Towelhead. Camel jockey. Sand nigger. These are the big 3: what Alicia Erian's 13-year old protagonist Jasira is called by her classmates and her neighbors, in the novel Towelhead. This, quite unfortunately, is far from the worst thing that happens to her in the course of the novel, however. Jasira, born to an Irish mother and a Lebanese father, has until the start of the novel lived with her mother in Syracuse, New York. Jasira is a typical 13-year old girl who is concerned about her appearance, who wants to be pretty. She also must face to an extent a desire to conform to the "American" style of beauty, since because of her mixed blood she clearly looks "Arab." Jasira is sent to live with her strict Lebanese dad because her mom's boyfriend is caught shaving Jasira's pubic hair. Okay, let's stop right here and talk about this, because from the root of this possibly stems the entire rest of the book. Jasira's thoughts over her personal appearance lead her to ask her mother if she can shave herself, her mother denies her that, and doesn't even want to embark in any kind of sexual conversation at all. Barry, her mother's boyfriend, takes the matter into his own hands and to Jasira's relief helps her out. Though, what does this say about a grown man if he wants to shave his girlfriend's 13-year old daughter's crotch? Jasira likes the attention from this man(she's only seen her father once a summer for the most part since she was a kid), he's caring towards her, and gentle, something it is somewhat apparent that possibly even her mother isn't giving her...Though her sexuality is clearly budding at this point, it is arguable how responsible she is in this situation. She's looking for someone to show affection to her, and she's confused by the kind of responses she's gotten so far. This will continue throughout the rest of the novel. Anyway, Jasira's mother sees her as a temptation for her boyfriend, so she sends Jasira to live with her dad. The burden of fault is placed on Jasira's shoulders! What the hell? This book is like Lolita from Dolores' point of view. We all wondered what the subject of lust in Nabokov's novel was really thinking the whole time she was involved with Humbert Humbert, now perhaps we have an idea...So, Jasira moves to live with her father in Houston, TX. She begins to babysit for the 10-year old son of the army reservist next door, and discovers his stack of Playboys. She looks at the pretty women, and begins to, unwittingly, but later very knowingly, masturbate. She especially desires one particular picture of a woman in a golf cart, because of her beauty and how her smile makes Jasira feels. When the boy's father discovers what is going on, he gets angry and forbids her to look at the magazines, but later, he anonymously leaves a "gift" on Jasira's stoop. It is the magazine with the picture that Jasira likes so much. Oh my God, there is so much to talk about with this book. Is Jasira looking for a mother figure that she has never successfully had, is that why she obsesses over the women in Playboy? Is she gay? Is she trying to emulate these women so that she can get attention from men? I could go on. The army reservist begins to develop a highly inappropriate relationship with Jasira, she falls in love with him(or his attentions rather) and he sexually abuses her, which she knows is wrong but which makes her "love" him more. This is combined with her father who is not warm at all, and even beats her when he is angry with her(enough so at one point she can't go to school...the army guy comes over and threatens to beat up Jasira's dad if he hurts her again, ironic since he's also sexually violating her at the same time). While all this is going on, Jasira meets a black boy her own age at school named Thomas, with whom she also initiates in a sexual relationship, unbeknownst to her parents who have not wanted her to have any contact with the boy at all since it will "ruin her reputation". By the way this book is filled with extremely graphic sex talk...Thomas also wants to shave Jasira, and they also engage in different sexual positions. But, he does care for her, in a 13-year old boy kind of way. The saving grace in this whole book is Melina, the other next door neighbor, a pregnant newlywed. She is the mother figure it appears that Jasira has never had and desperately needs, and eventually when things get so bad at her dad's Jasira moves in with Melina and her husband. Melina is a safe haven, where Jasira can just be, and Melina also comes to Jasira's defense in times of crisis. But, Jasira is holding onto so much inside, even Melina has no idea...at the end, when the truth all comes spilling out, and the neighbor is arrested, everyone realizes how much they are at fault, and especially her parents realize that by being so strict and straightlaced and unwilling to talk about sex or even feelings freely, their daughter was thrust into a mess of confusion, looking for love and caring through the only way she saw possible in the patriarchal porn magazines of our era: sex. Wow. This book is very sad, don't get me wrong. But, Alicia Erian does an amazing job at confronting social constructions of sex, using a 13-year old girl as a vehicle. Erian reminds us how impressionable we are at a young age, and how social standards can influence how we view the world and our place in it. Ironically(or not so ironically I guess), Erian's work has been published in Playboy and Penthouse. Is she doing a bit of her own commentary on the industry that has accepted her writing? Can Jasira be viewed as a sex object at that young age? Does she view herself as a sex object or is she just looking for love and to be loved? I don't really think that Jasira is sexy, as the males who desire her sometimes think of her, but just a lost little girl needing to grow up properly and be loved normally. I finished this book almost a week ago, and I'm still digesting. Sigh.