Gender, Orientalism and Muslims in France: Culture, Masculinity, Violence and Sexuality

Abstract

Anissa Kate and Yasmine Latife—two names that, at least partially, suggest origin in the Muslim world. These two women are actually two of the top-selling French pornographic actresses of the past two decades. This observation brings into sharp focus the variety of ways that French Muslims are constructed in tandem with gender roles in French culture. Contemporary orientalist, erotic depictions of French women replace the harem with the concrete towerblock, and enable a ‘gaze’ onto the erotic other. This is not limited to French Muslim women as a similar intersection of gender, social role and masculinity produces the trope of the French Muslim gangster. Both of these roles push boundaries of discussions of contemporary constructions of Muslim gender norms in France.