Mai Ghoussoub – författare

Attempts to challenge the virtual exclusion of the male prespective from Middle Eastern studies of gender. The text investigates the ways in which men are acting, reacting and adapting to the structural upheaval of the "traditional" family and to new images of virility and responsibility. Avoiding orientalist approaches, and without claiming exclusive insider knowledge, the essays seek to introduce the diversity of masculine identities in the Middle East by exploring some of the key sites where notions of maleness are constructed, reproduced and/or contested. From the symbolic dimensions of the moustache, through an investigation of transsexuality and Islamic sexual politics, through concerns with male aggression and attitudes to weaponry, to changing notions of masculinity in the Arab novel, the contributors reflect on various aspects of public, as well as private, life. The text also offers insights from the realms of the literary, the bedchambers of the brothel and the institution of family life.

A twelve-year-old girl writes an essay that extols revenge to impress her teacher, and is surprised to receive criticism rather than praise. ''Revenge'', Mrs Nomy insists, is ''the most cowardly'' human behaviour.Years later, having fled Beirut, she reflects upon the devastating role revenge has played in her country. Might she have found it so easy to forgive if she had stayed? Or might she, too, have contemplated retribution?A compelling and humane book, which abounds in courage and compassion.