Why do all sex scenes in Egyptian movies (particulary pre-2000) start out as rape scenes?
It always starts with what can only be described as an attack on the female, then there are a few minutes during which she is resisting (usually pretty pathetically) and then - get this - she begins to enjoy the activity. The message: women do not realize that they enjoy sexual activity. Do not be discouraged by rejection.
This is something I've wondered about for years. I mean since I was a kid and had only some vague understanding of what sex was - but I did understand it was supposed to be consensual.
What came to my mind the other day was this: it's a matter of ownership. Women in the Arab world (and yes, I am about to grossly generalize) do not own their sexuality. It is owned by the family (wrapped up in notions of honor), by society, and eventually by their husbands. It is only after marriage when they have a chance of taking control of it - if they are lucky, if they are able to establish a connection with themselves and if their husbands understand that sex can be fun for women too.
And so, not being in control of their sexual selves, the women in the rape/sex scenes can be portrayed as fumbling, naiive, unaware of what they like and don't like and easily duped by first-time physical contact. Characters which need to be shown, even if by force, what sexual contact is and why they like it.
I realize that I am only talking about movies - but movies are more than entertainment. They are supposed to tell us something about who we are, how our societies function. So I think about the messages in there, and I can be found arguing that people should think critically about movies, TV, and advertisements because more often than not they can tell you a lot about how myths are propagated and how the status quo is maintained in the face of changing tastes and quickening paces. They used to use folk stories for this kind of thing.
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"Little solace comes to those who grieve... when thoughts keep drifting... as walls keep shifting... and this great blue world of ours... seems a house of leaves... moments before the wind" - Mark Danielewski, House of Leaves
About Me
- spaz
- I write here because it is good for my head. And, like everyone else who lives in Cairo, I think it is something to write about.
2 comments:
actually, i always thought that the scenes u describe were nothing more than your everyday struggle with temptation. girl knows she's doing wrong, but it's too nice so she gives in to the pleasure, not the man.
bas yes, i have noticed that men everywhere think that if they persevere the girl will start to like it, they never think that it's them she's objecting to.
While rape victims do often succumb to the dominance of a male figure I'd say that Femme
Fatals are an increasingly more common theme in movies these days. With music videos
specifically depicting women who are aware of their sexuality, I think change is right around the
corner. Its like the natural progression from adolescence into adulthood. Exhibitionism is slowly
followed by a sense of self understanding. I definitely agree that the Arab world isn't quite ready for its version of Douglas and Stone's famous "rape" scene but you must give them time no?
Afterall, Rome wasn't built in a day.
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