My favorite tales have always been the ones that promote women. It probably stems from the fact that I am a woman and I like to see my gender win. In my reading, I have been surprised at how many of the stories from the Middle East deal with strong women. I mean, I thought that in a society that appears to oppress women, they wouldn't have very many 'women power' stories.
Not so. There is the story of Shahrazad, the woman who told tales to a heartless king for one thousand and one nights, not only prolonging the date of her execution, but also causing the king to fall in love with her and become extraordinarily happy. There is Queen Buran (or Burandokht but who can really say that?) who ruled Persia after her father's death. And there are others.
I guess what makes these really amazing to me is that they come from such a strict society. It still is a struggle for women over there to learn to read and write, but yet they have told stories of amazing women for generations.
They go through so much. They inspire me to become better.
Allons-y!
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