Breaking free the shackles, Muslim women have also widely explored the genre to publicise their life experiences and opinions in order to assert their identity and these writings by Muslim women move towards "conscious acts of rebellion. However, the genre of memoirin the hands of women developed a different sensibility and served a different purpose as "The gender consciousness that is prevalent in the majority of women's memoirs distinguishes them from the texts penned down by their male counterpart" (332). Abstract: The genre of memoir was initially considered as a domain reserved for male writings as men used the genre to pen down the official historical accounts which they witnessed due to the fact that they only played an active role on the stage of history: "Memoirs are frequently composed by a high-ranking, famous person as a chronicle of actions and draw much of their value from the fact the author was an eyewitness to the events" (Spongberg et al.
As she dons pilgrim’s garb, we join her on the hajj, to discover the intensity and spiritual high of the devout. Through Sabeeha’s eyes, we see how Saudi and Western expat cultures coexist within the boundaries of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” how traditions define the identity of the Saudi nation, and how to discern what is “culturally appropriate” versus what is required legally. Women in Riyadh do not work in public places, yet they hold positions of authority within corporate culture and outside Riyadh, she discovers that women-owned-and-operated businesses flourish, and Bedouin women could drive in the desert decades before Riyadh’s ban was relaxed. In public spaces, she quickly encounters the morality police but also learns the freedom of the abaya. Offered an influential position at Riyadh’s most prestigious hospital, she first has to obtain her husband’s permission to work. Her book takes the reader on a journey of discovery that mirrors her own.
A hospital executive in New Jersey, Sabeeha relocated with her oncologist husband to Riyadh, the most conservative city in the country, intending to remain two years. It’s Not What You Think is a wry, incisive account of working in Saudi Arabia that offers insight into that insular patriarchal society, what is so attractive to expatriates living there, and what was contradictory or confining about it for a naturalized American who is a woman and a Muslim. From the author of Threading My Prayer Rug, an eye-opening view of life in Saudi Arabia.
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