Shahla Haeri: Changing Perceptions

Writer,

Excellent piece! Thank you for bringing Ms. Haeri to my attention.

No Shame For the Sun should be a good contribution to a growing discourse on the lives of South/Central Asian women. Anyone familliar with the social science field knows there is a great deal of scholarship and research conducted on various working poor communities on the subcontinent; we need a well rounded understanding of stability and success in the middle and upper classes as well.

A phenomena I`d like your input on is one that we see often on Chowk:

Often, criticism of feminist theory/practices and South Asian women is centered around the following claims:

1. Professional women are ``aping`` the values of Western culture and are therefore suspect
2. Any successes achieved by professional desi women are irrelevant because there are millions of women who do not have these options to succeed.

Some time back, I read her book `The Law of Desire` - the concept of Temporary Marriage in Islam. It was probably her Phd thesis. A very interesting book.

`Mutha` or temporary marriage requires that a man and woman agree to get married for a specified period and for a specified amount - from half an hour to 90 years; and the man pays the bride money to the woman. `Mutha`, according to her, is quite prevalent in Iran.

No witnesses or paper work is required. It is just two persons agreeing to get married.