Guests of the Sheik
Guests of the Sheik was written in 1956-1958 by Elizabeth Fernea, who entered Iraq with her husband shortly after getting married, as he was a social anthropology graduate student from the University of Chicago studying the El Nahra area as part of his doctorate research. Fernea was a little hesitant at first to partake in certain customs that would help her ultimately begin to fit in with the rural Iraqi women, such as the wearing of an “abayah” (a garment the women wear to cover themselves when in the presence of men). Fernea lived and behaved in the village the way she believed a normal female villager would, tending to the food and laundry but letting the men shop at the market, ...
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with Fernea as she spends about a year and a half in total living among the Iraqi women.
After getting married to Bob, Fernea had to make the decision whether she were to return home to the states without her husband, or if she would accompany him in El Nahra, and Fernea made the choice I feel many or even most newlywed women would make if they were in the same position today. She was worried about fitting in with the other women living in the village, but did not want to wear an abayah at first, as she was not used to these customs and did not want to change herself for others. Fernea said, “If they can’t take me as I am, if we have to make artificial gestures to prove we are human beings too – what’s the point?” (p. 6). However, Fernea soon began wearing the abayah which did seem to allow her to fit in even just a slight amount more with the other women and, in my opinion, showed the Iraqi women that she was taking the move seriously and wanted to learn the customs ...
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by the other women of not knowing how to cook rice and that she must be lazy, as they never see any laundry hanging at her house! How embarrassing!
Over time however, the women are very welcoming overall towards Fernea. They show her how to cook rice, and advise her on things they feel every housewife should know, such as to have Bob buy her a lot of real jewelry which would serve as a sort of “insurance” if they ever split. They tell her, “A woman’s jewelry is her own insurance against disaster, and the community may take action against men who attempt to seize their women’s gold.” (p. 62). They also advise her on cooking for large numbers of guests and serving tea, which ...
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Guests of the Sheik. (2019, December 3). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Guests-of-the-Sheik/107126
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"Guests of the Sheik." Essayworld.com. December 3, 2019. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Guests-of-the-Sheik/107126.
"Guests of the Sheik." Essayworld.com. December 3, 2019. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Guests-of-the-Sheik/107126.
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