Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East: Tradition, Identity and Power

Employing a broad, interdisciplinary perspective on gender relations, "Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East" questions long-standing stereotypes about the traditional subordination of women in the region. With essays on gender construction in Iran, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, and the Occupied Territories, this collection offers a wide-ranging exploration of tradition, identity, and power in different parts of the Middle East. Seeking to overcome monolithic Western notions of women's life in "the traditional society," the essays in Part I reexamine the assumption that such societies leave little room for female participation. Part II focuses on the reconstruction of identities by women in Iran, Turkey, Israel, and the Occupied Territories.The authors examine the complex variables that contribute to the development of identities - including gender, class, and ethnicity - in various Middle Eastern societies, questioning whether certain identities are more important to women than others. These essays also look at the issue of group identity formation versus the autonomy of the individual. Part III looks at the relationship between gender and power in everyday life in Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and Morocco, showing how power relations are constantly contested and renegotiated among family members and members of a community, between nations and between men and women. With its collection of enlightened and diverse contemporary perspectives on women in the Middle East, "Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East" is an important work that will have significant impact on the way we look at gender in traditional societies.

Table of Contents:
About the Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East Through Voice and Experience, by Fatma Muge Gocek and Shiva Balaghi Part One: The Reconstruction of Tradition Gender, Tradition, and History, by Juan R.I. Cole Neotraditionalism in the Poetry of Simin Behbahani, by Farzaneh Milani Wearing the Hijah in Contemporary Morocco: Choice and Identity, by Leila Hessini Turkish Women and the Republican Reconstruction of Tradition, by Zehra F. Arat , by Part Two: The Reconstruction of Identity Gender, Identity, and Anthropology, by Ruth Behar Notes from the Village: On the Ethnographic Construction of Women in Iran, by Erika Friedl Women's Movement of the 1980s in Turkey: Radical Outcome of Liberal Kemalism?, by Yesim Arat Growing up in Israel: A Personal Perspective, by Rachel Persico Coming of Age in Occupied Palestine: Engendering the Intifada, by Leila Hudson Part Three: The Reconstruction of Power "Metaphors Can Kill":Gender, Power, and the Field of the Literary, by Anne Herrmann Arab Women Arab Wars, by Miriam Cooke Arab Male, Hebrew Female: The Lure of Metaphors, by Anton Shammas Where Has All the Power Gone? Women and Politics in Popular Quarters of Cairo, by Diane Singerman Keeping It in the Family: Gender and Conflict in Moroccan Arabic Proverbs, by Elizabeth M. Bergman Bibliography