This is a quick and horrifying read about child marriage in Yemen (although it happens elsewhere, too) and one girl’s decision to rebel against it. Nujood tells her story of rape and servitude, but, unfortunately, she is just one among thousands. While revealing her life’s struggles, Nujood also paints a bleak picture of how women are seen and treated in her culture.
However, lest we feel too self-righteous, we should look at how we treat children and women here. We may not openly discriminate against women, but our society sexualizes children and women in a different way – primarily through advertising and other types of media. Instead of tucking our women away, we bare too much. We, too, have teen mothers, although ours were generally not forced into marriage, but allowed too much freedom and given little protection from predatory older men. While Nujood and other girls shy away from being forced to grow up quickly, teens here are pressured into growing up quickly by the entertainment industry. She had to be a wife; our girls become sexually active agents before they have mentally matured. She was told what she couldn’t do; we let our youth do too much. This would be a good thesis topic, so I’ll stop here; I trust you get the gist.
This book gives us a glimpse of how the girls feel and the pressures they and their families have to face. I wondered a bit how much of the narrative was directly from Nujood and how much was filled in by the writer. It would seem that Nujood is a very mature young lady in her observations and thoughts. Still and all, it was a very interesting and thought-provoking read.
Cathy (7/15/10)
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