Princess- Jean Sasson
Wow this book was absolutely amazing. From not knowing anything about traditional Saudi lifestyle and reading a memoir, I can now say that I am horrified reading about this thinking that its actually non-fiction, and it is a true story of what happened to one girl. And that it happens to girls all over the world. I mean, that was the author's main goal in writing this and accomplishing to story that she told- to show people about how women's rights need to get better in some countries. I mean, yeah, Saudi Arabia is one of the more worse off countries in terms of women's rights, but still all the oppressed women need to be heard and something needs to be changed about it.
Probably my favorite part of the book was Princess Sultana's because of who she was as a person and her actions. She's not some strong, brave made up character. She's a strong, defiant, brave and amazing girl that refuses to let the male dominance continue. It's obvious how women are treated terribly, and Sultana had the guts to say no to people, to challenge the authority of her brother. She tricked her brother and revealed his stash of alcohol and Playboy magazines (both forbidden in Saudi Arabia) and gave the ultimate insult by raising the bottoms of her feet to her future mother in law. (Her mother in law was not too happy, and decided to get revenge on her later, when Sultana outsmarted her yet again).
It's still really sad to me that this occurs in other countries in the world. The author says in a special chapter titled, "After September 11, 2001" that"Soon after the tragedy of 9/11, I spoke with Princess Sultana and was not surprised when I learned that she, too, was hoping that great change for women in Afghanistan would magically sweep the world. Sadly, that was not to be. She, as I, was disheartened when she saw that the time had not yet come when every government will do the responsible thing and proclaim that freedom is just as important for women, as it is for men" (234). From the way that this is presented, it seems like not much has changed, and this lifestyle is the way it will continue on forever.
At many times throughout the story, there were parts that were disturbing and truly awful to read. A lot to do with the fact that some of the things that happen to the women, for example, a 13 year old marrying a 62 year old, is not socially acceptable in our country and is hard to imagine, and the other part is just plain sad and sort of graphic at some points. If you're really interested in the lifestyle of a Saudi Arabian Princess, it was a good read, but for people who don't tolerate sad stuff happening to other people, I wouldn't recommend it. After all, its nonfiction, and once the books over, you cannot pretend all of that stuff never happened to Princess Sultana. But anyway, if you can tolerate reading it, I would definitely recommend it. See you in my next blog!
It's still really sad to me that this occurs in other countries in the world. The author says in a special chapter titled, "After September 11, 2001" that"Soon after the tragedy of 9/11, I spoke with Princess Sultana and was not surprised when I learned that she, too, was hoping that great change for women in Afghanistan would magically sweep the world. Sadly, that was not to be. She, as I, was disheartened when she saw that the time had not yet come when every government will do the responsible thing and proclaim that freedom is just as important for women, as it is for men" (234). From the way that this is presented, it seems like not much has changed, and this lifestyle is the way it will continue on forever.
At many times throughout the story, there were parts that were disturbing and truly awful to read. A lot to do with the fact that some of the things that happen to the women, for example, a 13 year old marrying a 62 year old, is not socially acceptable in our country and is hard to imagine, and the other part is just plain sad and sort of graphic at some points. If you're really interested in the lifestyle of a Saudi Arabian Princess, it was a good read, but for people who don't tolerate sad stuff happening to other people, I wouldn't recommend it. After all, its nonfiction, and once the books over, you cannot pretend all of that stuff never happened to Princess Sultana. But anyway, if you can tolerate reading it, I would definitely recommend it. See you in my next blog!
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