Lipstick Jihad

After our class on Thursday I found it very interesting how many people hated this book, and I really wasn't expecting such a strong reaction from people. Maybe I just have a different view on books or haven't studied memoirs as much, but I honestly didn't think that this book was as bad as most people made it out to be. I actually enjoyed the book with its flaws and all. I thought that because the book did have some problems that it actually made it more credible in a way. It made it seem more like someone telling a story about what they went through instead of being formal and writing this book like they were trying to tell the story perfectly. The way this book was written made it seem more like a citizen going through these situation and getting the truth from her instead of her maybe "sugar coating" it a little bit. I know that people didn't like that about the book, but I thought it made it seem more real even if it did take away from the quality of writing. I understand that the writing is the most important part, but some people would rather have their story heard for people to hear than worry about making sure that their writing is 100% perfect. I know that some people would disagree with me, but I do think that there is a better sense of reality in this book because it wasn't written perfectly. I agree that there were some things that were confusing in the book and she jumped around but sometimes people have to look past those types of flaws and realize what she was trying to get across in the book. I think she simply wanted to get her points across and get her stories out there. I know that for some not having this story be perfect takes away from the book, but for me I liked it. Sometimes people, and even myself, only look at the quality of a book instead of the stories and what is happening in the book and focus too much on the perfection of the writing. I like that she got her story out there and that she wasn't afraid to tell her story and let out her fears and everything, and many people would have a hard time doing that.

One of the most interesting things from this semester for me was having our Postcolonial Literature class at the same time that I was taking Images of the West in Arabic Culture class. It was very interesting to hear the opinions of everyone from one class and then compare it to what we were talking about in the other. It was actually surprising to see how the opinions and knowledge differed from one class to the other. It was also very interesting to compare the books that we had read for our class to the ones of my Arabic culture class. One of the most interesting comparisons I found was between the women characters in the books I have read from both classes. In my Arabic culture class we read the book Chicago which was about various different Arabic people living in Chicago and the identity problems and culture differences they were having a problem with. Each of the characters found themselves questioning their lives and wondering how they were supposed to fit into the American culture. That was definitely a topic of the book Lipstick Jehad. Moaveni had a hard time figuring out exactly what she believed in and what culture she felt she belonged to the most. Even though I read many different books in each class this same theme showed up in many of them. Arabs often times find it difficult to find where they belong when coming to America and trying to figure out our culture. It is interesting to see how different characters in the book deal with this issue. It is also interesting to see the stereotypes that are put on these characters and how they overcome the struggles here in America.

I loved going from class to class and seeing how the opinions and knowledge of the Middle East changed based on the class. In my Arabic culture class most people knew nothing about Arabic culture and had many stereotypes that they only seemed to get from movies and TV. It was kind of sad at first to find that people only really had a negative connotation of Arabs. Before taking these classes I didn't know too much about their culture, but I knew that many of the things that we see on TV are not exactly what goes on in the Middle East and many times the media puts a different spin on Arab culture. In comparison to our Postcolonial Literature class it was nice that people seemed to want to learn about the culture instead of thinking that what we all saw on television was true. It was nice to be able to learn about the culture in one class, and then come to our class and discuss deeper issues than what is on the surface. That is one of the most interesting things about our class was that the conversation was deeper and not only about learning the basics but having conversation about politics, culture, and the various books I learned more than I have my entire life watching TV or movies about the Middle East.