Sexuality in the Arab World
Edited by Samir Khalaf, John Gagnon
About the Book
Arab cultural discourse has been slow to respond to changing sexual behaviour. The contributors to this collection pick up the slack, ranging across such disciplines as literature, history, sociology and psychology.
Is Damascus the ‘chastity capital’ of the Middle East, where perceptions of wealth and class fuel female rivalries? How do gay men cruise in Beirut? How do young women in Tunis cope with both social pressures to become thin and family pressures to gain weight? What do Lebanese creative-writing students write about sexual practices versus public behaviour?
The fresh, compelling research topics covered include masculinity and migration; colonialism and sexual health; fantasy and violence; and domestic workers and sexual tensions.
About the Contributors
Samir Khalaf is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Behavioral Research, American University of Beirut. He has held academic positions at Harvard University, Princeton University, MIT and New York University. His other books include Cultural Resistance, Heart of Beirut, Sexuality in the Arab World (co-edited with John H. Gagnon), Arab Society and Culture and Arab Youth (both co-edited with Roseanne Saad Khalaf), all by Saqi Books.
Reviews
‘Other people’s sex lives have always been a source of fascination, and nowhere more so than in the Middle East ... Ground-breaking.’ New Statesman
