Her Man September 4, 2008
Posted by Ethar El-Katatney in Cinema, Culture/Society.trackback
“Lesbian film” was one sensationalist headline I read while researching up and coming Egyptian director Aiten Amin’s short 10 minute film Ragelha (’Her man’).
I admit I was hesitant to critique the movie in my post, given the response we had when we discussed the documentary Gay Muslims and the movie A Jihad for Love.*
But before I decided to write or not to write, like a good journalist I tracked down the director and got a copy of the film.
And let me just say, I’m impressed.
Yellow journalism aside, it turns out the movie does not address the issue of homosexuality in Islam.**
The story revolves around Zeina (pictured right), a rural peasant woman who, out of jealousy, seduces her husband’s second wife, leaving a mark on the young girl’s breast to make their husband think his new wife was cheating on him.
The furor, of course, is not about the social issues the film tackles but about the short scene where Zeina seduces the second wife. I’ll admit it is slightly unsettling, and the scene is slightly explicit. However, as the director says here:
“It’s not shown in a dirty or sleazy way but in a classy and careful manner […] They are circumstances which happen everyday and should be spoken about, not swept under the carpet.”
What critics have failed to realize is that the story—written by Egyptian novelist Adhaf Soueif—offers a probing insight into what desperation and jealousy can make people do, as well as the intricacies of human psyche and the motivations that drive people’s actions. The ’sex scene’ in the movie isn’t there to offer cheap thrills or stir up controversy, and the fact that it is unsettling is what makes it really add to the movie.
Zeina isn’t in love with a woman–she’s in love with her husband and wants to keep him all to herself. Which is even more interesting when you consider that she was forced to marry him when she was 15 and he raped her repeatedly for months.
She hates the fact that he married another woman, and yet she’s utterly dependent on him (”You should be thankful he still spends money on you” a mother/grandmother tells her in the movie). So how to regain some ‘control’ over her life? She’s expected to put up and shut up, but she didn’t. Her actions, though debatable of course, illustrate her way of dealing with a decision which affected her so drastically and yet she had no role in making.
There are several moments in the film that deliver emotional punches, addressing issues such as child marriage, domestic abuse, a ‘woman’s’ place in marriage and more.
Sexuality is also an important aspect of the movie. I particularly like this article’s point about how the director focused on showing the ‘flesh’ (we never see the husband’s face, just his chest and hands), though I don’t know if I’d agree with the statement that some women “in a particular social stratum are obsessed with sexuality.”
Instead, I’d perhaps point out that sexuality in general is a topic that both males and females focus on, which leads to debates on so many issues ranging from premarital sex and hymen restoration surgeries to circumcision and women’s honor. And let’s leave it at that.
All in all, the movie is a great effort, and shows that Egyptians are finally ready to ‘talk’ about what goes on behind closed doors. The thing is, are we all ready to listen?
*If you’re interested, you can read my story Out of the Closet and onto the Screen, where I interviewed A Jihad for Love’s director Parvez Sharma and the gay Muslim imam featured in the movie.
**Please let’s not get into a debate about homosexuality in Islam. As mentioned in our comment moderation policy, “This blog is about the media/pop culture representation of Muslim women. Please make sure comments are relevant to the posts, and do not get bogged down in historical, religious, or political tangents.”
Editor’s Note: The intent of this article is to analyze the portrayal of Muslim women in a film, not to debate about whether Islam allows homosexuality. Comments that attempt to argue, preach, or condemn will be edited or not allowed.
The sexuality of Muslim women is certainly a hot topic at the moment; especially when it is so commonly perceived as repressed and even ‘non-existent’ in the media. It’s always important to point out that Muslim women are sexual beings too, and as the 10-minute film shows, women are not afraid to use sexuality as a means to an end!
I’m very interested in the sexuality of Muslim women, especially how its represented in the media – I’m constantly checking out MMW for such updates! I’ve written a critique of ‘The Beauty Myth’ author, Naomi Wolf’s article about Muslim women’s sexuality on my blog (shameless self-promotion alert!):
http://cycads.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/no-thank-you-naomi-wolf/
It is sad to see hat we recently have only two kinds of Muslims…
the radicals extremist terrorist evil doer… OR….
good believing moral Lesbian Homosexual Muslim….
HELLO !
Where are the mainstream muslims…?
Salam Alaikum,
As a Muslimah studying Women & Gender Studies I am asked constantly WHY I would be interested in this topic or why study it? I know in those moments I am being perceived ONLY as a Muslim woman. Strangely, some of my professors also have pre-conceived ideas about me…what I think..and why.
I think we have to be honest with ourselves…people are people. There is nothing NOTHING that non-Muslims do that Muslims do not do. The reasons may vary, the circumstances and understanding may be contextualized based on what we know, are taught and to be frank OUR MORALS (at times). I think we have to just be truthful and question it and try to understand it.
it’s always shocking to hear about homossexuality in Islam.
but unfortunetly it is there…
there is another movie (عمارة يعقوبيان - The Yacoubian Building ) that shows about the male homossexuality.
and i just wonder why they do such movies..?
[This comment has been edited to fit within comment policy guidelines.]
@Talia:
They do ’such’ movies because a story needs to be told. Homosexuality is a reality and there are are homosexual Muslims as well. They are humans with all the same emotions you or I have and we need to respect them. We really shouldn’t be judging them.
Talia, Ethar clearly stated in her post that “the movie does not address the issue of homosexuality in Islam.”
Salam Alaykum,
I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to this post, but this week has been kind of crazy for me.
@cycads: I definitely agree with you that the sexuality of Muslim women is an issue that needs to be talked about more, and that the misconception Muslim women are these asexual beings needs to be refuted. And although I disagree with the concept of using your sexuality as a means to an end—Muslim or otherwise—it’s still important to show that it does happen. Sexuality is used in a multitude of ways, good and bad, to manipulate, coerce, seduce, blackmail etc.
And self promotion is not a bad thing, I just did it in my post with the Sharma link
@ HotConflict: I disagree completely. What you have pointed out are the two extremes—and the umma of Prophet Mohammad is ‘ummatun wasat,’ i.e. in the middle. You can denounce terrorism and acts of violence completely (which most Muslims do) and at the same time look at those who engage in homosexual activity with the eye of Islam—mercy. In fact, I think it would be hypocritical to say ‘terrorism is wrong, haram etc,’ and then turn around and say ‘homosexuals should be killed.’
@Salma: Kudos to you for studying women and gender studies; I was only brave enough to take a couple of courses before the peer pressure to choose a ‘reasonable’ major got to me.
I agree with you and will add that pretending otherwise only makes us seem ignorant and intolerant, content to keep our heads buried in the sand. Just because we decide to ignore an issue doesn’t mean it’s not there.
@Talia: Sobia has already answered you and she’s right. It’s not up to us to judge who is right and who is wrong, only God will judge.
And this is a bit off topic, but I just wanted to let you know that the Yacoubian building (you can buy the book from Amazon) is one of the best movies produced in Egypt during this last period. It wasn’t talking about homosexuality in Islam, it was talking about social issues in Egypt, and one of them was unfortunately sexuality being used to bribe—an editor of a magazine seduced a poor policeman and tempted him through money. And this happens.