Many immigrants consider their ethnic culture an essential part of their lives and ensure that it is preserved even in a country that is foreign to their ethnic roots. Alongside this ethnic identity, immigrants develop their identity as they experience life in a foreign country. Bushra Rehman, in her poems, shows how the fear of straying away from culture and the consequent desire to enforce it can endanger people’s development of their individuality. As a Pakistani-American woman, Rehman conveys how sociocultural expectations restrict women from genuinely expressing themselves, chaining them to their obligations. Using aspects of Pakistani culture that contrast with Western ideals, Rehman, in her poems, illustrates how the oppressiveness of certain cultural expectations discourages the development of individuality and authentic expression. Rehman conveys the unspoken suffocation and confinement these Pakistani women must feel in her poems “White Picket Fence, No” and “Marianna’s Beauty Salon.”

In the poem “White Picket Fence, No,” Rehman portrays a Pakistani father who rejects the white picket fence — the typical idea of an American middle-class household — and instead installs a chain link fence to protect his family. Throughout the poem, Rehman employs enjambment, strengthening the contrast between Pakistani culture and Western ideals and emphasizing the sensation of confinement. Rehman uses enjambment to create fluidity through her poem, weaving a narrative that swiftly carries the reader over to the next line. The lack of punctuation increases the poem’s pace and allows her to expound upon an idea across multiple lines. For instance, she writes, “his best friend and him tore up the shrubbery / all around, if the white neighbors / hadn’t already fled, they would have / said: There goes the neighborhood (7-11). In this stanza, the phrase or idea is continued in the next line and expands upon the idea that the father and his best friend destroyed the neighborhood, causing the “white neighbors” to flee or acknowledge that the original neighborhood is gone. The italicized dialogue reinforces the idea that the neighborhood underwent a transformation because the white neighbors were fleeing.

In other words, the Pakistani father was taking immense strides to eradicate Western ideals and influences surrounding his house and family. Rehman describes how the father, “so afraid of the world / erected it, Pakistani style-ghetto style / 12-foot-high fence, metal, jail, around our house” (Rehman 1-4). As the patriarchal head, the father feels he has to protect his family, and experiences “increasing fear” for “there must have been a series / of rapes and burglaries...laid it down, 250 feet of chain link” as he has “five juicy daughters to protect, one son, one wife always pregnant, and him always at work” (5-15). After building the chain link fence, the father thinks, “No one will hurt them now,” but “he could not protect us, could never protect us / he had forgotten about the snakes in the house” (21-23).

Incorporating Pakistani social norms, Rehman paints a clear picture of the family’s confinement through a metaphorical chain link fence that resembles a prison. For instance, her word choices create jail imagery. By coupling “Pakistani style” with “ghetto style,” she further emphasizes how protecting and enforcing this ethnic identity comes at the severe cost of confinement. The father’s motive stems from his fears of the outside world, which threaten Pakistani culture, and he thus rejects the white picket fence, creating his own “Pakistani-style-ghetto style” fence instead (3). By physically replacing the white picket fence with his chain link, Rehnman shows how the father also alters the metaphorical representation from an ideal American family to a solely Pakistani family. By further using hyperbole to describe the chain link’s height — 250 feet — Rehman also emphasizes how this fence now towers over the family, looming over them as they are imprisoned and cut off from Western society.

Rehman further depicts the limitations this imprisonment bears on women. For example, by using the word “juicy,” Rehman implies how the father sees his daughters as vulnerable women to the predatory world beyond his “Pakistani style-ghetto style” chain link fence, where they are prone to becoming victims of his fears (3). The women must stay at home while the patriarchal head of the house can step outside to conduct his affairs, and while he is away, he builds a chain link fence to ensure Pakistani culture is enforced. The women are shackled to their social obligations at home, whereas the father is “always at work” (6). As a result, the women never leave past the fence. While the father perceives “his handiwork” as protecting his family, he places his family in a dangerous situation, forgetting “about the snakes in the house” (17-24). Emphasizing the inevitability of danger, Rehman also shows how the father is not invincible. While the father has been making immense efforts to protect his family from the predators that lurk outside the metal fence, Rehman writes, “he may have just sat down, exhausted from the effort / his small frame not meant for such heavy labor / but he could not protect us, could never protect us” (21-23). Ending the poem ambiguously, Rehman suggests that while the father is concerned about the dangers outside the metal fence, he is oblivious to the dangers within the house. Rehman represents this danger as snakes and suggests the danger of cultural enforcement inside, which restricts rather than liberates.

In the poem “Marianna’s Beauty Salon,” Rehman employs various poetic devices to shed light on the snakes in the house or how harsh cultural expectations restrict people from discovering their individuality. Rehman uses a conceit for her poem, describing how “Marianna’s beauty salon has become a Halal meat shop,” creating an unconventional comparison to show the repressive aspect of Pakistani culture (1). Rehman also uses enjambment throughout the poem to maintain suspense and amplify tension: “And how will the Muslim girls get to look / into sticky mirrors / to see their faces like some lost familiar / as if they were pressing themselves / down the birth canal” (11-15). Rehman further asks, “And after their hair’s been cut / how will they get to go / with their hearts tight closed / and their faces bloodless as rocks” and “How will they go / to face their mothers / waiting behind kitchen walls / long braids holding them down like ropes / and in each fist a curtain rod” (18-26). Rehman’s use of cacophony underscores the harshness of the conceit as the girls are portrayed as meat about to be butchered.

Rehman reveals how cultural expectations cling to women past their homes, hindering them from authentically expressing themselves. Juxtaposing a Hispanic beauty salon with a Halal meat shop, Rehman contrasts not only places but cultures; suddenly, an elegant, calm place transforms into a butchering place when the Muslim girls, burdened by the weight of their hair, get a haircut. By reiterating the phrase “how will,” Rehman establishes a worried and sorrowful tone, wondering about the tragic fate of these Muslim girls when “the rods come down / leaving brown marks / and breaking bones” after their mothers see their short hair (27-29). In this poem, long hair is traditional and modest, and cutting that hair marks boldness. In this case, “the Halal meat butchers will simply chop their heads off” (Rehman 34). Rehman hence reveals how these Muslim girls are chained to the difficult aspects of their culture where the atmosphere of the beauty salon suddenly transforms into a suffocating, tense, and unpleasant environment. The girls worry about what they will face at home after their mothers see their long hair now, only “little black hairs,” making them feel as though their hearts are being squeezed, color draining from their faces (31). Getting a haircut should be painless, but for the Muslim girls, it is like the death penalty. As a result, Rehman shows how they never experience the joy of styling their hair and discovering their individuality. Instead, they are weighed down by the expected discipline they will face for trying to explore their identity.

Rehman sends a compelling message to society about cultural oppressiveness by incorporating elements of her Pakistani culture in the poems “White Picket Fence, No” and “Marianna’s Beauty Salon.” The Pakistani aspects that Rehman includes in her work reflect social obligations, especially those of women. Immersing the reader in a suffocating and tight environment in both poems, Rehman adeptly conveys how these cultural expectations create and instill fear when strayed away from, imprisoning those who desire to develop their sense of identity. These women are hesitant to explore a world that encourages nonconformism and boldness because they are bound to their cultural chains. Through her writing, Rehman fuels the reader's sentiments of rage — the rage to liberate oneself from these chains and promote change.

Works Cited

“Marianna’s Beauty Salon.” Marianna’s Beauty Salon, by Bushra Rehman, Sibling Rivalry Press, 2018.