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Marta Paluch's Yemeni Voices: Women Tell Their Stories is, exactly as the title promises, a heartfelt and personal introduction to the women of Yemen as told through their own words and stories. While working as an English teacher in Yemen in the late 1990s, Paluch was privileged to teach a class of 'key women' &endash; a select group of leading women in Yemeni society seeking to improve their English. It was from her experiences teaching this class and the close friendships she developed with the women in it that Paluch was inspired to write this book. Beginning with interviews with these women, Paluch then expanded her quest and ultimately interviewed women in all fields of life from throughout Yemen. The book is clearly a labour of love and Paluch's enthusiasm for the project and her respect and admiration for Yemeni women are evident throughout the book.
The book begins with an introduction to the history of Yemen in order that the uninitiated may place the life histories into context. It is then divided into six sections: life stories, education, health, rural development, urban poverty, and politics and the women's movement. Each section contains three personal testimonies by women working in the respective field. The only exception is the first section which comprises three general personal narratives. Each section furthermore begins with an introduction of the subject matter at hand. For example, the section on education first provides an overview of the education system in Yemen, issues related to illiteracy, and the situation of women before it delves into the women's individual stories. Each individual life story is also prefaced with a brief introduction as to how Paluch met the woman and her experiences either in interviewing the woman or as her friend. The book concludes with brief commentaries by the women concerning their experiences working on the book
Yemeni Voices: Women Tell Their Stories is therefore an introduction both to the personal struggles facing Yemeni women and to the social, economic and political challenges facing Yemen. As Paluch notes, the women are not typical or representative of Yemeni women generally, since they belong to an educated minority. However, despite this, the reader is introduced to women from a variety of backgrounds who share, with all Yemeni women, a determination to forge their own path in a society that is not always ready to accept them. We therefore meet Khadija, a midwife, who tells of her frustrations and confrontations with male doctors who often neither respect nor consult female health care workers. We also learn of Khawla's difficulties, as one of united Yemen's very first female Ministers of Parliament, in being granted the opportunity to speak in Parliament as she was regularly ignored by the Speaker in favour of male MPs. As a student at Sanaa University's Empirical Research and Women's Studies Centre, Antelak's story grants the reader insight into the political assaults on the Centre and its efforts to remain open. The reader furthermore reads of the personal sacrifices and struggles each women experiences at home. As a young girl, Aysha went to school behind her father's back. Husnia divorces her husband when he refuses to allow her to work outside of the home. Separated from their families, many of the women also suffer intense loneliness in pursuit of their educations and training.
The book is a very enjoyable read for anyone interested in issues concerning women and development in the Middle East and particularly Yemen. In terms of the classroom, the book would be a good supplementary text for any undergraduate course on politics, anthropology, development and women in the Middle East and/or Third World. The book furthermore provides a rich antidote to Orientalist stereotypes of women often prevalent in the literature. Many of the women, for example, have the strong support of their brothers and fathers in their pursuit of an education and career while at the same time opposing their mother's wishes that they get married. Most importantly, the optimism of these women, as real agents of change, is a pervasive and refreshing element of the book.
The book does suffer from some typing and grammatical errors. In addition, the book would have benefited from greater detail in its historical introduction to the book as a whole and in some of the introductions to the individual sections. For the reader with no knowledge of Yemen, these overviews -- in the author's effort to be succinct -- are at points slightly superficial and, as a result, confusing. The book further could benefit from an in-depth conclusion. Despite these weaknesses, the book is a valuable and pioneering addition to the classroom, providing very real, personal insights into Yemeni women and society.
[To purchase copies of the book, contact the British Council in Yemen at Fatima.Kahtan@ye.britishcouncil.org.]
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