Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the...

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 368 pages
• Published by: Plume
• Edition: Revised Edition December 31, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0452283779
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0452283770
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 13.8 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Spurred by her experiences as a young girl's mentor in Pakistan, American journalist Goodwin ( Caught in the Crossfire ) here surveys ten countries in the Islamic world, interviewing hundreds of women and many men, concluding that the treatment of women is a barometer of the twin forces of modernity and Islamic extremism. Her book is solidly researched (she relates that Islam originally enhanced women's rights) and stylishly written, though her dependence on long quotes makes a few sections ponderous. Some of her stories are shocking: the sad fate of a girl bartered in marriage at age 11; the sexual abuse in jail of numerous women in Pakistan arrested for sex outside marriage ; the death threat against a Jordanian television commentator who criticized a smear campaign against women. Goodwin's account also includes thoughtful interviews with an Afghan resistance leader trying to use Islam to fight fundamentalism and an American-educated lady in the United Arab Emirates trying to balance freedom and faith. Goodwin suggests that the United States, overly dependent on imported oil, should beware of Islam's growing fundamentalism.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
In this amazing book, the product of four years of living in the Islamic world, journalist Goodwin ( Caught in the Crossfire , LJ 3/15/82) looks at the movement that is aggressively spreading a fundamentalist version of Islam throughout much of the world. Her interviews with Muslim women in ten countries both fascinate and disturb, for their candor reveals the movement's profound and often devastating effects on them. Maintaining that Muslims understand the West far better than Westerners understand Islam, Goodwin warns against the Western ethnocentrism that could jeopardize both security and energy resources. Instead, she urges greater understanding of "the world's fastest growing religion" and of its treatment of women, who "are the wind sock showing which way the wind is blowing in the Islamic world"--or as one interviewee put it, "the canaries in the mines." The work itself enhances this understanding. A necessary purchase.
- Cynthia Widmer, Downingtown, Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
While women can be mistreated by individuals in any society, Islam, at least extreme Islam, sanctifies the systemic abuse of all women. "A man loves first his son, then his camel, and then his wife" Arab Proverb This book, written in 1995 by Jan Goodwin, describes the sometimes gruesome position many women find themselves in just by living in many predominantly Muslim countries. It lays out a theory wherein the rising popularity of militant, extreme, Fundamentalist Islam is the main reason for the deterioration of the rights of Muslim women, as these Islamists increase they're power base at the expense of women's rights. Goodwin goes on to say that there is little or no basis in the Koran (the Islamic Holy Book) for the deteriorating position of women in many Muslim countries. The scope of women's disenfranchisement varies from mild to severe from country to country as Goodwin addresses conditions in the ten countries she visited. It also varies according to the beliefs of branch of Islam to which the woman's family belongs, Fundamentalist being the most oppressive. She also describes how this creeping tide of militant fundamentalist Islam in a danger to mainstream Islam and moderate Muslims. Though life in moderate or mainstream Muslim societies is very hard on most women it borders on slavery under extreme societies. "There is no fun in Islam" Ayatollah Khomeini In the Peoples Islamic Republic of Iran, Khomeini lowered the marriage age for females from eighteen to thirteen (ya hear that Jerry Lee), but permitted girls as young as nine, even seven in some cases to be married if a physician signs a certificate agreeing to their sexual maturity. (pedophilia heaven). However, to the Ayatollah's credit, he drew the line at seven, stating that it is forbidden to have sex with girls under seven! "If a man and woman are alone in one place, the third person present is the devil" Prophet Mohammad "Under the law as it stands in Pakistan, women who have been raped can be charged with adultery or fornication. The proof required for zina (sex outside of wedlock including rape) is that there be four Muslim adult males of "good repute" present who can attest to the act of sexual penetration. No male witnesses of good repute, of course, are likely to stand and watch a rape in progress without trying to stop it. And because of this requirement it becomes impossible to punish the rapists. Instead the victim is prosecuted. Her legal complaint of rape is considered a confession of illicit sexual intercourse." "The majority of Muslim women find their lives controlled by their closest male relative. They are the daughters whose future marriage partners continue to be determined by their fathers. They are the brides who must be virgins on their wedding nights in a culture where, if they are not, honor killings are common and often carried out by the girls own brothers" Muslim Irony Fundamentalists restrict women from working, leaving the house unescorted and unveiled, being clergy, driving, reading the Koran, marrying an infidel, going to school after the sixth grade if at all and more. The Irony of this treatment is in this Quote: "Such restrictions on women are necessary. They are to protect women's honor and they are also a symbol of our enormous respect for women" CONCLUSION This book and several others like it document the ugly, onerous, abhorrent living conditions perpetrated on many Muslim women by Muslim men in the name of Islam. In fairness, The Author has on numerous occasion stated there is no basis for this treatment in the tenets of Islam. In Islam, especially the fundamentalist version religion is power. The Clergy gain power by elevating their male adherents, as do the adherents, over the females. They also gain power by espousing enmity toward a common enemy as Khomeni did toward the U.S. This is the politics of Theocrats. (The last three sentences are my observations) As for the book, I highly recommend it. It's 358 pages is well written, easy to read, compelling and chuck full of insights. The author, Jan Goodwin, did a tremendous amount of research, visiting and living in some ten countries, interviewing hundreds of, sometimes shy and reluctant, women to publish this very comprehensive book. Many of these women gave interviews, even though it endangered them. A couple observations I came away with is that the exception of Saudi Arabia, the holy seat of Islam, the quality of women's living conditions increased with the wealth of the country or in large countries the area. Also it seemed to me that for the average Muslim male, appearances took precedence over the welfare of his womenfolk. There are so many other things I would like to bring out, like how many Muslim women are malnourished by getting only leftovers, while doing three times the work of her counterpart but you really need to read the book.