A Woman without Limits: Syrian Women in the Peddling Economy

ʿAbd al-Masih Haddad’s 1921 short story, “Timthal al-Huriyya” (Statue of Liberty) is a tongue-in-cheek cautionary tale for the Arab immigrant man.¹ The story’s protagonist, Nakhla al-Masoub, brings his young wife, Edma, with him to the United States, where he hopes to enrich their lives economically. Yet, despite being a self-described “lord of the house,” Nakhla strikes out financially time and time again and ends up deep in debt. One day, his brother-in-law suggests that if Nakhla were to send his wife out to work as a peddler, his debts would quickly diminish. The brother-in-law convinces Nakhla of this proposal by