http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/islam_and_manhood/
MASCULINITY Islam and manhood BY SIAD DARWISH, DECEMBER 18, 2009 The challenge we’re facing is not one of Islam but of manhood. To overcome the image of the Muslim men as violent and that of men more generally is to recognize other positive male attributes, live and emphasize them. The infamy of Islamist terrorism over the past years have created an image of Muslim man as intrinsically prone to violent behavior, even if directed toward the self rather than the other. The image of the angry, flag-burning, chanting Muslim man has become the epitome of male violence. However the photos fail to explain that, firstly, the anger is finds justification, and secondly, that the chants rarely spill over into to physical violence and thirdly that violence is not exclusive to Muslim men. >From my personal experience, physical violence among men is far less frequent in the Muslim world than western cities for example, at least outside political and military realms. It seems rather staged forms of violence that are most prevalent, both in the domestic and public sphere. To illustrate my point, let me recount a small story that I have similarly observed in three Muslim countries. In Damascus, Syria, a heavily bearded man drives his car into a fruit seller’s stall. The vendor screams insults at the driver, who, in turn, jumps out of the car and rushes towards the vendor, shaking his fists in rage. The vendor answers with an even greater fit of anger and shakes his fists in the air. A crowd gathers around them. The driver of the car lunges forward, only as somebody is in arms’ reach to hold him back. As expected, he is held back as he struggles theatrically, still screaming. The vendor follows suit. The performance continues for 30 minutes without any assertion of physical violence. Pierre Bourdieu, who liked to look at the social world as a stage, and humans as performers, observed a similar ‘performance’ during his work among the Berbers, an indigenous people of North Africa. Bourdieu situated masculinity in this social exchange within a framework of honor; he described ‘performed masculinity’ as a form of challenge and riposte that establishes social hierarchies. A challenge confers honor onto a man, because behind the call to contest lies an underlying assumption that the challenge requires a riposte, an act of possible injury or danger. Therefore, a challenge is only addressed to a man deemed capable of playing the theater of honor. The theatrical exchange provides an opportunity for both males to prove their belonging to the world of man. Apart from diverting the focus away from physical violence, the concept of ‘performed masculinity’ illustrates the importance of male-male competition in the construction of Muslim masculinity. This offers a rather interesting angle, given that in an Islamic context we normally look at the power relations between the sexes and not within them. Despite that, it is undeniable that there is connection between dominant constructions of masculinity throughout the world and violence. Otherwise it wouldn’t be young men that are both the perpetrators and victims of the vast majority of violent crimes globally. Although many scholars have argued that there are at least contributing biological factors to male rather than female violence, we only have to look at our televisions sets, popular role-models and leaders to understand that violence is social capital for men. The challenge we’re facing is not one of Islam but of manhood. To overcome the image of the Muslim men as violent and that of men more generally is to recognize other positive male attributes, live and emphasize them. We have to turn to women to relearn or reclaim some of the attributes that male socialization has taken from us, we have to stand shoulder by shoulder with them and recognize that Muslim men are caring, empathetic and men enough to be different. Siad Darwish is a peacebuilder, civil society activist and trainer on intercultural dialogue, gender, nonviolence and conflict resolution. He is part of the Women’s Peacemakers Program’s unit on ‘masculinity, violence and peace’. Siad holds an MA in Anthropology from Sussex University, where his research focused on the relationship between HIV/AIDS and Islam. In the past years, he has lived in Germany, Spain, Guatemala, England, Syria and Lebanon. ------------------------------------ ========================================== MILIS MAJELIS MUDA MUSLIM BANDUNG (M3B) Milis tempat cerita, curhat atau ngegosip mengenai masalah anak muda dan Islam. 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