Book Review: ‘Gulf Women’s Lives’

Book Review: ‘Gulf Women’s Lives’
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Updated 03 November 2024
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Book Review: ‘Gulf Women’s Lives’

Book Review: ‘Gulf Women’s Lives’

“Gulf Women’s Lives: Voice, Space, Place,” edited by Emanuela Buscemi, Shahd Al-Shammari and Ildiko Kaposi, explores the experiences of Gulf women through three themes: voice, space and place.

“This timely volume fills in a serious gap in research and contributes to countering stereotypes and prejudices about Muslim and Arab women, specifically those located in the Arabian Gulf,” the 2024 anthology’s blurb promises.

Through a mix of essays, literary analyses and personal narratives written by scholars and practitioners, the majority of whom are from the Gulf, “Gulf Women’s Lives” highlights how the women of the region have carved out their own path, navigating complex gender roles and expectations within public and private spaces, and often challenging traditional stereotypes that depict them as submissive or powerless.

Many stories written in the West about Gulf women paint us all with the same broad brush: we are either sad or mad. This book offers a nuanced view of how Gulf women exercise agency and construct their identities. Its interdisciplinary approach combines sociology, literature, media, law and disability studies. Each chapter is grounded in theoretical discussions about gender and the agency of women within Gulf societies. Kuwaiti artist Thuraya Al-Baqsami’s 1987 artwork, “Waiting,” is featured on the cover.

The first part, “Voices,” features three pieces rich with anecdotes: Al-Shammari’s “From Stigma to Speech: An Autoethnography of Bedouin Culture, Writing and Illness,” Kaposi’s “Women Talking Back: In Conversation with Sekka Magazine’s ‘Managing Storyteller’ Sharifah Alhinai,” and Buscemi’s “Bodies on the Margins: Nonconforming Subjectivities in Gulf Women’s Literature.”

Part two, “Spaces,” features Emirati Noura Al-Obeidli on the challenges facing female Emirati journalists in the newsroom; Nora Jaber’s critical analysis of women’s petitions and gender reforms in Saudi Arabia; and Maryam Al-Muhanadi on divorce among Qatari women.

“Places,” also features three essays, each vital to telling the individual and collective story of women in the Gulf.

The women who contributed to this volume dedicated each page to how women in the Gulf have been asserting themselves — within traditional and modern contexts — and address issues such as activism, mobility and societal expectations.

The book has a slightly academic format but is simple enough to read. The theoretical reflections and conversations challenge us all to go beyond narratives of submissiveness, powerlessness and victimization.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons
Updated 08 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons

“Europe’s Alpine Flowers” covers the flowering plants and conifers that occur regularly on mountains and in Arctic areas north of a line that runs from the Pyrenees to Southern Romania. 

For many botanists—and gardeners—the alpine flora is the best it gets. There are many species adapted to a harsh climate of extreme winter cold and strong winds, including some of our most beautiful rock plants, such as gentians, saxifrages, and crocuses. 

These also include subtle and rare flowers that require care to discover and identify.


What We Are Reading Today: “Bodega Bakes”

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Updated 08 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: “Bodega Bakes”

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  • She writes: “Bodegas are the heart of so many communities, and they’ve given me some of my most joyful memories — this book is my way of sharing that joy with the world”

Author: Paola Velez

James Beard nominated chef Paola Velez’s delicious debut cookbook, “Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store,” is a heartfelt tribute to her Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage, infused with the spirit of the Bronx in New York City where she was raised.

Published in October, it has quickly garnered attention as a must-have baking book, blending Velez’s vibrant storytelling style with inventive recipes inspired by her upbringing.

A bodega, as Velez describes it, is more than just a small neighborhood convenience store; it is a lively community hub — with stacks of snacks, essentials like headache medicine, chocolate and shampoo, and usually, a sleepy resident bodega cat.

She writes: “Bodegas are the heart of so many communities, and they’ve given me some of my most joyful memories — this book is my way of sharing that joy with the world.”

Bodegas in New York include a deli counter within the crammed premises, where freshly made sandwiches are made to order at affordable prices. Bodegas became the foundation for Velez’s culinary creativity, transforming humble cornerstore finds into extraordinary desserts.

The book features over 100 recipes, from her signature “thick’ems” cookies to Maria cookie icebox cake and pineapple empanadillas. It is a book bursting with personality and flavor.

Velez skillfully combines nostalgia with accessibility, ensuring that home bakers of all levels can recreate her inventive treats in their own homes. Everything you need to bake can be purchased at your favorite local bodega.

Cristina Tosi, the culinary celebrity and founder of a New York cult favorite, Milk Bar, wrote the foreword, calling the book: “a love letter — to her heritage, to her corner store, and to anyone who’s ever found magic in the simplest of ingredients.”

Beyond her culinary achievements, Velez is also a co-founder of Bakers Against Racism, a global initiative that raised millions for social justice causes through bake sales. She uses food not only to feed stomachs, but the spirit.

With “Bodega Bakes,” Velez elevates everyday ingredients and each page — and bite — is steeped in cultural storytelling.

 

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’
Updated 07 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’

Authors: Thorsten Becker and Claudio Faccenna 

Over the past half century, major achievements have been made in the study of Earth’s surface structure and kinematics and the internal dynamics of the lithosphere and mantle.

Many of these advances have relied on the integration of data and models from plate tectonics and geodynamics, yet traditional divisions persist in how these two disciplines are taught and practiced.

This textbook bridges the gap, connecting geophysical and geological approaches to understand the physical processes that shape our planet’s evolution. 


What We Are Reading Today: Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities

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Updated 06 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities

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Author: Martha C. Nusssbaum

In this short and powerful book, celebrated philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education.
Historically, the humanities have been central to education because they have been seen as essential for creating competent democratic citizens.
But recently, Nussbaum argues, thinking about the aims of education has gone disturbingly awry in the US and abroad. We increasingly treat education as though its primary goal were to teach students to be economically productive rather than to think critically.

 and become knowledgeable, productive, and empathetic individuals. This shortsighted focus on profitable skills has eroded our ability to criticize authority, reduced our sympathy with the marginalized and different, and damaged our competence to deal with complex global problems. And the loss of these basic capacities jeopardizes the health of democracies and the hope of a decent world.

In response to this dire situation, Nussbaum argues that we must resist efforts to reduce education to a tool of the gross national product.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Magnetic Reconnection’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Magnetic Reconnection’
Updated 05 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Magnetic Reconnection’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Magnetic Reconnection’

Author: Masaaki Yamada

Plasmas comprise more than 99 percent of the visible universe; and, wherever plasmas are, magnetic reconnection occurs.

In this common yet incompletely understood physical process, oppositely directed magnetic fields in a plasma meet, break, and then reconnect, converting the huge amounts of energy stored in magnetic fields into kinetic and thermal energy.

In “Magnetic Reconnection,” Masaaki Yamada offers an illuminating synthesis of modern research and advances on this important topic. Magnetic reconnection produces such phenomena as solar flares and the northern lights, and occurs in nuclear fusion devices.