Nasser-Eddin, ‘Negotiated Masculinities’, 2014
- Category: Reports
- Source: Academic
- Subject: Refugee/Asylum, Gender
- Place: Asia
- Year: 2014
- File: Negotiated_Masculinities_The_Case_of_Ira PDF
- URL: https://www.academia.edu/7071786/Negotiated_Masculinities_The_Case_of_Iraqi_Refugees_in_Jordan
Nof Nasser-Eddin, ‘Negotiated Masculinities: The Case of Iraqi Refugees in Jordan’, Research Turkey, 2014
Abstract
In this paper, I will be discussing the masculinities of Iraqi refugee men in Jordan following the so-called war of ‘liberation’. I will be looking at how political, economic and social changes can influence practices of masculinities and femininities. This paper is based on interviews with Iraqi men and women refugees in Jordan between 2007 and 2008 during my work in a non-governmental organisation called CARE International. The theoretical framework of this paper utilises the work I had done for my PhD on patriarchy and the gender order in the Middle East generally and specifically in Jordan.
I will start the paper with exploring the structural order of the states in the Middle East, which has been referred to by Sharabi (1988) as ‘neopatriarchy’. Moreover, I will address prevalent patriarchal gender structures on community and family levels. I argue that there is a ‘natural’ gender order, within which there are conventional practices of masculinity and femininity that can be multifaceted. I use the word natural in inverted commas to assert that gender roles are socially constructed and are not innate. In other words, gender roles are ascribed to both men and women, and are performances, which are flexible and changeable depending on the context.
However, those practices can be challenged by certain circumstances, which can lead to a negotiation with the overall structure of the gender order, which is in essence patriarchal. I will also demonstrate how the ‘doing’ of masculinities, within family level patriarchy, can be challenged and negotiated. However, neopatriarchy on state level reinforces those practices. In times if crisis the work of non-governmental organisations increases to help people who are in need especially women as they are considered a vulnerable group. Nevertheless, the paper will look at the limitations of projects implemented by NGOs to ‘empower’ women and alleviate their situation due to the lack of thorough understanding of social structures that gives power to men.
This paper will try to answer the question; to what extent do political, economic and social changes influence the practices of masculinities and femininities?