Summary Of American Chick In Saudi Arabia By Jean Sasson

I really enjoyed reading the book American Chick in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson. It opened up my eyes to see how different cultures treat the Islamic religion. I am from Bangladesh, which is also a Muslim dominated country. I was born in America, and have never been there until last summer. Just like Jean, I was an American chick in another country trying to figure out their culture. Unlike her, I of course had alot of ideas of what I was going to be seeing and learning. While reading the book, I felt like I was there with her, tagging along on her adventures. Reading about how much stricter Saudi Arabia was compared to Bangladesh really intrigued me. One thing that stood out to me was the emphasis on women’s clothing. In the Islamic culture, women are supposed to dress modestly. When I was in Bangladesh, many women wore the cultural Bengali clothing, which is called a salwar kameez, with the option of covering their heads with hijabs, or wearing burqas. I even saw some girls who dressed like modern American women, not covered up at all, though they did get dirty looks around them. I realized it was due to the Bengali culture women were dressed in salwar kameez’s, and not because of religious reasons. It seemed
The Mutawain, are religious police in Saudi Arabia, who roam the streets, and watch for people not following the Islamic way. We are first introduced to the Mutawain in Chapter Three: Allah Akbar, “That first-formed unit of fanatics grew into what is now known as the religious police, the Mutawain, austere men with an abominable record of human misery trailing their thobes.” (Sasson, 194) According to Sasson, she describes them as, “....fearsome opponents.” (Sasson, 488) She describes many events, where she saw them beat and torture people who didn't follow the Islamic religion properly. For her stay in Saudi Arabia, she makes it clear she was very afraid of them, and always tried to avoid