The Harem WithinAs a little girl, Fatima Mernissi was often puzzled by the idea of the harem. Even if you accepted that men and women needed to be kept apart, she asked, why couldn't it be the woman who walked freely in the streets, while men stayed locked behind the harem gates? In this story, she tells of her childhood in a Fez harem in the 1940s, a period of social transition in Morocco. |
Contents
My Harem Frontiers | 1 |
Scheherazade the King and the Words | 13 |
The French Harem | 21 |
Copyright | |
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Abbasid Allah Allemane Arab asked Asmahan audience Aunt Habiba beauty treatments caftan Caliph Chama Christians co-wives courtyard Cousin Zin Dananir dance divorced djellaba djinnis dream dress embroidered eyes face farm Father Fatima Mernissi feel floor flowers French frontier gate girls Gnawa Grandfather Grandmother Lalla grownups hair hammam hand happiness harem Harun al-Rashid head henna hudud husband Jews jump King knew Koran Lalla Radia Lalla Thor listen lived look magic Malika Marrakech meant Mecca Medina Mellah Mernissi Moroccan Morocco mosque Mother Muslim nationalists needed never night olive jars Omayyad Oum Kelthoum play Prince Princess Budur Qamar ritual salon Samir Scheherazade screaming Shajarat al-Durr Sidi silence sing skin slave sofa started story streets talk Tamou taqlidi Tazi terrace theater things told took tradition Uncle veil walk wanted wear woman women words Yasmina