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Power and Sexuality in the Middle East Author(s): Bruce Dunne Source: Middle East Report, No. 206, Power and Sexuality in the Middle East (Spring, 1998), pp. 8-11+37 Published by: Middle East Research and Information Project Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3012472 Accessed: 14/01/2010 17:57 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=merip. 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Please to begin click content. on viewing "Next this For ease Page" article. of reading (at the top we recommend of the screen) that users CairoMovieHouse Sexual relations in Middle and subordinate social modern "sexuality" [and] Western degrees actors such as powerful categorizing identity positions: of masculinity dominant/subordinate Eastern societies adult between have men on top; women, sexual and gender and femininity, has, and heterosexual/homosexual or powerless, "normal" in favor of recognizing articulated historically boys identity, until recently, categorizations or "deviant." more complex and slaves hierarchies, had little of multiple kinds ot sexual of power. concept is, dominant East. They position of "queerness" and shifting made positions by predilections in the Middle resonance are structures that The distinction below. that is, between The contemporary realities social Both social resists all of sexuality, and power. Middle East Report ? Spring1998 early 1993, news of President In Clinton's proposal to end the US military's ban on service by homo? sexuals prompted a young Egyp? tian man in Cairo, eager to practice his English, to ask me why the president wanted"to ruin the American army" by admitting "those who are not men or women." When asked if "those" would in? clude a married man who also liked to have sex with adolescent answered boys, he unhesitatingly "no." For this Egyptian, a Western "homosexual" was not readily com? prehensible as a man or a woman, while a man who had sex with both women and boys was simply doing what men do. It is not the existence of same-sex sexual rela? tions that is new but their asso? ciation with essentialist sexual identities rather than hierarchies of age, class or status. A recent study of family and urban politics in Cairo suggests that social taboos and silences relating to sexual behavior provide a space of negotiability.1 They ac? commodate discreet incidents of otherwise publicly condemned il? licit sexual behavior?adultery, sex? homosexuality, premarital that values provided paramount of family maintenance and repro? duction and supporting social net? works are not threatened. Such silences, however, leave normative constructions of licit and illicit sexual behavior unchallenged, sustain patriarchal family values, and legitimize patterns of sexual BaruchRafic/Impact Visuals violence such as honor crimes, fe? male circumcision and gay bash? ing.2 Also in 1993, an Egyptian physician affiliated with Cairo's Qasr al-Aini Hospital informed me that AIDS and venereal diseases were not problems in Egypt because neither prosti? tution nor homosexuality exist in an Islamic country. While this statement may express conventions deemed appropri? ate for conversations with foreigners, it is profoundly ahistorical. Over the centuries, Islamic societies have accorded prostitution much the same levels of intermittent toleration, regulation and repression as their Christian counterparts and, until recently, have been more tolerant of same-sex Bruce Dunne, an editor of this magazine, teaches Middle East history at GeorgetownUniversity. Middle East Report ? Spring 1998 sexual practices.3 Denying the existence of transgressive sexual practices helps obscure the ideological nature of trans? gression," making it difficult, for example, to see prostitutes as workers who support themselves or their families by per? forming services for which there is a social demand. Such denials also legitimize failures to respond effectively to pub? lic health concerns such as AIDS.4 Representations of Power and Sexuality Western notions of sexual identity offer little insight into our contemporary young Egyptian's apparent understanding that sexual behavior conforms to a particular concept of gender. in His view, informed by a sexual ethos with antecedents Greek and late Roman antiquity, is characterized by the "gen? eral importance of male dominance, the centrality of pen? etration to conceptions of sex [and] the radical disjunction of active and passive roles in male homosexuality."5 Everett Rowson has found this sexual ethos "broadly representative of Middle Eastern societies from the 9th century to the present." This is not to suggest that there has been an or homogeneous historical experience for the unchanging Arabo-Muslim world but rather to acknowledge both the re? markable continuity reflected in the sources and the need for research that would further map historical variations.6 Islam recognizes both men and women as having sexual drives and rights to sexual fulfillment and affirms hetero? sexual relations within marriage and lawful concubinage. All other sexual behavior is illicit. Whether the 7th century message of the Qur'an undermined or improved the position of women is much debated. There is more agreement that in subsequent centuries Muslim male elites, adopting the cul? tural practices of conquered Byzantine and Sasanian lands, construed that message to promote the segregation and se? clusion of women and to reserve public and political life for men. Social segregation was legitimized in part by construct? ing "male" and "female" as opposites: men as rational and and lacking capable of self-control; women as emotional self-control, particularly of sexual drives. Female sexuality, if unsatisfied or uncontrolled, could result in social chaos and social order thus ifitna) required male control of women's bodies.7 The domain of licit sexuality was placed in service to the patriarchal order. The patriarchal family served as para? mount social institution and the proper locus of sex, thus ensuring legitimate filiation. Its honor required supervision of women by male family members, while marital alliances among families of equal rank maintained social hierarchies. Where men rule, sexes are segregated, male and family honor is linked to premarital female virginity and sex is licit only within marriage or concubinage. Those denied access to licit sexuality for whatever reasons?youth, poverty, occupa? tion (e.g. soldiers), demographic sexual imbalances?require between norma? other sexual outlets. Such contradictions tive morality and social realities supported both male and female prostitution and same-sex practices in Middle East? ern societies from the medieval to the modern period. Ruling authorities saw prostitution as a socially useful alternative to potential male sexual violence (e.g. against respectable women) and a welcome source of tax revenues, even as some religious scholars vigorously objected. According to Abdelwahab Bouhdiba, "institutional prostitution forms part of the secret equilibrium of Arabo-Muslim societies," necessary to their social reproduction.8 In medieval Islamic societies, understood through their literature of morals, manners, medicine and (male-authored) dream interpretation, sexual relations were organized in con? of social and political formity to principles hierarchy. "[S]exuality was defined according to the domination by or reception of the penis in the sex act; moreover, one's position in the social hierarchy also localized her or him in a prede? termined sexual role."9 Sex, that is, penetration, took place between dominant, free adult men and subordinate social inferiors: wives, concubines, boys, prostitutes (male and fe? male) and slaves (male and female). What was at stake was not mutuality between partners but the adult male's achieve? ment of pleasure through domination. Women were viewed as naturally submissive; male prostitutes were understood to submit to penetration for gain rather than pleasure; and boys, "being not yet men, could be penetrated without losing their potential manliness." That an adult male might take pleasure in a subordinate sexual role, in submitting to pen? etration, was deemed "inexplicable, and could only be attrib? uted to pathology"10 Rowson explains the relation between gender roles and sexual roles in medieval Muslim societies by locating them in, respectively, distinct public and private realms. Adult men, who dominated their wives and slaves in private, controlled the public realm. Sex with boys or male prostitutes made men "sinners," but did not undermine their public position as men or threaten the important social values of female or honor. Women, who could not penetrate virginity family and were confined to the private realm, were largely irrel? evant to conceptions of gender; female homoeroticism received men who voluntarily little attention. Effeminate and pub? gave up their claims licly behaved as women (mukhannaths) to membership in the dominant male order. They "lost their [as men] but could be tolerated and even val? respectability ued as entertainers"?poets, musicians, dancers, singers. Men a dominant public persona but were pri? who maintained threatened of male domi? vately submissive presumptions nance and were vulnerable to challenge.11 The articulation of sexual relations in conformity to so? cial hierarchies represents an ideological framework within which individuals negotiated varied lives under changing historical conditions. Adult male egalitarian homosexual re? lations may have been publicly unacceptable, but there is evidence that, in the medieval period, men of equal rank could active and passive negotiate such relations by alternating sexual roles.12 In Mamluk Egypt, lower-class women could not afford to observe ideals of seclusion and secluded upper-class women found ways to participate in social and economic life and even used the threat of withholding sex to from their husbands. Women in the negotiate concessions Ottoman period went to court to assert their rights to sexual 10 fulfillment (e.g., to divorce an absent or impotent husband).13 State efforts to repress illicit sexual conduct or promote so? cial-sexual norms (e.g., by closing brothels or ordering women indoors) were sporadic, short-lived and typically occasioned and the need to bolster regime by political circumstances legitimacy.14 Ideological Reproduction Reproduction of ideological Islamic sexual roles in the mod? ern period has accompanied dramatic transformations, including the rise of modern state systems, Western colonial intervention, and various reform and nationalist movements. These complex processes have not significantly challenged the patriarchal values that undergird the sexual order or impaired the capacity of states, elites and political groups to deploy both secular and Islamic discourses in their support. Colonial authorities left existing gender relations largely intact, as did middle-class reform and nationalist movements. While secular legal codes have been adopted in many coun? tries, they have generally deferred to religious authority in matters of family or personal status laws. Both nationalist and Islamist discourses have invoked ideals of Islamic morali? ty and cultural authenticity to control and channel change.15 Increased economic and educational for opportunities women and the rise of nuclear family residential patterns have eroded patriarchal family structures, with, for example, older forms of arranged marriages giving way to elements of romantic attachment. Nonetheless, as Walter Armbrust and in this Garay Menicucci suggest in their film discussions issue, the popular media constantly reaffirm that family in? terests and normative sexual behavior take precedence over individual romantic aspirations. Moreover, because regimes link their legitimacy to the defense of morality and the licit sexual order, opposition groups and ordinary people draw attention to the existence of sexually transgressive behavior to criticize a range of government policies.16 Thus, premari? tal and homosexual relations among Moroccan youth, in the context of AIDS prevention debates discussed in this issue by Abdessamad Dialmy, are attributed to the government's failure to provide employment and, hence, access to marriage and licit sexual relations. Both official and oppositional dis? courses affirm sexual norms. or homosexual, Sexual relations, whether heterosexual continue to be understood as relations of power linked to rigid gender roles. In Turkey, Egypt and the Maghrib, men who are "active" in sexual relations with other men are not considered homosexual; the sexual domination of other men may even confer a status of hyper-masculinity.17 The anthro? pologist Malek Chebel, describing the Maghrib as marked by an "exaggerated machismo," claims that most men who engage in homosexual acts are functional bisexuals; they use other men as substitutes have great con? for women?and tempt for them. He adds that most Maghribis would con? in homosexual sider far worse than participation acts the presence of love, affection or equality among participants.18 or homoEquality in sexual relations, whether heterosexual Middle East Report ? Spring! 998 order. sexual, threatens the "hyper-masculine" Gender norms are deeply internalized. A recent study of sexual attitudes among rural Egyptian women found that as a form not of violence they viewed female circumcision but of beautification, a means of enhancing their physical differentiation from men and thus female identity.19 An in? formal study of men in Egypt found that aspirations to "he? informed a continuous gemonic notions of masculinity" of the nature of process negotiating masculinity?the ability to provide for families or exercise control over women?in response to declining economic conditions.20 The persistent notion that women lack sexual control affords broad scope and social sanction to aggressive male sexuality. Women alone bear the blame?and the often brutal consequences evidenced honor crimes?for even the suggestion of their involve? by ment in illicit sexual activities. Suzanne Ruggi notes in this issue that honor crimes may account for 70 percent of mur? der cases involving Palestinian women. Honor crimes are also common in Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. Violence directed against male homosexuals appears to be on the rise. Effeminate male dancers known as khawals were popular public performers in 19th-century Egypt; to? day that term is an insult, equivalent to "faggot."21 The 19thcentury khawals may not have enjoyed respect as "men," but there is little evidence that they were subjected to violence. Hostility to homosexual practices has been part of the politi? cal and cultural legacy of European colonialism. Today, glo? bal culture's images of diverse sexualities and human sexual rights have encouraged the formation of small "gay" subcul? tures in large cosmopolitan cities such as Cairo, Beirut and Istanbul and a degree of political activism, particularly In is not a crime in Turkey, Turkey. Although homosexuality Turkish gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites and trans? sexuals have been harassed and assaulted by police and some? times "outed" to families and employers. Turkish gay activists have specifically been targeted. Effeminate male prostitutes in contemporary Morocco are described as a marginal group, ostracized and rejected by their families, living in fear of po? lice and gay-bashers (casseurs de pedes). For some, as for Turkish transsexuals, prostitution serves as one of the few in which can live their sexuality.22 Many homo? ways they sexuals in Middle Eastern countries have sought asylum in the West as refugees from official persecution.23 "Queering" the Middle East In noting the threat posed to the dominant sexual order by egalitarian sexual relationships, Malek Chebel acknowledges the great silence that surrounds the fact that widespread active male homosexual relations in Middle Eastern societ? ies presuppose the widespread availability of passive part? ners.24 Demet Demir, a political activist and spokesperson for Turkish transsexuals, touches upon the same contradic? tion when she states, with reference to the popularity as pros? titutes of Istanbul's transsexuals: "These people who curse us during the day give money to lie with us at night."25 Is this the "functional"?and demisogynist?"bisexuality" Middle East Report ? Spring 1998 scribed by Chebel above the mere substitution by men of available men for women?That unavailable other, view, which or over a the choice of a male transsexual hardly explains female prostitute, is entirely consistent with and sustains the ideology that positions public or visible or audible men as sexually dominant. Little attention has been given to the nature of these expressions of male sexual desire which, as Deniz Kandiyoti has noted, seem to "combine a whole range of masculinities and femininities."26 There are, she suggests, generational and dimensions of masculine institutional to the production identities. Thus, men who are expected to be "dominant" in one context may experience subordination, powerlessness and humiliation in others, for example in relation to their fathers and to superiors at school or during military service. How does "masculinity" change meaning in these different domains?The complexity of questions of sexuality, identity and power are explored in this issue by Yael Ben-zvi who finds herself, in Israel, simultaneously privileged as an Ashkenazi as a lesbian. The aim of "queerness," Jew and marginalized therefore, is to recognize identity as "permanently open as to its meaning and political use [and to] encourage the pub? lic surfacing of differences or a culture where multiple voices ? and interests are heard."27 Endnotes in Urban 1 DianeSingerman, Avenuesof Participation: Family,Politics,andNetworks in CairoPress,1997),pp.92 and100. American Quarters of Cairo(Cairo: University et desoutienaupresdeprostitues 2 SeeLatefaImane,"Unprogramme desensibilisation LeJournalduSIDA92-93(December masculins," 1997),p.55. 1996-January in the Arab/Islamic "ANoteon the Studyof Homosexuality 3 See As'adAbuKhalil, ArabStudiesJournal1/2(Fall,1993),pp.32-34. Civilization," unmasculin Journal 4 SeeMalekChebel, "Laseparation dessexesengendre maghrebin,"Le duSIDA92-93(December 1997),p.27. 1996-January in Medieval 5 EverettK.Rowson, "TheCategorization ofGenderandSexualIrregularity in JuliaEpsteinandKristinaStraub,eds.,BodyGuards: TheCultural ArabicViceLists," PoliticsofAmbiguity (NewYorkandLondon: 1991),p. 73. Routledge, 6 Ibid.,pp.72-73. DC:American Historical GenderandIslamicHistory(Washington, 7 SeeJudithTucker, and "Hierarchies ofGender, 1993),pp.3-13;StevenM.Oberhelman, Ideology, Association, in J.W.WrightJr. GreekandArabicDreamLiterature," Powerin AncientandMedieval in ClassicalArabicLiterature andEverettK. Rowson,eds.Homoeroticism (NewYork: Columbia Press,1997),p.66. University AH.564-6411 AD. 1169-1341 8 Hassanein (London: Rabie,TheFinancialSystemofEgypt: auCaire Artisansetcommergants Oxford Press,1972),p.119;AndreRaymond, University and Abdelwahab auXVIIIesiecle(Damascus, 508-09 527; Bouhdiba, 1973),pp. Sexuality in Islam(London: &KeganPaul,1985),p. 193. Routledge 9 Oberhelman, op.cit.,pp.67-68. 10 Rowson, op.cit.,pp.66-67. 11 Ibid.,pp.66 and72-73. 12 Ibid.,p. 66. Female CaireneWomen: 13 HudaLutfi,"Manners andCustomsof Fourteenth-Century in NikkiR.Keddie versusMaleShar'iOrderin MuslimPrescriptive Treatises," Anarchy in MiddleEasternHistory(NewHaven:YaleUniversity andBethBaron,eds.Women Tucker, Press,1991),pp.101and109-18; op.cit.,pp.18-19. 14 Rabie,op.cit.,p. 119;Raymond, op.cit.,pp.604-09. 15 SeeTucker, op.cit.,pp.19-33. 16 Singerman, op.cit.,pp.93-94and100. Continued on page 37. 11 Continued on page 29. from Ben-zvi, 14OmaOsheri, "Nim'as LanuLeha'amid Panim" hadEnough ofPretending"), ("We've Ma'ariv, December 18,1995. 15Eden's "HaMo'omedet" HaZman 16(January HaVarod ("The column, Candidate"), 1998), p.3. 16"Ha'Isha Shelanu Lamo'atsa" Woman totheCityBoard"), 20 ("Our KLafHazak(Fall-Winter 1997), pp.23-27. 171equate "de-racialized" withAshkenazi of and,withFrankenberg's identity (op.cit.)definition whiteness inmind,asa "cultural void" withpower (122),buta "void" charged 18Eden's "HaMo'omedet" HaZaman 15(December HaVarod ('TheCandidate"), column, 1997), p. 13. 191conducted theinterview, which infullas"Arviya, waspublished Streitit" Amerika'it, Feministit, 17(Fall1996), ("Arab, American, Feminist, Straight"), KLafHazak pp.10-12. 20 Underhermaiden LeviNahum, withherpartner, IraRader(nowIraEden), name,Michal BeKlaf Hazak Bevakasha" Political Matters ("No "Inyanim Mediniyim?Lo inKLafHazak, Please"), 17(Fall1996), KLafHazak p.12. 21 Itis onlyrecently, nineyearsafterKLafHazak thata tokenPalestinian wasfounded, lesbian initspages. wasfinally SeeMansiya Nishkah" ("A published (pseudonym), "Sipur Forgotten Story"), 18-19 14. KLafHazak (Spring-Summer 1997), p. 22SeeKLafHazak 18-19(Spring-Summer 1997), pp.19-22. 23Words musicbyZvikaPik. byYoavGinai, Now in Paperback! DICTIONARY OF 24OnUmpatampa Words musicbyDanaInternational. (IMPDance, 1994). byDuduBarak, 25Michal Eden,"Lehitga'ot Belsrael, Mashma," Tartey op.cit.,p.2. 26"Ha'Isha Shelanu HaZman HaVarod 16(January LaMo'atsa," 1998), p.26. 27YairKedar, "Thank YoufortheMusic," HaZman HaVarod 12(September 1997), pp.5-7. 28Words andOferNissim, music OnOferNissim byDanaInternational byOferNissim. Featuring DanaInternational (IMPDance, 1993). 29"Miz miz" is probably derived fromtheHebrew In slang"mizmooz," meaning physical flirting. Egyptian slang,it meanssnacking. 30Words musicbyOferNissim. OnUmpatampa (IMPDance, 1994). byYoavGinai, 31Thesongwasbanned fora timebyIsraeli radiolestit encourage youngmentocrosstheborder anddieoutside theconventional ofheroic framework service. death?military THE "Him makes an as varied as the With over 1,000 guide by Middle one of the most our fingertips. 1998* 384 pp. MIDDLE EAST Dilip Hiro a region impressive attempt...[at] Middle East."-77?e Economist entries, this authoritative reference East expert Dilip Hiro brings volatile regions of the world to 0-312-17435-7 $17.95 pb. 32Words musicbyZvika Pik.OnUmpatampa (IMPDance, 1994). byYoavGinai, THE 33Words musicbyOferNissim. OnMaganona (Helicon 1996). byDanaInternational, NAWAL EL SAADAWI READER Continued from Dunne, on page ll. 17HuseyinTapinc, andTurkish MaleHomosexuality," inKenneth "Masculinity, Femininity, Homosexualities: andGayExperiences Plummer, (London ed.,Modern Fragments ofLesbian andNewYork: 1992),p.46;Singerman, Routledge, op.cit.,p. 99;Chebel,op.cit.,p. 27. 18 Chebel,op.cit.,p. 27. 19 HindKhattab,Women's Perceptions of Sexualityin RuralGiza(Giza,Egypt:The Council: in Reproductive Health1, 1996),p. 20. Population Monographs 20 Kamran AsdarAli,"NotesonRethinking AnEgyptianCase," Masculinities: Learning A PracticalBeginning(ThePopulation AboutSexuality: Councilandthe International Women's HealthCoalition, 106-07. 1995),pp. 21 Singerman, op.cit.,p. 100. Nawal DECONSTRUCTING "THE 22 Imane,op.cit.,p. 55;TurkishDailyNews,August22, 1997;AmnestyInternational, Basedon SexualOrientation (London: BreakingtheSilence:HumanRightsViolations UK,1997),pp.26-27,52. AmnestyInternational 23 Information toMERIP oftheInternational provided courtesy GayandLesbianHuman SanFrancisco. RightsCommission AsylumProject, 24 Chebel,op.cit.,p.27. 25 Turkish DailyNews,August22,1997. IMAGES TURKISH i Avenue 1998 WOMAN" Reference 800-221 Middle East Report ? Spring OF Edited by Zebra F. Arat Situates the representation of women in their historical and ideological contexts, exposing myths and clarifying the complexities which are connected to them. March 1998-352 pp. 0-312-17544-2 $55.00 cl. 26 DenizKandiyoti, "TheParadoxesof Masculinity," in AndreaCornwallandNancy Masculinities: andNew (London Lindisfarne, eds.,Dislocating Comparative Ethnographies York: 1994),p. 212. Routledge, 27 StevenSeidman,"Introduction," in StevenSeidman,ed., QueerTheory ISociology, Mass.:Blackwell, 1996),p. 12. 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