The Sheiks Harem

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How did conservative Shiite women exercise influence in El Nahra Iraq? In Guests of the Sheik Elizabeth Warnock Fernea (Beeja) provides an overview of the gender-specific social constructs as to how women exercise influence in El Nahra, Iraq. Fernea’s account comes from her own personal experience living as guest to the Sheikh, and the encounters both she and her husband Bob experience while living in the village. Fernea recognized that the role of women within the Iraqi community was founded on the values and principles of the Sheikh’s Harem. The three primary influences come from the women’s ability to birth and raise a child, marriage, and the preparation and consumption of food. Throughout the text, the influence women exercise in Iraq seems only relevant when these avenues of social necessity surface. Fernea recognized women of El Nahra had a different way of living, Western thought was dissimilar to that in Iraq, a country shattered by war and civil unrest. Women were afforded little rights compared to their male counterparts, however, they still managed to shape and influence Iraqi culture and process. The social model encouraged obedience and conservative thought. Women cooked, cleaned, and maintained the house. Authority was inherent, and conservative women exercised their influence within the house, and the community through what is called a Harem. The model wife stayed at home, prepared good food for her husband and his guests, and kept out of sight of strangers. Women sent children, husbands, and servants to buy groceries, pick up mail, and complete the everyday jobs that they couldn’t carry out. Women are conditioned to avoid the public limelight. For men what was most important in life was a good wife who could cook, maintain a clean house, and have children: “Though the town and the country were worlds apart, a good woman is the same in
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