The Gulf's gender anxiety

[Shana A]

The Gulf's gender anxiety

Moral panic over transgender men and women is symptomatic of the Gulf's problem with shifting gender roles

    Rasha Moumneh
    guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 6 July 2011 11.18 BST
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/06/gulf-gender-anxiety-transgender

As women in the Gulf become more visible, both socially and politically, and as migrants bring with them different ways of living, the region's governments are stepping up their gender policing. To allay fears among conservative elements, they are regulating more tightly what is deemed acceptable behaviour for men and women.

The direct targets of this backlash are those who visibly challenge gender norms – in particular, boyat (an Arabisation of the English word "boy", generally referring to women with a masculine appearance) together with transgender men and women.

[spacial]

These are indeed, interesting times for the ME. It seems, in many areas, the deminishing minority of traditionalists are finding the struggle to control the thoughts and actions of the majoirty, increasingly difficult.