Almond: Erotic memories of an Arab woman
THE ALMOND
By Rubí Véliz Catalán
"Through these lines where semen and prayers are
mixed, I tried to tear down the walls that today separate the heavenly from the
earthly, the soul body, and the mystical eroticism. [...] With the ambition to
return to the women of my blood the word confiscated by their fathers, brothers
and husbands [...] up this story like a cup rises, the health of Arab women,
for whom recover the word impounded in relation to the body heal equals half
his men ". Foreword of Almond, erotic memories of
an Arab woman
The Arab culture is a mystery to me where I like to
deepen. As a young woman born in a Western culture whose relationship with
alien cultures goes beyond literature or the media, I do not have concerns of
all vision as people who practice Islam are the world; especially women.
It is no secret that even in this century Arab Muslim
women do not enjoy public freedoms like going to the movies, sit next to a man
in a restaurant (much less if single), driving a car or studying university
courses "for men" . Nor is no secret that, given the religious
patriarchy imposed by the precepts of Islam, the issue of exercise of sexuality
represents for women a system of coexistence conditional rather than a right.
From an anthropological point of view, for women
raised in ancient cultures with lines of thought rooted in morality and
religion, accommodate the delivery of your whole being in marital and maternal
bed, in exchange for the support, it is a sacrifice with socially satisfactory
result that deserves turn ovation and recognition of male and other women. On
the other hand, when a woman transgresses a breach of morality, it is punished
not only for that transgression but because the aggravation of the situation
lies in being a woman, because she, unlike the male, has in his hands the
preservation of values and the propagation of
religious teachings at home.
The areas that deny participation of Muslim women, like
sciences and arts, more if they are allowed to work in the field of medicine
and education. In turn, the literary creation is another area of difficult access for these women. Fortunately there
are exceptions, or rather justified evasions to the rules. Two years ago I read
Almond, erotic memories of an Arab woman; autobiographical novel that exceeded my expectations both from the perspective of
eroticism as addressing the claim of Arab women for their sexuality. Written by
a woman who is protected under the pseudonym Nedjma, Almond noted that in 1962,
Badra, a seventeen-year-old born in Imchouk, Turkey, is married to counter
Hmed, 36 years her senior. As Anna Karenina, sexual frustration, in addition to
allegations of infertility and the indication of his political family and his
own family subjugates. Badra's mother advises him to accept his fate, as did
all the women in his family; she ignores the advice and moved to Tangiers with
her Aunt Selma. In Tangiers get a job and thanks to Selma manages to be known
as woman wants and needs; explores the possibilities of their sexuality and
identifies the injustice of their breeding system. More than a novel, the book
Nedjma is a screening tool where many concerns persist in addressing sexuality
is revealed, not only in Muslim cultures.
Nedjma was an exception to the rule, like ManalAl-Sharif, a Saudi engineer who in 2011 published on YouTube a video that shows
a car driving on the streets of Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Manal was arrested
twice for driving a vehicle; it was made public since 1990 a fatwa (Islamic
precept) prohibiting Muslim women take the wheel of the vehicle. This law
states that women believers of Islam should not drive because to do so must
discover the face, thus violating the discretion of the body of Muslim women, a
serious offense to the Islamic religion. Could it be that the polarized glasses
are also forbidden for women? Bah!
Depreciation of women is such that the historian Salehal Saadoon appointed in February 2015 that “Western women drive because they do
not mind being raped. For us Arabs it is a matter of religion”. Despite the
null results in the fight for women driving cars in Saudi, Manal directs the
Women2Drive Movement that appeals to the right of Saudi women to drive
vehicles.
Meditate on the situation of women in Islamic
countries is exhausting and generates more negative than positive feelings.
However, with Nedjma and Manal learned that under the cultural impositions of
different kinds that women face around the world, there are alternatives; they
should challenge the systems that promote gender violence. With its
initiatives, Nedjma and Manal tell us that there are cases in which the rules
are made to be broken, let's cover our faces or not.
La Almendra: memorias eróticas de una mujer árabe
“A través de estas líneas donde se mezclan semen y plegarias, he intentado derruir los tabiques que en nuestros días separan lo celestial de lo terrenal, el cuerpo del alma, la mística del erotismo. […] Con la ambición de devolver a las mujeres de mi sangre la palabra confiscada por sus padres, hermanos y esposos […] levanto este relato como se levanta una copa, a la salud de las mujeres árabes, para quienes recuperar la palabra confiscada en relación con el cuerpo equivale a curar a medias a sus hombres”.
Prólogo de La almendra, memorias eróticas de una mujer árabe
La cultura árabe me representa un misterio en el cual me gusta profundizar. Como mujer joven nacida dentro de una cultura occidental cuya relación con culturas ajenas no va más allá de la literatura o los medios de comunicación, tengo inquietudes de todo tipo en cuanto la visión las personas que practican el Islam tienen del mundo; sobre todo, de las mujeres.
No es ningún secreto que aún en este siglo las mujeres árabes musulmanas no gozan de libertades comunes como ir al cine, sentarse junto a un varón en un restaurante (mucho menos si es soltera), conducir un automóvil o estudiar carreras universitarias “para hombres”. Tampoco es secreto que, dado el patriarcado religioso impuesto por los preceptos del Islam, el tema del ejercicio de la sexualidad representa para las mujeres un sistema de convivencia condicionada más que un derecho.
Desde el punto de vista antropológico, para las mujeres criadas en culturas ancestrales con líneas de pensamiento arraigadas en la moral y la religión, el acomodarse a la entrega de su ser completo en el lecho matrimonial y maternal, a cambio de la manutención, es un sacrifico con resultado socialmente satisfactorio que merece a su vez la ovación y el reconocimiento del varón y de las demás mujeres. Por otro lado, cuando una mujer transgrede una falta a la moral, es castigada no solamente por dicha transgresión sino porque el agravante de la situación radica en el ser mujer, pues ella, a diferencia del varón, tiene en sus manos la preservación de los valores y la propagación de las enseñanzas religiosas en el hogar.
Los ámbitos que niegan la participación de las mujeres musulmanas abarcan las ciencias y las artes, más sí se les permite laborar en el campo de la medicina y la educación. A su vez, la creación literaria es otro campo de difícil acceso para estas mujeres. Afortunadamente existen excepciones, o más bien, evasiones justificadas a las reglas. Hace dos años leí La almendra, memorias eróticas de una mujer árabe; novela autobiográfica que superó mis expectativas tanto desde la perspectiva del erotismo como por el abordaje del reclamo de la mujer árabe por su sexualidad. Escrito por una mujer que se protege bajo el seudónimo de Nedjma, La almendra cuenta que en 1962, Badra, una joven de diecisiete años de edad nacida en Imchouk, Turquía, está casada con el contador Hmed, 36 años mayor que ella. Tal y como Ana Karenina, la frustración sexual la subyuga, además de las acusaciones de infertilidad y el señalamiento de su familia política y de su propia familia. La madre de Badra le aconseja que acepte su destino, tal y como lo hicieron todas las mujeres de su familia; ella ignora el consejo y se muda a Tánger con su tía Selma. En Tánger consigue un empleo y gracias a Selma logra conocerse como mujer con deseos y necesidades; explora las posibilidades de su sexualidad e identifica la injusticia de su sistema de crianza. Más que una novela, el libro de Nedjma es una herramienta de proyección en donde se revelan muchas inquietudes que persisten en el abordaje de la sexualidad, no solamente en culturas como la musulmana.
Nedjma fue una excepción a la regla, al igual que Manal Al-Sharif, una ingeniera saudí que en 2011 publicó en Youtube un video que la muestra conduciendo un automóvil en las calles de Al Jobar, Arabia Saudita. Manal fue arrestada en dos ocasiones por conducir un vehículo, pues desde 1990 se hizo pública una fatua (precepto islámico) que prohíbe a las mujeres musulmanas tomar el volante de los vehículos. Esta ley afirma que las mujeres creyentes del islam no deben conducir porque para hacerlo deben descubrirse el rostro, violando así la discreción del cuerpo de la mujer musulmana, una falta grave a la religión islámica. ¿Es que acaso el los vidrios polarizados también están prohibido para las mujeres? ¡Bah!
La depreciación de la mujer es tal, que el historiador Saleh al Saadoon afirmó en febrero de 2015 que “las mujeres occidentales conducen porque no les importa ser violadas. Para nosotros los árabes es cuestión de religión”. Pese a los nulos resultados en la lucha para que las mujeres conduzcan automóviles en Arabia, Manal dirige el movimiento Women2Drive, que apela al derecho de las mujeres saudíes a conducir vehículos.
Meditar en la situación de la mujer en países islámicos es agotador y genera más sentimientos negativos que positivos. Sin embargo, con Nedjma y Manal aprendí que debajo de las imposiciones culturales de diferente índole que afrontamos las mujeres alrededor del mundo, existen alternativas; deben desafiarse los sistemas que promueven la violencia de género. Con sus iniciativas, Nedjma y Manal nos dicen que hay casos en los que las reglas se hicieron para romperse, cubramos o no nuestros rostros.
***************************************
THE ALMOND
By Rubí Véliz Catalán
"Through these lines where semen and prayers are
mixed, I tried to tear down the walls that today separate the heavenly from the
earthly, the soul body, and the mystical eroticism. [...] With the ambition to
return to the women of my blood the word confiscated by their fathers, brothers
and husbands [...] up this story like a cup rises, the health of Arab women,
for whom recover the word impounded in relation to the body heal equals half
his men ". Foreword of Almond, erotic memories of
an Arab woman
The Arab culture is a mystery to me where I like to
deepen. As a young woman born in a Western culture whose relationship with
alien cultures goes beyond literature or the media, I do not have concerns of
all vision as people who practice Islam are the world; especially women.
It is no secret that even in this century Arab Muslim
women do not enjoy public freedoms like going to the movies, sit next to a man
in a restaurant (much less if single), driving a car or studying university
courses "for men" . Nor is no secret that, given the religious
patriarchy imposed by the precepts of Islam, the issue of exercise of sexuality
represents for women a system of coexistence conditional rather than a right.
From an anthropological point of view, for women
raised in ancient cultures with lines of thought rooted in morality and
religion, accommodate the delivery of your whole being in marital and maternal
bed, in exchange for the support, it is a sacrifice with socially satisfactory
result that deserves turn ovation and recognition of male and other women. On
the other hand, when a woman transgresses a breach of morality, it is punished
not only for that transgression but because the aggravation of the situation
lies in being a woman, because she, unlike the male, has in his hands the
preservation of values and the propagation of
religious teachings at home.
The areas that deny participation of Muslim women, like
sciences and arts, more if they are allowed to work in the field of medicine
and education. In turn, the literary creation is another area of difficult access for these women. Fortunately there
are exceptions, or rather justified evasions to the rules. Two years ago I read
Almond, erotic memories of an Arab woman; autobiographical novel that exceeded my expectations both from the perspective of
eroticism as addressing the claim of Arab women for their sexuality. Written by
a woman who is protected under the pseudonym Nedjma, Almond noted that in 1962,
Badra, a seventeen-year-old born in Imchouk, Turkey, is married to counter
Hmed, 36 years her senior. As Anna Karenina, sexual frustration, in addition to
allegations of infertility and the indication of his political family and his
own family subjugates. Badra's mother advises him to accept his fate, as did
all the women in his family; she ignores the advice and moved to Tangiers with
her Aunt Selma. In Tangiers get a job and thanks to Selma manages to be known
as woman wants and needs; explores the possibilities of their sexuality and
identifies the injustice of their breeding system. More than a novel, the book
Nedjma is a screening tool where many concerns persist in addressing sexuality
is revealed, not only in Muslim cultures.
Nedjma was an exception to the rule, like ManalAl-Sharif, a Saudi engineer who in 2011 published on YouTube a video that shows
a car driving on the streets of Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Manal was arrested
twice for driving a vehicle; it was made public since 1990 a fatwa (Islamic
precept) prohibiting Muslim women take the wheel of the vehicle. This law
states that women believers of Islam should not drive because to do so must
discover the face, thus violating the discretion of the body of Muslim women, a
serious offense to the Islamic religion. Could it be that the polarized glasses
are also forbidden for women? Bah!
Depreciation of women is such that the historian Salehal Saadoon appointed in February 2015 that “Western women drive because they do
not mind being raped. For us Arabs it is a matter of religion”. Despite the
null results in the fight for women driving cars in Saudi, Manal directs the
Women2Drive Movement that appeals to the right of Saudi women to drive
vehicles.
Meditate on the situation of women in Islamic
countries is exhausting and generates more negative than positive feelings.
However, with Nedjma and Manal learned that under the cultural impositions of
different kinds that women face around the world, there are alternatives; they
should challenge the systems that promote gender violence. With its
initiatives, Nedjma and Manal tell us that there are cases in which the rules
are made to be broken, let's cover our faces or not.
La Almendra: memorias eróticas de una mujer árabe
“A través de estas líneas donde se mezclan semen y plegarias, he intentado derruir los tabiques que en nuestros días separan lo celestial de lo terrenal, el cuerpo del alma, la mística del erotismo. […] Con la ambición de devolver a las mujeres de mi sangre la palabra confiscada por sus padres, hermanos y esposos […] levanto este relato como se levanta una copa, a la salud de las mujeres árabes, para quienes recuperar la palabra confiscada en relación con el cuerpo equivale a curar a medias a sus hombres”.
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