Cross-Dressing In Middle Eastern Dance - Page 2
© Shira
In the early 1800's, Europeans were bringing modernization to Egypt. At the time, Egypt was ruled by the powerful Muhammed Ali, who was eager to accept European assistance in building factories and developing a military force. The Europeans who worked on these projects sought local entertainment, and to them the dancers represented a sort of barbaric exotica. The dancers who performed in public for these men were the Ghawazee.
At that time, there were no nightclubs or other businesses dedicated to the purpose of providing entertainment, so the dancers would perform publicly in the street for patrons who were willing to pay. The Egyptians were not pleased with the patronizing attitude that these Europeans took toward their culture. In 1834 Muhammed Ali decided to ban the embarrassing Ghawazee from Cairo, and exiled them to outlying towns in the south.
The exile of these women left a void, which was quickly filled. So in 1837, when Sultan Mahmud banned the boy dancers from Istanbul, they fled to Cairo. Discovering upon arrival that there was a pent-up demand among the Europeans for seeing Oriental dance, they seized the opportunity and delivered their own public performances. In many cases they embellished the original women's dance with acrobatics and explicit sexually-oriented movements. These boys became known in Egypt as khawals.
Because the Europeans expected to see women, and because the clothing worn by the khawals resembled women's garb, many times the Europeans believed they were watching women until they caught a glimpse of week-old beard.
In North America Today
A small minority of modern-day Oriental dance artists in North America are men. Some are gay, some straight. Because the stereotype of a "belly dancer" is that of a sensuous woman, people are generally quite intrigued by male dancers.
Most male dancers like to appear in masculine-looking costumes -- sometimes folkloric, other times more of a glittery nightclub look but still decidedly male.
Others adopt a more androgynous look, that looks believable on either men or women. For example, they might wear shoulder-to-floor length tunics over pantaloons, topped with coin belts or hip scarves.
A small minority like to dance in drag, wearing the same beaded and sequinned bra/belt/skirt styles that characterize the women's nightclub look.
Final Comments
Don't let this article lead you to believe that all male dancers in the Middle East were cross-dressers -- I just chose to focus for this article on this little-known minority group within the male dance traditions of the region.
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