudi and a western woman. In 1945 Marianne Alireza left the U.S. to take up the veil for the next twelve years as a member of her husband's family's harem. The author found both good and bad in her sequestered woman's world, but until her husband found a second wife, she considered herself happily married. This is an intriguing look at life in a harem in one of the Middle East's most traditional societies.

BEYOND THE VEIL: THE ADVENTURES OF AN AMERICAN DOCTOR IN SAUDI ARABIA, by Seymour Gray. 1983. (915.38 GRA)

A doctor spends seven years, 1975 to 1982, as Physician in Charge at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. Treating both men and women from every walk of life, Gray provides a "man's eye view" of life in this anachronistic world. Though barred from ever visiting a harem socially, as a physician Gray had more unrestricted contact with Saudi women than other western men.

THE BLINDFOLD HORSE: MEMORIES OF A PERSIAN CHILDHOOD, by Shusha Guppy. 1988. (B Guppy.S Guppy.S)

In a magical land called Persia, before the oil boom, before the Shah's overthrow, Shusha Guppy spent an almost perfect childhood surrounded by a family that loved her, enjoying the benefits of modernity such as expanded rights and opportunities for women. With humor and poignancy she recounts her life in a culture as rich in romance, myth and adventure as the tales in The Arabian Nights.

A BORDER PASSAGE: FROM CAIRO TO AMERICA--A WOMAN'S JOURNEY, by Leila Ahmed. 1999. (B Ahmed.L Ahmed.L)

The autobiography of a remarkable woman and her life's journey through times of social upheaval. Born to liberal-minded, politically active parents in Cairo, growing up in the 1940s and 50s, Ahmed's path brought her to many cultures in the Middle East and in the West. Now a professor of women's studies at the University of Massachusetts, Ahmed shares her particular brand of ardent feminism and her insights on nationalism, Islam, multi-culturalism, and especially on the differences between men's and women's ways of knowing.

DAUGHTERS OF ANOTHER PATH: EXPERIENCES OF AMERICAN WOMEN CHOOSING ISLAM, by Carol Anderson Anway. 1998, c1996. (297.082 Anway.C) ACH5981

A high school guidance counselor and writer of Christian educational material, Carol Anway was faced with understanding and accepting her daughter's conversion to Islam. In a moving and honest account, Anway explores the motivations that drew 53 other American women down this different spiritual path in an attempt to reconcile herself to her own daughter's decision.

DAUGHTER OF PERSIA: A WOMAN'S JOURNEY FROM HER FATHER'S HAREM THROUGH THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION, by Sattareh Farman-Farmaian. 1992. (B Farma.S Farma.S)

Daughter of a powerful and privileged "shazdeh," or prince, Sattareh's childhood was spent in her family's harem during the 1920s and 30s. She broke tradition to study abroad and founded the Tehran School of Social Work. Operating during the last 20 years of the Shah's politically restrictive but westernized society, Sattareh waged a heroic war on ignorance, poverty, and disease. The collapse of the Shah's regime and the return of the Ayatollah Khomeini, along with Islamic fundamentalism, caused a dramatic change in Sattareh's life and work. A fascinating look at life in Iran during a volatile and changing period.

DREAMS OF TRESPASS: TALES OF A HAREM GIRLHOOD, by Fatima Mernissi. 1994. (305.48697 Merni.F)

Moroccan feminist Mernissi brings to life the vanished world of 1940s Fez where she grew up confined within the walls of her extended family's harem. Her storytelling abilities highlight the many magical moments she shared with her mother, sisters, aunts, cousins, and various other unattached females who made up the household, as they worked, staged plays, told stories, argued the merits of harem life, and engaged in small acts of sedition against their confinement.

DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE. 1998. (Video 346.0166 Divorce)

Narrator Joanna Rosenthall takes us inside an Iranian divorce court and shows how Muslim women are treated under Islamic law. Parts of the film are in Farsi with English subtitles.

DO THEY HEAR YOU WHEN YOU CRY, by Fauziya Kassindja. 1998. (B Kassi.F Kassi.F)

The death of her progressive father brought dramatic changes for young Fauziya, a 17-year-old girl from Togo. Forced to marry a stranger who already had three wives, and facing the crude and cruel ritual of female genital mutiliation, Fauziya fled first to Germany, then to the U.S., only to become entangled in a dense web of immigration detention facilities. Her plea for asylum was taken up by a young law student, Layli Miller Bashir, who put her heart and soul into the case. This is the emotional story of their struggle for justice.

FATIMA AND HER SISTERS, by Dorothy Van Ess. 1978. (392.3 V289f)

Founder of the first girls' school in Basrah, Iraq, Van Ess recounts her experiences with a large circle of Arab women who become her students, co-workers, and friends.

GOING TO IRAN, by Kate Millet. 1982. (305.40955 MIL)

Noted American feminist Millet provides a highly personal account of her stay in the "new" Iran during the early stages of the Islamic revolution. She decries the religious and social repression of the Ayatollah's new regime, as well as the political repression of the Shah. Millet examines the notion of ideal revolution and how it can go tragically wrong.

THE HIDDEN FACE OF EVE, by Nawåa Sådåawåi. 1982, c1981. (305.40956 SAD)

A first book of essays by Egyptian feminist and militant Sådåawåi, originally published in 1980, explores the secret and often ignored lives of women trapped in restrictive Islamic societies. In her role as a physician, she was able to learn the intimate aspects of rural women's lives and the almost insurmountable difficulties they face in a quest for basic human rights.

IMAGES OF WOMEN: THE PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE EAST, 1860-1950, by Sarah Graham-Brown. 1988. (305.40956 Graha.S)

A historical look at how our Western images of women of the Middle East were influenced (both positively and negatively) by photographs taken in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Augmented with written sources and oral histories, this work examines the lives of women in a number of cultures at a time that encompassed major social upheavals.

IN SEARCH OF ISLAMIC FEMINISM: ONE WOMAN'S GLOBAL JOURNEY, by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea. 1998. (305.48697 Ferne.E)

Though a seeming oxymoron, Islamic feminism is a diverse and surprising force in today's Middle East despite the multitude of challenges in that region. Fernea, a professor of Middle Eastern studies, provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the status and vision of Muslim women.

MY FORBIDDEN FACE: GROWING UP UNDER THE TALIBAN: A YOUNG WOMAN'S STORY, by Latifa. 2001. (305.4209581 Latifa)

Sixteen-year-old Latifa was a prisoner in her own home for four years when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. In this moving account she tells us her story, her crushed dreams, her dread, her frustrations, and finally, her brave resistance to inhumanity when she sets up a clandestine school for young children.

THE NAWAL EL SÅDÅAWÅI READER, by Nawåal Sådåawåi. 1997. (305.40956 Sadaw.N)

Author, doctor, feminist, and militant, Sådåawåi is one of the Arab world's most outspoken fighters for women's rights. This collection of writings covers a range of topics including women in African literature, forced female circumcision, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and the internationalization of the women's movement.

NEITHER EAST NOR WEST: ONE WOMAN'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, by Christiane Bird. 2001. (955.054 Bird.C)

Travel writer Christiane Bird recounts her solo bus journey through the country of Iran as it emerged from the highly repressive grip of the pre-Khatami regime. Both a travelogue and an overview of a fascinating culture, this work offers insights into a deeply misunderstood nation that is often plagued by stereotypes. As a woman traveling on her own, Bird is able to provide us with a glimpse into the everyday lives of Iranian women.

NINE PARTS OF DESIRE: THE HIDDEN WORLD OF ISLAMIC WOMEN, by Geraldine Brooks. 1995. (305.48 Brook.G)

Journalist Brooks delves into the life and society of women throughout the Middle East. Chapters on topics ranging from working women to an all-female, all-Arab Olympics are highly readable and filled with anecdotal detail. The roots of Islamic treatment of women are explored. Brooks offers no mere impartial descriptions; she strongly and continuously decries the inequalities and, in some cases, atrocities she witnesses. The author's alarm at the growing return to Islamic fundamentalism is a repeating, cautionary thread.

NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER, by Betty Mahmoody. 1987. (B Mahmo.B Mahmo.B)

This is the true story of one woman's struggle to survive and escape with her daughter from an alien and frightening culture. Married in the U.S. to an Americanized Iranian, Mahmoody found herself imprisoned in Tehran along with her young daughter when her husband decided to return to his homeland after the fall of the Shah. Though by no means a scholarly view of life in modern day Iran, Mahmoody provides fast-paced reading and an action-packed story that paints a picture of the upheaval and repression she experienced.

PRICE OF HONOR: MUSLIM WOMEN LIFT THE VEIL OF SILENCE ON THE ISLAMIC WORLD, by Jan Goodwin. 1994. (305.48 Goodw.J)

Journalist Goodwin lived in the Middle East for over four years, beginning in 1988 in Peshawar on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. There she befriended a young girl and was devastated by her treatment at the hands of her father, who married her off to a man old enough to be her grandfather. In order to understand these events, Goodwin traveled throughout the Muslim world interviewing women of all educational and social levels. The stories of these women's lives reflect the restrictions and, in some cases, the maltreatment they endure. Goodwin examines the history and teachings of Islam and the rise of fundamentalism as it affects women's lives, and presents a sub-culture of systematic repression.

PRINCESS: A TRUE STORY OF LIFE BEHIND THE VEIL IN SAUDI ARABIA, by Jean Sasson. 1992. (305.4209 Sasso.J

An intimate look at the life of a Saudi princess. Sultana, a member of the royal Al Sa'ud family, risks not only her marriage, social position and the right to see her children, but also her very life to reveal the conditions of Saudi women. Though now one of the wealthiest nations of the world, Saudi Arabian interpretation of Islamic tradition is one of the most restrictive in the Middle East.

PRINCESS SULTANA'S CIRCLE, by Jean P. Sasson. 2000. (305.4209 Sasso.J)

The third part of an amazing and revealing saga. The princess of the title-a member of the Saudi royal family-has risked much to tell the story of oppression in her native land. Though sometimes lurid, this fast-paced account of the struggle to improve the lot of Arab women has become a best-seller here and abroad.

PRINCESS SULTANA'S DAUGHTERS, by Jean Sasson. 1994. (305.4209 Sasso.J)

A continuation of Princess: a True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia. Princess Sultana, despite being discovered as the source of the first book, boldly continues the saga of life in the Saudi royal family. Focusing on the effects of a harshly repressive society on her own children, Sultana's tell-all style of relating intimate details borders on the overly dramatic, but drives home the point nonetheless.

RAGE AGAINST THE VEIL: THE COURAGEOUS LIFE AND DEATH OF AN ISLAMIC DISSIDENT, by Parvin Darabi. 1999. (B Darab.P Darab.P)

Returning to her native Iran after living and working in the U.S. for a number of years, psychiatrist Darabi found a society that is appallingly abusive of women's rights. Taking on the immense challenge of fighting against this oppression, Darabi is driven to make the ultimate protest, a dramatic suicide in a public square. In this moving account her sister tries to make sense of Darabi's life, and to continue the struggle for human rights in Iran.

SCHEHERAZADE GOES WEST: DIFFERENT CULTURES, DIFFERENT HAREMS, by Fatima Mernissi. 2001. (305.42 Merni.F)

An Islamic sociologist and Koranic scholar recounts a life of travel and discovery that was inspired by the advice of her harem-kept grandmother. Mernissi sheds unprecedented light on the lives of women in the Middle East, and weaves a fascinating account of her own unique experiences as a liberated, independent Moroccan woman.

A TAJIK WOMAN. 1994. (Video 305.48 Tajik)

A brief documentary film in which various Muslim women discuss social conditions in their country and the problems in their lives.

UNBOWED: AN ALGERIAN WOMAN CONFRONTS ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM, by Khalida Messaoudi. 1998. (965.05 Messa.K)

Renowned journalist Elisabeth Schemla, in a series of intensely intimate interviews with noted Algerian activist Messaoudi, explores the plight of women under fundamentalist Islamic regimes. Recounting the gradual erosion of rights in her own Algeria, Messaoudi also relates her own story of despair and determination to continue her struggle to end these abuses.

UNVEILED: VOICES OF WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN, by Harriet Logan. 2002. (305.4209581 Logna. H) ACS-2151

Award-winning photographer Logan revisits a group of Afghan women she originally photographed and interviewed in 1997 when Taliban rule made them virtual prisoners in their own homes and imperiled their lives in many other ways. The dramatic upheavals in Afghanistan that came about due to the events of 2001 changed their lives again. Here, in powerful images and words, is their continuing story.

VEILED COURAGE: INSIDE THE AFGHAN WOMEN'S RESISTANCE, by Cheryl Benard. 2002. (305.4209581 Benar. C)

Despite the threat of harsh punishments such as brutal public beatings and death, the sole effective civil resistance to Taliban rule was made by women. This book tells the story of the bravery and tenacity of the women of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), which, even though the Taliban Regime has ended continues the struggle for human rights.

WOMEN AND THE FAMILY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, edited by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea. 1985. (305.40956 WOM)

This collection of previously unpublished documents, essays, stories, life histories, poems and reports constitutes a progress report on the status of women and the family in the modern Middle East. Ten countries-Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya-are represented, and two contributions deal with Palestinians.

THE WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN UNDER THE TALIBAN, by Rosemarie Skaine. 2002. (305.4209581 Skain. R)

An account of the historical, religious and political forces that have shaped the national identity of women in Afghanistan, especially in light of the recent years of terrible hardship under the Taliban. Based on interviews provided by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.

ZOYA'S STORY: AN AFGHAN WOMAN'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. 2002. (958.1045 Zoya)

Zoya, a young Afghan woman, gives us a first-person account of the horrors of life under Taliban rule. As an exile in Pakistan, she joined the clandestine resistance group known as the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, and became directly involved in the perilous struggle for human rights in that region.