Syrian Bride
September 21st, 2007As a woman who dreams of that perfect wedding day – and I don’t believe having such dreams is anti feminist – this story is especially distressing to me. I am not naive, I do not think life is a fairytale. I know everything is temporary, everything ends. But it is that temporality of life that makes dreams, hopes and aspirations so important.
However for this young woman these dreams, hopes and aspirations have been viciously ripped away from her. On her wedding day she faces the reality that she will never see her family again.
I’m tired of the consequences of politics. I’m fed up that too many people have to face the reality that their dreams will never be fulfilled, so why bother trying? I’m sick of politics’ theft of our dreams and our lives. To me this is just another symptom of the necessity for radical change.
–I would also recommend watching ‘The Syrian Bride’ which depicts this situation, vividly.–
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Oh and I appologise in advance for the use of YouTube.
Wow.
I did not know this. Thanks a lot for sharing.
That’s just torturous, having to pick between love/marriage and family/friends.
Hi Tamara, what did you mean when you say this:
There are many people, especially women, and especially in the West that would view my ‘dream’ of marriage as playing a little too much into the traditional, anti feminist, image of what a woman should aspire to.
I hope they realize how hypocritical they are in fighting for womens’ right to make their own independent choices … which in the end these ‘feminists’ refute and do not respect. It’s kind of like Western feminists coming to the Middle East condemning the hijab, when many of the women here are saying “it’s my choice and I made it.” Then the feminists make the argument that such women are apparently ignorant of their own oppression, that they can’t possibly make that choice if they were “educated.”
In any case there is nothing wrong with your dream as I’m sure you know…
Marriage is a wonderful institution and I’m glad I got married when I did, at 21. My wife was older, 23. It makes little sense to have such barriers anymore. Good governments make exceptions, and through these exceptions progress is made and barriers become thin and the reason why all the fighting began becomes a hard to remember thought.
Has anyone ever heard of the story where all the wives of the World leaders stop having intercourse with their husbands so they wise up and act like decent forward thinking people? Im not sure who wrote it or if it was a joke…but what if?!
Tamara,
I live in the west (USA). For the record I don’t see any conflict between womens rights and dreaming of the perfect wedding. What makes you think this is a west belief?
gary
Gary, she did not say it’s a Western belief. She said “certain women” .. “especially in the West”… believe this. Therefore she did not generalize or claim that this only happens in the West.
Thank you Esra’a, I was trying specifically not to make any generalisations.
Also, living in the West myself (UK) I have encountered numerous women who would call themselves ‘feminist’ and who would outright reject my ideas(about this marriage issue anyway).
Tamara, you said “There are many people, especially women, and especially in the West…”. Even after re-reading it, it sounds to me like a generalization of western beliefs, but thanks for the clarification.
gary
Even after re-reading I fail to see how that’s in any way a generalization when words “certain” and “many” (as opposed to “most” or “all”) are emphasized. You shouldn’t be overly sensitive/defensive.
Esra, I don’t see the word “certain” anywhere in her writings. Maybe it’s too early here and I haven’t had my coffee yet
gary
The funny thing is, when I initially wrote this post I did not write
I only added that after I thought about the possible reactions some people may have had to it. (That thought deriving from my own personal experiences).
And let me just clarify, I do not think that all feminists would feel that way, but there are unfortunately some that take feminism to extremes, such as Esra’a pointed out
i’m not trying to be confrontational and i understand what you meant but i don’t know anyone that considers themselves a feminist and holds this view, including a few people getting phd’s in women’s studies. weird.
I saw the film The Syrian Bride. Everyone I know who saw it cried at the end.
Wishing for open borders in the Middle East….
Omid, I think that story is based off an old Greek comedy called “lysistrata” by Aristophanes. In that play, women refuse sex with their husbands in order to stop the Peloponnesian war.