Family, Gender, and Law in a Globalizing Middle East and South Asia

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Edited by Kenneth M. Cuno, Manisha Desai

Family, Gender, and Law in a Globalizing Middle East and South Asia makes available twelve essays that were presented, in earlier forms, at the 2004 symposium of the same title, which took place at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The essays, edited by Kenneth M. Cuno and Manisha Desai, include analysis of eleven nation-states from Morocco to Bangladesh. With thirty-one pages of works cited, this is a valuable reference on an increasingly critical topic. Major themes include the impact of colonialism and postcolonial struggles with national identity; religious politics, and in particular religion’s impact on family law; and international standards, as outlined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and related conventions, versus nationalist efforts for self-determination without perceived pressures from outside.

The issues dealt with in these essays are complex, and I am wary of oversimplifying any of them. In the discussion of the role of colonialism, one idea that emerges is that colonial patriarchies interact with local patriarchies, creating hybrid forms that become sites of negotiation and contestation. Another idea that recurs is the interplay of religion, local custom, and the state, three venues for regulating behavior and establishing social mores. In practice, as contributor Shelley Feldman points out in her discussion of Bangladesh, this means that constitutional reform alone is insufficient to create change, because it will not (necessarily, or sufficiently) impact local customs and religious laws.

Taken together, the analyses shed light on one another. The reader can see commonalities among the nations in these interrelated regions, as well as critical differences that make each locality’s challenges unique. It becomes apparent that, as the editors point out in the introduction, “neither nationalism nor elite women’s feminism guarantees the ‘liberation’ of women.” Thankfully, these discussions also highlight many ways in which women are actors, participating in many ways, from liberatory habits of daily life to transnational feminist organizations.

Written by: Lisa Rand, May 11th 2010

The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:40:00 +0000

By Eileen Myles

Semiotext(e)

Eileen Myles’ The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art begins with travels in Iceland. Myles writes about her own writing and research on art and culture in the little island country. From there, it moves in any number of ways, yet always comes back to an affirmation of life for all of its complications and trials.

Myles is an intensely alive and proud woman, lesbian, and artist with a widely varied and beautiful personal history. She ran for president in 1992, lived in a box in Manhattan for a week, was close friends with Allen Ginsberg, and has been lauded as a post-punk and modern poetry hero. Many parts of The Importance of Being Iceland are written in long, fluid, stream of consciousness paragraphs. The writing is lyrical and smooth while also unsettling. Whenever I’d been reading the book for more than twenty minutes at a time, I felt like I was emerging from a dream.

Included in the book is an interview with Daniel Day-Lewis, an actor well known for his intense need to dive into a role and be in character constantly during a shoot. The two seemed well-suited to each other. Myles seems to live life with an intensity and awareness that others can’t or perhaps don’t. We hear about her time with a therapist, with lovers, and with family, but it is not a memoir in any traditional sense of the word. She discusses art, poetry, literature, and beauty, though it is not a set of critical essays.

The book has an intense amount of detail and incredible storytelling. Life and its varied experiences (including a Björk concert, flossing your teeth, and menopause) are examined and celebrated. The Importance of Being Iceland is profound and passionate. We are never forced to think a certain way about anything; Myles simply introduces us to her way of thinking and details her reasoning for why she thinks that way.

Written by: Kristin Conard, October 10th 2009