An Enchanted Modern by Lara Deeb

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Recommended: Womens role in religion

“An Enchanted Modern” took my mind to a deeper level. It allowed me to challenge my beliefs and try to understand a perspective from Lebanese women. Although I did find it quite challenging in the first few pages, I continued to read until I found certain details I could actually interact and relate to. Cultural materialism was key role in exploring their lives. Lara Deeb uses many aspects of the women’s lives to paint a great coming of age story through a great coming of age develops, cultural relativism, and their natural environments but mainly focused on how piety helped shaped all these things together.
In a quick scrum through the first twenty pages, i get an understanding of Islamic women aspects of piety and being pious. As well as how much it meant to them. They demonstrated it through showing the historical context of piety, the political commitment, and theoretical method to how exactly it’s practiced. In a historical perspective it was given to them as something that was new and different. Not everyone was expected to confirm or follow it. Public Piety was associated with public good. Public good was connected with visibility. All which I feel made people to want to become better or show examples of it with their surface personality. Piety could be expressed in many different ways. It wasn’t like one way was the right way and it was set in stone. However, there was a verification system that developed between Authentic and Authentication. (Deeb 2006; 20) Authentic was not praised as much as Authentication was. When I think of Authentic I think it has taken the truth of something and twisted it so that it can appear to be the truth. On the other hand, Authentication is praised it focus on several factors such as th...

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...d honesty for the poor. I see good acts every day, but not many will volunteer just show piety for God. Again, I have been humbled in many of my volunteer expenditures. I see the work it requires and the effort as well as patience it takes to maintain it. As like the saying it takes a village to raise a child so expressed, "Humanity is a responsibility God gave to humans."(193) I have realized all humans don't embrace theirs. There were many examples throughout the story that exemplified why the Shi'a women are strong and courageous.
I think this story showed me a way to better myself as well as getting a chance to understand piety at a deeper level. I am more welcoming to veiling. I find myself having more respects towards these women and their cultural beliefs. It was interesting to read about the symbolic meanings, their way of life, and now I feel very pleased.

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