Motherhood and the Construction of Gendered Identity: An Exploration of Middle Eastern and North African Harems

Abstract

Motherhood has been the topic of Western feminist discussion since Simone de Beauvoir’s critique in her influential work The Second Sex, but only recently has it permeated the historiographic discussion around the harem in the Middle East and North Africa. This paper discusses normative feminine identity within the harem and the relationship between motherhood, reproduction, and the state. In this paper I will explore various case studies addressed by salient Middle Eastern and North African scholars in order to discuss the centrality of motherhood to harem women's identity and the construction of normative femininity. How do law and state politics create a normative feminine identity? What role does motherhood play in and provide to the state? And lastly, who is in charge of the construction of feminine identity within the harem? Organized by question, this essay will look at the imperial Ottoman harem and harem slave system as well as the Kano palace harem in Northern Nigeria. Additionally, this discussion will add to the discourse around historical gendered identity and to the growing historiographical discourse around life within the harem.