Arab dominant gay
Peter Drucker
Desiring Arabs
by Joseph A. Massad
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007,
444 pages, $35 hardcover.
THE ISSUE OF same-sex sexualities in the Arab nature is a political and intellectual minefield, and more so since 9/11 than before. In a bizarre twist, neoconservatives and other rightists who were antagonistic for decades to the lesbian/gay movement(1) have repackaged themselves as defenders of oppressed Arab women and gays. Responses from the left have been divided.
When international human rights or LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) groups have issued alerts lately about persecution of Middle Eastern LGBT people (most often in Iran), some anti-imperialist gays have denounced the critics for contributing to the Republicans’ (and some prominent Democrats’) war drive. Others, closer to the politics of Against the Current, have insisted on the importance both of conflict to U.S. intervention and of solidarity with LGBTs.
The arguments have rarely shown much knowledge of the sexual cultures of the Arab world, however, or included much examination of how imperialism and sexuality interact. Overcoming this lack of understanding is a crucial and u
This article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands
As someone with an Egyptian background living in the Netherlands, I’m constantly forced to roar off poor attempts at flirting that focus solely on my race. “Arab guys make me so horny – I listen you’re all very dominant and aggressive in bed,” was one example. “You’re quite handsome for a Moroccan,” was another.
It’s clear that, for some people, having sex with me would just be another exotic experience to tick off their bucket list, like wakeboarding or salsa classes. On the flip-side of this fetishisation are guys who won’t date me purely because of my roots; I’ve had people tell me to my face that they’re just not attracted to “foreigners”. This thoughtful of exclusion based on race is rampant all over – like on Grindr, where countless profiles feature terms like “no Asians” or “no blacks”.
I was curious to notice if experiencing racism in the dating scene is as common as it seems to be, so I spoke to seven people of colour in the Netherlands about the part race plays when they’re out, dating someone, or in their sex lives.
Sarah,
19/07/2023
Written by Zineb Khelif
Translated by Bertille Fitamant
If homosexuality remains a taboo in most contemporary societies, the connection to it in the Arab-Muslim world is particular. Out of twelve countries where homosexuality is punishable by death, six are Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Together Arab Emirates, Brunei, Iran) and it is illegal in all the other countries in the area. Local particularisms in proof diversify the study of the subject in each of the countries, but the choice made on the territory ranging from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula is linked through Muslim and Arab identity and by models of similar hegemonic masculinities on many points, such as virility and the position of patriarch, i.e. of a dominant. This patriarchal reality is not singular to this area but it is one of the common denominators among the different cultures launch there. The other similar aspect is the identify of colonisation, whose strife for independence on distinct scales continues to shape the various political and social landscapes. As a result, this part of the world has rigidified its laws and its relationship to homosexuality over the last few
"Homosexuality in the Middle East: An analysis of dominant and competitive discourses'
Homosexuality in the Middle East: An analysis of dominant and competitive discourses by Serena Tolino ∗ Abstract: The applicability of the category “homosexuality” in the Middle East has recently been widely questioned: some scholars (e.g. Kugle and Habib) do not hesitate to talk of “ho- mosexuality in the Middle East”, or “homosexuality in Islam”. Others, like el-Rouayheb, Schmitt, Dunne, Najmabadi and Massad, are more cautious in applying this category to non- European contexts.Indeed, when we speak of homosexuality, but also of heterosexuality, we are commonly referring to two categories which are the results of social and historical deve- lopments and which refer to what Foucault has defined as the “psychiatrization of perverse pleasure”, which contributed to the definition and the creation of the category of the homose- xual. A theoretical part of my paper will be passionate to a critical reflection on what analytical categories we could use when dealing with “homosexuality” in the Middle East. In the second part of the article I will look at the contemporary discourses on homosexu
The Arab and Muslim Evolution of ‘Deviance’ in Homosexuality
Late last year, two incidents brought homosexuality to the forefront of public debates on Arab social media. The first was in November, when British racing driver Lewis Hamilton wore a rainbow helmet in support of the LGBTQ people at the Formula One races in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Joined Arab Emirates. The second was the anti-gay rhetoric offered in December by former Egyptian football player Mohamed Aboutrika on the Qatari pan-Arab TV channel beIN Sports, in which he urged Muslim soccer players to boycott the English Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign.
In reaction to these incidents, hashtags, memes, fake news and fierce debates flooded Arab social media, with participation from hundreds of thousands of users. While both those for and against homosexuality participated in this conversation, the debate itself, like many other social media controversies, unfolded within echo chambers where no party is exposed to or interested in engaging with opposing arguments. And even when the sides engaged in debate, the discussion only reinforced one’s opinions.
Amid this chaos, there is at least one aspect of homos
19/07/2023
Written by Zineb Khelif
Translated by Bertille Fitamant
If homosexuality remains a taboo in most contemporary societies, the connection to it in the Arab-Muslim world is particular. Out of twelve countries where homosexuality is punishable by death, six are Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Together Arab Emirates, Brunei, Iran) and it is illegal in all the other countries in the area. Local particularisms in proof diversify the study of the subject in each of the countries, but the choice made on the territory ranging from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula is linked through Muslim and Arab identity and by models of similar hegemonic masculinities on many points, such as virility and the position of patriarch, i.e. of a dominant. This patriarchal reality is not singular to this area but it is one of the common denominators among the different cultures launch there. The other similar aspect is the identify of colonisation, whose strife for independence on distinct scales continues to shape the various political and social landscapes. As a result, this part of the world has rigidified its laws and its relationship to homosexuality over the last few
"Homosexuality in the Middle East: An analysis of dominant and competitive discourses'
Homosexuality in the Middle East: An analysis of dominant and competitive discourses by Serena Tolino ∗ Abstract: The applicability of the category “homosexuality” in the Middle East has recently been widely questioned: some scholars (e.g. Kugle and Habib) do not hesitate to talk of “ho- mosexuality in the Middle East”, or “homosexuality in Islam”. Others, like el-Rouayheb, Schmitt, Dunne, Najmabadi and Massad, are more cautious in applying this category to non- European contexts.Indeed, when we speak of homosexuality, but also of heterosexuality, we are commonly referring to two categories which are the results of social and historical deve- lopments and which refer to what Foucault has defined as the “psychiatrization of perverse pleasure”, which contributed to the definition and the creation of the category of the homose- xual. A theoretical part of my paper will be passionate to a critical reflection on what analytical categories we could use when dealing with “homosexuality” in the Middle East. In the second part of the article I will look at the contemporary discourses on homosexu
The Arab and Muslim Evolution of ‘Deviance’ in Homosexuality
Late last year, two incidents brought homosexuality to the forefront of public debates on Arab social media. The first was in November, when British racing driver Lewis Hamilton wore a rainbow helmet in support of the LGBTQ people at the Formula One races in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Joined Arab Emirates. The second was the anti-gay rhetoric offered in December by former Egyptian football player Mohamed Aboutrika on the Qatari pan-Arab TV channel beIN Sports, in which he urged Muslim soccer players to boycott the English Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign.
In reaction to these incidents, hashtags, memes, fake news and fierce debates flooded Arab social media, with participation from hundreds of thousands of users. While both those for and against homosexuality participated in this conversation, the debate itself, like many other social media controversies, unfolded within echo chambers where no party is exposed to or interested in engaging with opposing arguments. And even when the sides engaged in debate, the discussion only reinforced one’s opinions.
Amid this chaos, there is at least one aspect of homos