I wanted to pick something that look relatively short that I could possibly finish in a few hours. This lead me to cruise my small but well-rounded bookshelf, and pick:
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
To be perfectly honest, I’ve kind of had it with all the silly puns about “going behind the veil.” The western world has turned the veil into a kind of demonized symbol of Muslim oppression. When I worked at a tutoring center for refugee students in Maine (most of whom were Muslims from the Sudan and Somalia), the veil was a gorgeous piece of culture that at least these girls felt was a choice for them. Somedays they wore it, somedays not, but it was an expression of their identity and cultural history. Now this gets more complicated when you get into the burqa and the Taliban, which is really much more about control, violence, and the power of zealots then it is about keeping your hair covered.
So far, this book is fantastic. It moves quickly, and Rodriguez gives a vision of Afghani culture without clouding the writing with judgements and assessments.
Pages read in current book: 56
Pages total: 197
Charity: Child Upliftment Center Nepal
3 Comments so far
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Ruby Ramblings 
I’ve always heard good things about this book. Good choice! You might be late to the party, but you’re rockin it, smilin’ with your eyes…ok ok I’ll stop now lol
Comment by bybee April 11, 2010 @ 10:12 amWonderful job on the Read-a-Thon! Way to go! I’ll be looking forward to reading with you on October. Keep on rocking and reading, read-a-thoner! It’s been lots of fun! 😀
Comment by Alex April 11, 2010 @ 11:58 amThe sweet, irrepressible 18-year-old Muslim woman I met in chemistry at MTSU was explaining to me one day how the veil was about modesty, not oppression… As I was busy biting back my skeptical remarks, she went on, “Plus I didn’t have time to wash my hair last night, so I can just cover it up!” I miss that kid.
Comment by csc April 11, 2010 @ 5:12 pm