Culture Entry #2- Gretchen Anderson

Dreams of Trespass- Fatima Mernissi

I recently read a book called "Dreams of Trespass" by Fatima Mernissi, which is a sort of memoir of her childhood in Morocco in the 50s and 60s but also a commentary on ideas like the harem and hudud (or "frontier", also "border"). Mernissi grew up intrigued by the harems that she spent her life in. She lived in a harem in Fez with her paternal grandparents, her father and his brother, and their wives and children, as well as many divorced and widowed aunts, servants, and guests. She would also visit her maternal grandparent's harem out in the country.

The book tells of her various adventures and about the daily life in a harem (or in her specific family harem). She tells of her close friendship with her cousin, Samir, which grows apart as they each get older and begin to realize the differences in their gender. She tells the difference between each harem: how the one in the country does not have walls, but her grandfather has many wives so they must be careful to please him or else they may not get to spend nights with him. The harem in the medina of Fez has walls and the women are not allowed to leave, but within the walls they express their desire for freedom in many ways. Her cousins, Chama, loves drama and theater, and she acts out many plays and shows her desire for a modern opportunity to leave the harem and explore the world outside. She tells stories of strong women who are able to escape the hold of men. Mernissi's Aunt Habiba is a divorcee who must therefore abide by the tradition of the house that Lalla Mani (Mernissi's grandmother) demands while the women embroider traditional patterns for their qamis's, but in the secret of her upper floor room, she embroiders birds and modern designs that symbolize her passion for flight and desire to see more of the sky than just that which is visible above the courtyard and the terrace.

Mernissi writes in a satyrical way. She tells stories and shares information that grabs the reader because her style is so playful while she addresses a serious topic. She pokes fun at the way the characters in her family behave and she makes jokes about her own behavior and thought processes as a child. However, her book is a commentary on the life of a woman and how women must always be aware of the hudud, or the invisible line that they are not allowed to cross. In the medina harem in Fez, that line is a physical wall, or boundary, that the women cannot pass. In the harem in the countryside, that line is more abstract and scares her because she is not sure how she is allowed to behave. In the context of this book, it is interesting how she explore the meaning of the hudud and the definition of a harem while she is just a young girl. She and her cousin Samir investigate why the harem is a place that their relatives feel it necessary to live. They explore the differences between the traditional way of life and the modern way that the French and Americans and Germans live. It is a super interesting book to read because she leaves room for the audience to engage in her life and have their own thoughts about the hudud.

My favorite quote comes from the character Mina, a servant woman who escaped her kidnappers and ended up living in the Mernissi harem. When young Fatima asks her how she will know which side of the frontier (hudud) she is on, Mina replies, "if you can't get out, you are on the powerless side"(242).

This was a super interesting book to read because of the beautiful way that Mernissi portrays her childhood. It is beautiful, but laced with the disappointments and lack of freedom that tradition and the hudud bring. I found myself completely in love with Morocco (I can't wait to go there in two months for study abroad!), but I also saw an interesting perspective on feminism and women's position below men in the 50s and 60s in a Muslim country.

Mernissi, Fatima. Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Pub., 1994. Print.