Comments on: Scheherazade Goes West http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/06/scheherazade-goes-west.html Calling Patriarchy As We See It Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:36:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Audrey http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/06/scheherazade-goes-west.html/comment-page-1#comment-45 Audrey Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:44:56 +0000 http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/06/scheherazade-goes-west.html#comment-45 Thanks for starting a conversation on this piece. I am also loathe to buy into either the "Islam/Orient oppress women in need of our saving" or the "Western patriarchy is really the worst ever and women elsewhere are so liberated" biases. The challenge seems to be, as always, to dig in and discern just how our various cultures are harmful to women and can be improved, regardless of comparisons, because such comparisons can never be objective as they suppose themselves to be - and subjectivity is a much more useful space to work for change from. Okay. I like the idea of looking at how my US culture creates harems for women, too, if not in visible space than in mental space. We know that women are encouraged to hold their bodies in such ways that take up less space than men, to cross their legs and wear tight clothes and to just make do with less in life.... this is a fertile arena for thoughts. Thanks for the 'hmmmm' moment! Thanks for starting a conversation on this piece. I am also loathe to buy into either the “Islam/Orient oppress women in need of our saving” or the “Western patriarchy is really the worst ever and women elsewhere are so liberated” biases. The challenge seems to be, as always, to dig in and discern just how our various cultures are harmful to women and can be improved, regardless of comparisons, because such comparisons can never be objective as they suppose themselves to be – and subjectivity is a much more useful space to work for change from.

Okay.

I like the idea of looking at how my US culture creates harems for women, too, if not in visible space than in mental space. We know that women are encouraged to hold their bodies in such ways that take up less space than men, to cross their legs and wear tight clothes and to just make do with less in life…. this is a fertile arena for thoughts. Thanks for the ‘hmmmm’ moment!

]]> By: Kelly http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/06/scheherazade-goes-west.html/comment-page-1#comment-39 Kelly Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:27:32 +0000 http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/06/scheherazade-goes-west.html#comment-39 Hi Anna Lisa, I met you fairly recently at a RAFTS meeting. I happened upon your blog while looking for other local bloggers. I read Scheherazade Goes West last year! I really enjoyed it. More recently I borrowed a book from my sister that portrayed various women explorers dating as far back as the Medieval and Renaissance periods to the present. I think the title of the book was, in fact, Women Explorers. At any rate, one of my favourite stories from the book told the story of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (whom you may have heard of previously) She is credited (unfortunately, not as credited as Jenner) for bringing the small pox vaccine to the western world from Turkey in the 17th century. I thought it ironic that the women of the harems felt that western women were certainly more oppressed than they considering the corset that Mary wore. They pitied her and felt that their garments, including the veils, gave them greater freedom of movement both publicly and at a basic physical level. The western world's obsession with shaping women's bodies runs deep and is very old. I wonder what began it? Hi Anna Lisa, I met you fairly recently at a RAFTS meeting. I happened upon your blog while looking for other local bloggers.
I read Scheherazade Goes West last year! I really enjoyed it.
More recently I borrowed a book from my sister that portrayed various women explorers dating as far back as the Medieval and Renaissance periods to the present. I think the title of the book was, in fact, Women Explorers.
At any rate, one of my favourite stories from the book told the story of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (whom you may have heard of previously) She is credited (unfortunately, not as credited as Jenner) for bringing the small pox vaccine to the western world from Turkey in the 17th century.
I thought it ironic that the women of the harems felt that western women were certainly more oppressed than they considering the corset that Mary wore. They pitied her and felt that their garments, including the veils, gave them greater freedom of movement both publicly and at a basic physical level.
The western world’s obsession with shaping women’s bodies runs deep and is very old. I wonder what began it?

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