Dreams of trespass : [electronic resource] tales of a harem girlhood / Fatima Mernissi ; photographs by Ruth V. Ward.

My harem frontiers -- Scheherazade, the king, and the words -- The French Harem -- Yasmina's first co-wife -- Chama and the Caliph -- Tamou's horse -- The harem within -- Aquatic dishwashing -- Moonlit nights of laughter -- The men's salon -- World War II: view from the courtyard -- Asmahan, the singing princess -- The Harem goes to the movies -- Egyptian feminists visit the terrace -- Princess Budur's fate -- The forbidden terrace -- Mina, the rootless -- American cigarettes -- Mustaches and breasts -- The silent dream of wings and flights --

Skin politics: eggs, dates, and other beauty secrets -- Henna, clay, and men's stares.

A feminist in the Muslim world weaves her own memories with dreams of women who surround her in the courtyard of her childhood.