“Women with nothing to lose”: Marriageability and women's perceptions of rape and consent in contemporary Beirut

Abstract

Despite growing theoretical recognition that perceptions of rape and other social phenomena are best understood by examining the impact of social relations, there are very few studies that have attempted such an exploration. Moreover, most research on perceptions of rape has neglected the realities of women and men in non-Western contexts. The combination of both of these concerns underlies a recent study undertaken in Beirut, Lebanon. Through in-depth interviews with activists, key community figures and women not involved in activism, as well as participant observation in social and professional settings, this study sought to ascertain the links between social relations and perceptions of rape. Relying on an intersectional approach to analysis, this article offers insight into the main finding of this study, namely, that perceptions of rape are strongly shaped by the centrality of marriage and the construction of marriageability within the contemporary Beiruti context.