It is with great difficulty that the narrator of Mai Ghoussoub’s Leaving Beirut attempts to reconcile the “victimized and vulnerable” with the “large and powerful”; to reconcile the two, and then locate them in the body of an Arab woman, is another qualm entirely (Ghoussoub 66). Nonetheless, it is through this reconciliation that Ghoussoub endeavors to subvert the trope of the weak and helpless Arab woman. Through her text, Ghoussoub takes a “frail, skinny little girl” who is constantly subjected to a wide range of abuse, and allows her to turn into someone who takes charge of her own life and her personal path to freedom (Ghoussoub 65). Thus, not only does Latifa’s transformation into Umm Ali in “The Heroism of Umm Ali” help in undoing the
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Despite the fact that Latifa’s vulnerability is emphasized a great deal at the start of “The Heroism of Umm Ali,” it is her self-directed transformation into Umm Ali that ultimately drives Ghoussoub’s subversion of the trope of the helpless, Arab woman. However, in investigating such a subversion, it is necessary that one begins with Latifa’s initial characterization. Latifa begins her story as a powerless individual who could easily be shaped into the subject of what Evelyn Alsultany calls “the oppressed Muslim woman” (Alsultany 72). In fact, Ghoussoub goes as far to assert that “Latifa was alone in her misery, and … was to be alone in her tragedy,” alluding to a fate which would certainly align with Alsultany’s understanding of the trope of the Muslim woman who needs to be saved (Ghoussoub 67). She is further described as “frightened” and “evasive,” as well as the narrator’s “first encounter with heartlessness and abject despotism,” making Latifa a figure that would certainly be pitied among a Western audience (Ghoussoub 66). That being said, though, …show more content…
For example, as Latifa embraces freedom alongside her fellow fighters, Ghoussoub writes that she has “crossed the sacred line that separates the sexes and defines their difference,” allowing Latifa to achieve more than one form of liberation (Ghoussoub 76). Had Leaving Beirut been written with stereotypical notions of gender in Muslim and Arab nations in mind, Latifa would not have even been considered as a potential fighter, nevertheless able to transgress gender itself. However, as Latifa zigzags back and forth through bullets, the men she is attempting to persuade “[applaud] and [whistle] with admiration” (Ghoussoub 75). The brown men who would laugh in her face in a more stereotypical story instead bring her into the fold. The prior option of the two occurs in the film Sahara, where a “reckless, daring and assertive [white woman]” decides to enter a “‘men only’ race” in the “Oriental desert” (Shohat). Unsurprisingly, Brooke Shields’ character is almost immediately abducted and subjected to terror by a myriad of Arab men, doomed to be in their presence until saved. In contrast, Latifa’s story takes the prospect of “men only” groups
Despite the fact that Latifa’s vulnerability is emphasized a great deal at the start of “The Heroism of Umm Ali,” it is her self-directed transformation into Umm Ali that ultimately drives Ghoussoub’s subversion of the trope of the helpless, Arab woman. However, in investigating such a subversion, it is necessary that one begins with Latifa’s initial characterization. Latifa begins her story as a powerless individual who could easily be shaped into the subject of what Evelyn Alsultany calls “the oppressed Muslim woman” (Alsultany 72). In fact, Ghoussoub goes as far to assert that “Latifa was alone in her misery, and … was to be alone in her tragedy,” alluding to a fate which would certainly align with Alsultany’s understanding of the trope of the Muslim woman who needs to be saved (Ghoussoub 67). She is further described as “frightened” and “evasive,” as well as the narrator’s “first encounter with heartlessness and abject despotism,” making Latifa a figure that would certainly be pitied among a Western audience (Ghoussoub 66). That being said, though, …show more content…
For example, as Latifa embraces freedom alongside her fellow fighters, Ghoussoub writes that she has “crossed the sacred line that separates the sexes and defines their difference,” allowing Latifa to achieve more than one form of liberation (Ghoussoub 76). Had Leaving Beirut been written with stereotypical notions of gender in Muslim and Arab nations in mind, Latifa would not have even been considered as a potential fighter, nevertheless able to transgress gender itself. However, as Latifa zigzags back and forth through bullets, the men she is attempting to persuade “[applaud] and [whistle] with admiration” (Ghoussoub 75). The brown men who would laugh in her face in a more stereotypical story instead bring her into the fold. The prior option of the two occurs in the film Sahara, where a “reckless, daring and assertive [white woman]” decides to enter a “‘men only’ race” in the “Oriental desert” (Shohat). Unsurprisingly, Brooke Shields’ character is almost immediately abducted and subjected to terror by a myriad of Arab men, doomed to be in their presence until saved. In contrast, Latifa’s story takes the prospect of “men only” groups