In this autobiographical narrative, Mernissi defines what harem is and what is not, by identifying the characteristic that most of the people never think of it. A harem is kind of “private space” (9), a house belonging to a man, with special rules, where no other men could enter it without the owner’s permission. The harem is depicted as a sheltered and dull space that allows few freedoms. For me, as a reader the most shocking and horrifying description of the harem were his “invisibles” walls, because “With walls and gates, you at least knew what was expected from you” (13), but how about a harem with no barriers or frontier? What really is a harem? All is about the rules and the prejudices regulating and controlling our life. Human being
