Imagined Masculinities: Male Identity and Culture in the Modern Middle East (Hardcover)

~ Mai Ghoussoub (Editor), Emma Sinclair-Webb (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Writings on gender in the Middle East have tended to focus overwhelmingly on the status of women, on the rise of Islamist politics and veiling, and on the social construction of female identity. In the process issues of male identity in a region which has seen enormous social transformations over the past thirty years have been somewhat neglected. This book looks at the process by which stereotypical male identities get constructed, reproduced and contested in different parts of the Middle East.

Book Description

Writings on gender in the Middle East have tended to focus overwhelmingly on the status of women, on the rise of Islamist politics and veiling, and on the social construction of female identity. In the process issues of male identity in a region which has seen enormous social transformations over the past thirty years have been somewhat neglected. This book looks at the process by which stereotypical male identities get constructed, reproduced and contested in different parts of the Middle East.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Saqi Books (September 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863560970
• ISBN-13: 978-0863560972
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,344,828 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Middle Eastern Masculinities, May 26, 2004

By	Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Imagined Masculinities: Male Identity and Culture in the Modern Middle East (Saqi Essentials) (Paperback)

There have been close to no books on men's studies in the Middle East, despite Western depictions of the region as a very gendered society. In this way this book was a much-needed intervention. It divides into the following three parts: sociology, cultural studies, and autobiography.

The book is pretty representative. Firstly, it includes both Muslims and Jews: most books cover either solely the former or the latter. Women and gays are brought up. It's geographically diverse, discussing Iraq, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, etc. Like the editors, the contributors are both Arab and non-Arab. Most importantly, this book covers all the topics one would imagine coming up in this area: the military, circumcision, moustaches, heterosexual relationships, father-son dynamics, etc.

I have three opinions on the text. First, readers will be surprised to see that these academics do not feign objectivity in the slightest. They are very opinionated and critical. Sexism, Saddam, and Gaza-based violence are called out and condemned very pointedly. Second, masochism comes up a lot here. This book is filled with guys enduring pain solely because their communities expect them too. Ouch! Third, this book just wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. I ended up reading it intermittently.

This book was written pre-911. However, post-911 readers will still find it incredibly useful. As more people become interested in the Mideast, let's hope they are interested in studying its intersection with gender matters.