The Red Tent

Anita Diamant

Well, here's a topic that may fill the Barn. Last night, my book club went over The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. The book tells the biblical story of Jacob and his sons from the point of view of Dinah, his only daughter.

In the Bible, Dinah is somewhat of a prop: an Egyptian prince rapes her (or, in my translation, "dishonors" her) but loves her, and wants to take her as his wife. Jacob and his sons turn down increasingly pricey gifts for a wedding until the prince and his father agree that they and all the men of their court be circumcised. The prince and his father agree, but two days later Judah and Levi storm their home and kill all the men as revenge for the rape. Though the attack isn't exactly approved of in the Bible -- Jacob tells his sons they have brought "a stink" on to his home -- it's not exactly judged a bad thing either. And that's it for Dinah.

So here we have the story, plus the story of Jacob and Laban, Jacob and Leah, Leah and Rachel, and all the sons from Dinah's perspective, lounging in the red tent -- the place where the women go during their periods and when giving birth. Hearing all the tales from a women's perspective -- such as Dinah saying that she loved the prince and hated her brothers for what they did -- is fascinating, but for me there was too much euphemistic language, much of it straight out of a Harlequin romance. Not that euphemism is a female author's trait, but there did seem to be something distinctly "feminine" about the book, something that would appeal to women more than men ... though I've done enough stories on the movement in Judaism to reclaim women's perspectives, and it's fascinating stuff.

I gave the book a B-. Everyone else was in the A- range. I'm the only male in the group. And that got me thinking about "chick flicks" vs. brawny action movies and other dividing lines in our culture. (After reading reviews of Where the Heart Is, I can't imagine even wanting to get within 50 feet of a theater that's showing it, but I'm not the audience.)