Toward a comprehensive approach to understanding the construction of Islamic masculinities in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

The Arab Spring, a wave of pro-democracy protests, began in Tunisia, where 28 days of demonstrations ended 24 years of a dictator’s rule. The protests spread throughout the region to countries including Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Morocco, Libya, and Yemen. These events took many analysts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by surprise (Bayat 2011; Johansson-Nogués 2013). As I show in this chapter, some scholars and analysts of the MENA rely on problematic MENA masculinity theories, which deploy a dangerous racialized narrative of toxic Arab Muslim masculinity to understand the causes of the uprisings and their aftermath. The traditional use of MENA masculinity theories sometimes conflates Arab (the ethnicity) with Muslim (the religion) and simplifies the complexity of gender performance in the region shaped by each country’s history and geopolitical context. This chapter offers a critique of the narratives. However, it also highlights progress being made in improving MENA masculinity studies. It complicates our understanding of masculinities by highlighting its roots in international and domestic historic and current power structures. Using masculinity studies to study the Arab Spring is essential. When done correctly and ethically, it can shed light on invisible dynamics such as how gender was deployed in protest spaces during and after the uprisings. One of the most prominent examples of how masculinity played a role in Egypt’s uprisings is Asmaa Mahfouz’s video blogs (vblog). Born in Egypt on February 1, 1985, Asmaa Mahfouz later graduated from Cairo University with a BA in business administration. She is an Egyptian activist and one of the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement. One week before the beginning of the revolution, Asmaa posted a vblog on YouTube asking Egyptians to join her on January 25, 2011, in Tahrir Square. This date marks the beginning of the Egyptian Revolution, 37 TOWARD A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING THE CONSTRUCTION OF ISLAMIC MASCULINITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA