"When you are silent, it speaks"

Rhoda Kanaanen prefaces “We’ll Talk Later” by saying, “To any Palestinian women who read my tale in this form, I do not speak for you. Speak for yourself” (264). The concept of having rights is different for everyone. As individuals we prioritize the importance of certain rights over others. For example, for one individual the right to vote may be the most important, but to another the right to leave the house without permission may be the most important. When Kanaanen says that she is not speaking for any other woman, she is expressing her personal view as to what is important as a woman’s right.

Women’s Chit Chat explores the struggle women in the Middle East face when deciding to work. Prioritizing their family and their job can sometimes bear more weight in oppressing women, than giving them the opportunity to step outside the house. In many cases, becoming a professional does not mean that household duties are cleared from women’s list of responsibilities. Having to deal with a career and household duties is a large, tiresome, and time-consuming weight to bear.

Kanaanen retells her aunt’s story in “We’ll Talk Later”, including her own asides and conversations with her uncle. When he asks her why she wants to retell the story, Kanaanen responds with, “I want those traditions to be traditions of hope and triumph, not submission” (263). Through Sackcloth she is able to express femininity without oppression, submission, and dependence. The notions of femininity and masculinity tie individuals to larger groups, dissipating any independence or individuality, which is largely depicted quite literally through stories and films. In the chapter on “Violence Against Women,” Gonul Donmez-Colin refers to the story of Fatma and Osman, in which Fatma is repeatedly kidnapped and tied to Osman.

Donmez-Colin discusses the idea that “men do to women as the state does to them” (89). The reason for the rape and abuse, the yearning for submission is because the state has ultimately raped males of their own freedoms and self-control. Lina Khatib also talks about the depiction of political statements through the relationships between men and women: “The way masculinity or femininity is represented can dictate political statements” (102). Women’s lives are also dictated; they are dictated by the nation and by men. Unable to break free of femininity, they are left with internal emptiness. Cheng-tao-ke describes the intangible femininity women experience:

You cannot take hold of it,

But you cannot lose it.

In not being able to get it, you get it.

When you are silent, it speaks;

When you speak, it is silent.

Out of reach, femininity no longer belongs to the females. It is a product of national and male dominance that cannot be escaped. Careers and education do not mean freedom; they mean more work, more ties to the nation and to males. For ties to be broken, women need to speak up as individuals part of a larger group, and they need to recognize that opinions differ, but if they can find one common goal, maybe they can take the first step as women and as a woman.