Precis: Size 6: The Western Women's Harem

Fatema Mernissi's 2001 "Size 6: The Western Women's Harem" article discusses the difference between the Mid-East and the Western views of the beauty of women in a sarcastic yet informative passage. Mernissi tells her experience in an American clothing store, when attempting to buy a size 6 cotton skirt, supposedly too small for her. The saleslady of the clothing store tells her of how she is too big, meaning her hips, to fit into the size 6 skirt and that there were special stores for people of her size, in this store she will not find any her size. Due to this she was humiliated and understands the cultural difference, in a way. She explains how back in her country, the only thing men requested for women was to wear a veil and not to try and fit into a size6. men here, she believes, design and decide what women have to wear or look like in order to look beautiful. Ms. Mernissi speaks of the culture difference through a sarcastic yet informative article, explaining what men in her country view as beautiful in women and how men in the U.S. view as beautiful in women.
Tone: a bit sarcastic yet informative
Rhetorical Terms: Metaphor:"here i am transformed into a dinosaur"
Imagery: "her knee-lenght, navy blue, Chanel dress had a white silk collar reminiscent of the subdued elegance of aristocratic French Catholic schoolgirls"
hyperbole: "you are too big!"
imagery/hyperbole: "i often had to defend myself against remarks such as zirafa (giraffe), because of my long neck..."
imagery: "she seemed all of a sudden, interested, and brushed off another women..."
Discussion Question: Clarification: How does the West and Mid-East differ in the woman beauty standard?
Application: How can making someone not feel great about themselves affect them?
Style: Does Ms. Mernissi's article help women and men to take more into consideration as to how a person can feel about looks?
Quotation: "What a horror."