Compare And Contrast Fatima Mernissi

In Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminists, we know that the entries are of Huda’s diary written by her at the time she experienced what was going on in her life. However, Huda’s diary entries were translated and arranged by Margot Badran into a logical, chronological reconstruction which lost a little of Huda’s voice in the diary. Huda Shaarawi in her respective harem differed than Fatima Mernissi in her respective harem. Huda, an aristocrat, lived in an aristocratic harem and had different experiences than that of Fatima Mernissi. Growing up, Huda did receive an education, she learned Arabic, had tutors, and traveled so one could quickly assume women in aristocratic harems had more liberties than women in poorer social classes but this is not the case. …show more content…
I knew of One Thousand and One Nights but I didn’t think about the meaning, significance, and extent of the bravery of Scheherazade but rather focused on the wonderful stories she told. “I was amazed to realize that for many Westerners, Scheherazade was considered a lovely but simple-minded entertainer, someone who narrates innocuous tales and dresses fabulously. In our part of the world, Scheherazade is perceived as a courageous heroine and is one of our rare female mythical figures. Scheherazade is a strategist and a powerful thinker, who uses her psychological knowledge of human beings to get them to walk faster and leap higher… she makes us bolder and more sure of ourselves and of our capacity to transform the world and its people”(Mernissi 15). This statement Fatima Mernissi stated in the footnotes, resonated with me because I thought just that, it all as a wonderful and whimsical story despite the power Scheherazade held using her voice, her words, and her mind. Scheherazade's ability to engage saved herself as well as many other women from being killed and makes her a remarkable feminist