Zaza borrowed a book from library, called Burned Alive, written by an author that goes by the name Souad. I am not sure how true the story is, and whether the author is using her real name, yeah well, she did say that she has to remain anonymous for her own safety, but anyways, that's not the point here. I read that book, and now I'm deeply disturbed.
The story is about Souad who was from a village where women are literally treated worse than an animal. Like what Souad's father often told her, at least the goats and cows gave them milk and meat, but girls and women are no use. The only useful thing they can do is to bear sons for their husbands. That is how the men there treat women. They beat and abused the women just because they are men. Being born as a girl is a crime by itself, and it is normal for them to kill women and get away from it punishment-free.
Anyways, the story is about how Souad survived honour killing. In her village, it is not acceptable for a girl to have sex before marriage, and well, Souad did, and when she was found out, her family tried to burn her alive. How she survived, I don't know, but anyways, she did and now her story is all in the book I have just finished reading.
What disturbed me so much is that I have never realised that women can be treated so badly. And I thought gender discrimination is bad. This is like the worst kind of gender discrimination. Being a feminist, personally I don't even want to be stuck with doing housework chores and cooking. Not to mention being controlled by men. But for the women in Souad's village, it is a must to obey the men and be treated like an animal. It is so disgusting how they have this kind of mentality... how women are just being treated worse than animals and the women don't even have the knowledge or thought of ever retaliating. The thought of being equal to the men never even occurred to them.
Suddenly I'm thankful that I'm born in a place where women are not treated like shit. Even if a few men here and there still have the very traditional thinking that women should stay in the house and do housework while giving babies, I'm glad that at least I get the chance to study and voice out my thoughts. Best of all, I am brought up in an environment where I am not abused because I don't have XY chromosome, and I can developed my own person, and have my own thoughts.
Makes me wonder how much of the world that I have no clue about. Probably a lot more cruelty and harsh reality.
And you wonder why I hate reading newspaper.
3 comments:
Jojo, Souad was a nom de plume. Both her book and Norma Khouri's "Honor Lost" have been widely discredited in literary scandals. In fact, Norma's book was removed from the market entirely.
However, you are justified in your outrage at the ongoing human rights abuses toward girls and women. Dishonor killings do still happen. . .in fact, they are on the increase globally, including in the West.
Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
"Reclaiming Honor in Jordan"
http://www.redroom.com/author/ellen-r-sheeley
i somehow stumbled on your blog...and after reading your this post, felt compelled to comment on your post. what you have read in the book "burned alive" is a gory and scarry. sad to say but true, women are treated as baby making factories in some countries. or even worse. when their machinery runs down, their husbands move on to find new factories and abandon the old ones. you may be intersted to read some books by jean sasson namedly "princess", "daughters of arabia" and "desert royal". these are some of the books that i find disturbing. i'm not sure to what extent are those books was a nom de plume, but, well, it did spark my horror of some things like this could and did happen. i am on your side in your feelings about being a woman and the rest.
that's just sad... i'll see if i manage to get my hands on those books. thanks for the suggestion :)
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