de’s father uses part of the money to help his daughter buy furniture, household goods and her trousseau (Fernea 44). But, if a man and women were in love but did not have the permission of their parents there was little they could do. For Abouzeid had known of a young couple who had run away because of this reason, but when they were later caught, the parents were forced by convention to let them marry. In most cases, like that of the village of merchants in which Fernea lived, there were codes that preferred the marriage between first cousins on the father’s side. The boy always had first claim to one of his father’s brother’s daughters, and if for some reason she was to marry someone else, she first had to relinquish his claim. This code trapped the women by circumstances, because change was powerless against the social forces within Iraq.In Iraq and in Fernea’s case we were able to get a glimpse of how men simply had more freedom in their lives. The Arab nations have always believed in polygamous marriages because of their religious leader Muhommad started such a trend, which meant that a man could have many wives, but a women could not have more than one husband. No women wants to have to be married to a man not only spends time with them, but spends time with other women too. If a woman could she would try her hardest to keep her husband for herself and only herself. “Women always stand together before strangers and say they are happy together; they are ashamed to admit that they have not been clever enough to remain the only wife, and so they pretend that whatever they have is good. Women will always fight and quarrel and be discontent if the man is not strong enough to give each of them what she needs and wants from him (Fernea 170).” These women of Arab marriages, “Purchase charms to make cruel husbands kind, indifferent ones loving, to prevent divorce, to keep new babi...
