Description
Book SynopsisCombining vivid stories of love affairs with classic anthropological theories of kinship, gift-giving, and honor, this rich ethnography documents how ideals of relationships and respectability clash with the reality of life in modern Cairo.
Trade ReviewAn important study of double standards in the Arab world. * The Arab Weekly *
[
Love, Sex, and Desire in Modern Egypt] is an ambitious book, and Wynn delivers great theoretical insight…Wynn makes important contributions to anthropological theories of gender and sexuality in the Arab world, as well as sharing rich ethnographic evidence, furthering the diversity of scholarly representations of Middle Eastern women. * Association for Feminist Anthropology *
Engagingly written, Wynn's study of love, desire, and respectability in Egypt offers important insights for scholars working on these topics and is essential reading for those working on gender and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa. * American Anthropologist *
Wynn expertly charts the various ways that Cairene females are assessed as respectable, and how these assessments are internalized, no matter what the woman's class or background…This is an excellent book for anthropology students, especially in its interplay of theoretical and research chapters. It is a guide to the minefields of ethnography and an argument against rigid categories and theories in any field. * Al Jadid *
An interrogation of urban life and gendered mobilities in Cairo, Egypt...The book’s narrative style and care with which key characters and interlocutors are developed throughout, reiterate Wynn’s dedication to the political stakes of her text. From the antique store owners, workers and tour guides (called tourist hustlers) to belly dancers and university students the ethnography spans a variety of social groups and classes where themes of love, sex, and desire intertwine with the economy such that intimacy and circulation and exchange of money becomes closely tied. * New Books in Middle Eastern Studies *
Reducing problems to issues of status is a frequent bias of anthropological analyses. Consequently, Wynn’s theoretical discussion of how love and desire combine with the gaze of others is crucial. Seen in this light, the richness and subtlety of the book’s central argument about respectability make it a key contribution to current debates on gender and love in anthropology...
Love, Sex, and Desire in Modern Egypt is also an intelligent and beautifully written book that anyone interested in the subject will find a pleasure to read. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Chapter 1. Foreigners Like Things Looking Old and Dark, Not Shiny
Chapter 2. Mimesis, Kinship, Gift, and Other Things That Bind Us in Love and Desire
Chapter 3. “Why Can’t You Study Respectable Women?”
Chapter 4. Mimesis, Genre, Gender, and Sexuality in Middle East Tourism
Chapter 5. Demimonde: Belly Dancers, Extramarital Affairs, and the Respectability of Women
Chapter 6. Gift, Prostitute: Money and Intimacy
Chapter 7. “Honor Killing”: On Anthropological Writing in an International Political Economy of Representations
Chapter 8. Kinship, Honor, and Shame
Chapter 9. Love, Revolution, and Intimate Violence
Epilogue. Fifteen Years Later
Notes
References
Index
