A Trade Like Any Other

"A performer is like a candle; she sheds light for others but bwns herself up" (p. 10). This rather sad statement gives an accurate picture of the situation of women working in the entertainment trade in Cairo, such as van Nieuwkerk presents it. Caught in a dilemma between economic necess...

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Autor principal: Bent Thorbojrnsrud
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 1996
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/788975ab71064fe485a72eb51926631c
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:788975ab71064fe485a72eb51926631c2021-12-02T19:40:12ZA Trade Like Any Other10.35632/ajis.v13i4.22892690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/788975ab71064fe485a72eb51926631c1996-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/2289https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 "A performer is like a candle; she sheds light for others but bwns herself up" (p. 10). This rather sad statement gives an accurate picture of the situation of women working in the entertainment trade in Cairo, such as van Nieuwkerk presents it. Caught in a dilemma between economic necessity and their significant others' evaluation of their work as shameful, female entertainers fight an uphill battle for respectability. They attempt to establish their trade as one like any other, but with no great success. To Western visitors to Egypt, belly dancing has been seen (and still is) as the quintessence of the sensual and exotic Orient. In order to de-exoticize the trade, van Nieuwkerk takes readers behind the glamorous tourist scene and introduces us to the life-worlds of female performers and their Egyptian audiences. She shows that although entertainment in general is seen as an integral part of big celebrations, female performers’ reputations suffer. And she asks: Is the tainted reputation of female entertainers due to the fact that entertainment is a dishonorable profession or is it due to the fact that the profession is dishonorable for women? (p. 3) ... Bent ThorbojrnsrudInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 13, Iss 4 (1996)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Bent Thorbojrnsrud
A Trade Like Any Other
description "A performer is like a candle; she sheds light for others but bwns herself up" (p. 10). This rather sad statement gives an accurate picture of the situation of women working in the entertainment trade in Cairo, such as van Nieuwkerk presents it. Caught in a dilemma between economic necessity and their significant others' evaluation of their work as shameful, female entertainers fight an uphill battle for respectability. They attempt to establish their trade as one like any other, but with no great success. To Western visitors to Egypt, belly dancing has been seen (and still is) as the quintessence of the sensual and exotic Orient. In order to de-exoticize the trade, van Nieuwkerk takes readers behind the glamorous tourist scene and introduces us to the life-worlds of female performers and their Egyptian audiences. She shows that although entertainment in general is seen as an integral part of big celebrations, female performers’ reputations suffer. And she asks: Is the tainted reputation of female entertainers due to the fact that entertainment is a dishonorable profession or is it due to the fact that the profession is dishonorable for women? (p. 3) ...
format article
author Bent Thorbojrnsrud
author_facet Bent Thorbojrnsrud
author_sort Bent Thorbojrnsrud
title A Trade Like Any Other
title_short A Trade Like Any Other
title_full A Trade Like Any Other
title_fullStr A Trade Like Any Other
title_full_unstemmed A Trade Like Any Other
title_sort trade like any other
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 1996
url https://doaj.org/article/788975ab71064fe485a72eb51926631c
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