No Shame for the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women / Edition 1

by Shahla Haeri

Overview

This groundbreaking work sheds new light on the status, conflicts, and social realities of educated Muslim women in Pakistan. Six candid interviews introduce readers to a class of professional Muslim women that is rarely, if ever, acknowledged in the West. These women tell of conflicts and compromises with family, kin, and community, while facing violence, archaic marriage rules, and locally entrenched codes of conduct. With brave eloquence they speak of human dignity and gender equality, of economic deprivation and social justice, and of feminism and fundamentalism. Challenging stereotypes, No Shame for the Sun reveals the uniqueness of each person and diversity in the life experience of Pakistani Muslim women, including their world views and the struggles to change their society. Through their struggles, professional Pakistani women have become conscious of their own and other women's situations in their country. Because they exercise power and authority in their chosen fields, they risk losing their families' support and antagonizing their communities. Carefully detailed and meticulously researched, this book offers a much-needed perspective on the changing circumstances of Pakistani women along with a view of established patterns and structural constraints within Pakistan. On a broader level, it examines Western misconceptions regarding Islam, a religion that crosses many borders and cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815629795
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2002
Series:	Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	490
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.02(d)

About the Author

Shahla Haeri is the director of the Women's Studies program at Boston University. She has published numerous articles and monographs, including Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage in Shi'i Iran, also published by Syracuse University Press.

Editorial Reviews

"The women portrayed in... feminist literature on Muslim societies seem to lead lives very distant from the authors who write about them," comments Boston University professor Haeri. In this unusual, groundbreaking work, Haeri's subjects are not the customary "veiled women, peasant women, tribal women, urban poor women," but six middle- and upper middle-class educated professional Pakistani women, with whom she has much in common. Each individual oral history is supplemented by Haeri's lucid commentary, adding depth and clarity to what outsiders may view as complex class and ethnicity ties. In each case, Haeri examines the roles of identity, violence, legitimacy, marriage, kinship and religion in the women's lives. Although many of them have experienced trauma, they have secured autonomous lives of professional achievement, often in arranged marriages. They hold doctorates, manage estates, write poetry and establish schools; among them are a Sufi feminist thinker and a political activist. Haeri, an American Muslim born in Iran, brings unique qualities to this study, she is knowledgeable about Islam but admittedly still learning about Pakistan. As she observes, "What has been seen in the Muslim world is, paradoxically, not the visible, unveiled professional woman but the veiled Muslim woman, the sight of whom does not... add much to one's knowledge of women in the Muslim world." With rich detail, Haeri brings six women vibrantly into view and provides readers with a much-needed lens adjustment. (Nov.) Forecast: Scholars of women's studies and Islam will find value in this study, as will readers with a serious interest in current events. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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