Ep 27 – Swapping Stories with The Modern Skeptics
Let’s discuss juicy topics from the book, “My Past is a Foreign Country” by Zeba Talkhani with The Modern Skeptic’s Mariam and Mallak as our first ever guests. This was part of a collaboration so head over to the @themodernskeps on instagram for a LIVE book discussion with Samia, Mariam and Mallak.
In this Matcha Talk episode, we get personal on:
+ Feminism
+ Patriarchy
+ Intergenerational parental relationships
+ Being hijabis
<iframe title="Swapping Stories with The Modern Skeptics" height="122" width="100%" style="border: none;" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/5upve-f36a9f?from=pb6admin&download=1&version=1&auto=0&share=1&download=1&rtl=0&fonts=Helvetica&skin=1&pfauth=&btn-skin=107"></iframe>BASIC BREAKDOWN
Samia, Samar, Marium and Mallak discuss ‘My Past is a Foreign Country’ by Zeba Talkhani in this episode of Matcha Talk.
They discuss being Muslim women and the topic of feminism as it arises in the book. Samar asks about their guests’ experiences with this in their careers or lives in general.
Marium shares her story from law school where others assumed her to be an international student due to her wearing a hijab. Going into a courtroom with a hijab is another hurdle to overcome versus representing her client. This is something that always sits in the back of the mind.
Hijabis shouldn’t be held to a different standard just for wearing a hijab, yet people will always see them as Muslims. No matter the location, Chicago, Florida, Washington, the undercurrent is ever present.
Women are always restricted due to the society they are in. From the book, the mother was concerned on the importance of education. People have gotten much better with this idea but Mallak has had peers whose parents have had similar concerns of the role higher education will truly play in their daughters’ lives.
The book also mentions ‘women policing women’ which causes everyone to always be on guard. People will never be happy so there will always be unfulfilled expectations. Again this seems to be an international concern.
Women’s place always seems to be in the home, married and raising the children. The character was overwhelmed with this pressure, perhaps since there are so many roles to assist with marriage in her culture. For those who are ‘imperfect’, they are expected to just accept the first offer of marriage as the character experienced.
Values from parents are naturally passed down to their kids which is difficult when parents are immigrants and embody another culture than the new physical context. Perhaps this can be a reminder that we cannot truly be at home anywhere in this world.
Marium shares how many things were truly different in Palestine despite maintaining the same culture while living in the West. The negatives perhaps shouldn’t be taken to the next generation.
They discuss kindness and forgiveness to their parents. Parts of the book portray parental love in too much of a negative way. Some values may seem old school but there is beauty in other values taken from ‘back home’. We should try to interpret parent’s actions with more love.
Some women feel that if they do not fit in the standard of beauty then they must be perfect in another aspect of their life or personality to compensate. Many people have physical insecurities, for some that becomes a preordained setback and for others it doesn’t affect them.
Hijab helped Samia prioritize her life better with her values. Mallak mentions that she has to put more effort into looking like a good Muslim to be a positive representative of the religion. This pushes women to aim to be better Muslims.
Some countries confuse culture and Islam. Sometimes basic worship is seen as a devoted act due to this mix. Due to Muslims in the west having to seek out Islam and learn about it, their understanding is less colored by cultural context.
