In my Term Paper Writing subject in the University when I was still a student, we were given a project to make a dissertation about a book we have read. Given all the necessary elements to use as guidelines, I was unprepaired to start one. I haven't read any book that gives me interest for my dissertation, so hanging around the library for couple of hours might have given me an idea but nothing happened. I was there seated oddly in the corner like an idiot. Somehow a girl seated next to me caught my attention, not her but the magazine she was reading. She was reading a monthly issue on the Reader' Digest entitled Desert Flower. I went to the librarian and asked the same magazine and I started reading it.
I was so shocked to read about Waris Dirie that made me really mad not to her but her dusty past in her homeland. I knew that the article itself wasn't enough for my thesis because it needed a lot of things to consider and i was so desperate to look for a copy of the whole novel. I started it anyway!
I am not a feminist but what made me interested about Waris past was her story.
Waris Dirie is from Somalia, where poverty unforgivingly roars amidst the vast desert. When she was a young girl she was forced to undergo Female Genital Mutilation like every girls in her place. FGM is performed by cutting out the clitoris and sewing the vaginal outer opening to preserve virginity. Many young girls suffered from this brutish practice of the Somalian indigenous people where Waris came from. After a mutilation, girls will be isolated for many months for the healing process, but a lot of them suffered and died of infection and complications. And if one died during the isolation period it would mean that their God has cursed her for her unclean body. It means that the girl had a sexual intercourse before the mutilation. This is of course a wrong belief because the fact is, the girl died because of infection.
Another interesting part of Waris life is when she ran away from home to escape from an arranged marriage in exchange of 5 camels. In Somalia, when a girl reaches the age of 15, the family would put a red flag infront of the house to indicate that they have a girl ready for marriage. If men come for the wooing process, they must not see the girl. They have to offer something valuable as a dowry for the family. If the father and mother agree for the offer then the man can bring the daughter home as his bride. It is like a barter system where human is involved. You can buy your wife if you have something and if you do, you can bring your wife home and do whatever you want to her.
Waris escaped from that arranged marriage. She ran away from home through the treacherous Somalian desert. She was able to ecape from a hungry lion, overcome extreme thirst and cold wind during the night. Somehow she survived all those trials on her way to a greener pasture.
She had a friend who helped her to fly to London where she worked as a housemaid for an ambassador. Later she left that job and worked as a waitress at a fastfood restaurant where she was discovered by a photographer. Later she became the face of the Revlon poducts where she made her name and fame.
Well, i got 80% of my dissertation, according to my teacher, i was so subjective because i only gave focus on the cultural aspects rather than the language. Well, i had no regrets anyway, i learned a lot from my researches.
Watch out for the premier of Desert Flower directed by Sherry Hormancoming soon!