Female Homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and Representations. By Samar Habib. Routledge Research in Gender and Society. New York and London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2007. Pp. 195, with bibliography, filmography, and index. ISBN: 0-415-95673.
This study aims minimally to present some evidence from medieval Arabic sources that describe homosexual desire, practice, and identity, challenging the notion that homosexuality, and in this case female homosexuality, is a western construct of the nineteenth century. The book will not be easy reading for Middle East specialists, although it is grounded in classical and modern Arabic and Islamic studies. It is more a contribution to theoretical debates on the nature of homosexuality, a debate which may be foreign to the reader in Middle Eastern studies, and which is not always explained sufficiently in the book. Moreover, Habib has analyzed only a small portion of the vast primary material on sexuality in the history of the Middle East in order to prove her case. Scholars in the field of sexualities, on the other hand, may find it difficult to follow some of the arcane Middle Eastern and Islamic expertise.
The book is divided into four parts, dealing with the theoretical context, the history and representation of female homosexuality in the Middle Ages, in the contemporary Middle East, and conclusion. The author derives a new paradigm for “gay” historiography from an obscure ninth-century work of Ahmad Bin Mohamad Bin Ali al-Yemeni that contains descriptions of “grinding” (suhaq), which she argues warrants using the modern term female homosexuality. A poem quoted by Yemeni, written by a grinder, suggests that homosexual beauty, desire, and acts are among God’s creation. Yemeni also cites the first instance of female homosexual love ever recorded in history—a sort of Madam and Eve foundation myth. Another anecdote indicates that female homosexuality may be romantic and long-lasting. There are women who prefer grinding over pleasure with men, and there is a measure of societal acceptance for this phenomenon. In short, all the elements of female homosexuality.
The second part of the book is composed of an overview of some medieval Arabic literature on female homosexuality which contains some interesting and challenging insights. Although Habib tries to be as careful as possible in interpreting the sources, the ideas she raises are not always sufficiently grounded. The idea of homosexual relations between elite women and their female slaves is compelling, but deserves further study. Moreover, the close reading of Ahmad Ibn Yusuf Tifashi’s Nuzhat al-Albab is not always convincing.
The third part of the book, dealing with contemporary representations of female homosexuality, contains an analysis of “the first Arabic, lesbian-centered novel,” Elham Mansour’s Ana Hiya Anti, published in Beirut in 2000. Another chapter is devoted to a very few Arab films that have some male and female, homoerotic and homosexual, suggestions or explicit references. These are reviewed for some reason in non-chronological order, which further undermines unsubstantiated historical statements. Finally, some Israeli homosexual organizations, as well as Muslim and Middle Eastern gay websites, are mentioned as harbingers for the future.
The study of female homosexuality in the Middle East in the past and present is important and will undoubtedly contribute to a multicultural approach to female homosexuality in general, as the author argues. There are serious problems of sources and methodology for such endeavors. Nevertheless, this book will be quite disappointing for scholars of the Middle East. Perhaps it would have been preferable to open this field of inquiry with an anthology of discrete in-depth and more sophisticated studies.
Ruth Roded
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem