Nurturing Masculinities: Men, Food, and Family in Contemporary Egypt

157 Pages·2015·7.27 MB·English

by  Nefissa Naguib

Nurturing Masculinities
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nurturing masculinities
Men, Food, and Family in Contemporary Egypt
Nefissa Naguib
university of texas press Austin
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Copyright © 2015 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2015
All photographs in the book were taken by the author.
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work
should be sent to:
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The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) (Permanence of Paper).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Naguib, Nefi ssa, 1960– author.
Nurturing masculinities : men, food, and family in contemporary
Egypt / Nefi ssa Naguib. — First edition, 2015.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4773-0553-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4773-0710-6
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4773-0554-6 (library e-book) —
ISBN 978-1-4773-0555-3 (nonlibrary e-book)
1. Food habits—Egypt. 2. Masculinity—Egypt. 3. Sex role—
Egypt. 4. Egyptians—Food. 5. F ood—Social aspects—Egypt.
I. Title.
GT2853.E.3N34 2015
394.1′20962—dc23 2015001625
doi:10.7560/ 305539
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This book is dedicated to my father.
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Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Nurturing Masculinities 29
Chapter 2. Food for Faith 53
Chapter 3. Such Is the Life of Men 73
Chapter 4. With Pleasure and Health 95
Conclusion 121
References 129
Author Index 137
Subject Index 139
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Preface and Acknowledgments
We all have personal memories of meals—memories
evoked by a fragrance, a taste, the season, colors, a close rel-
ative, a friend, a passing mood, or a certain place. And al-
most everybody has a story or two about a meal with a loved
one. One of the fondest memories I have is of sharing water-
melon slices and feta cheese with my dear father in the sum-
mer on our balcony in Cairo. He was particularly fond of ac-
companying this snack with a glass of cold beer, from which
I was occasionally allowed to sip the foam. Seeing my mother
as she prepared and offered snacks—and other, more compli-
cated meals—with such love and commitment instilled in
me enduring culinary curiosity. I have them both to thank
for this book.
My decades of fi eldwork in Cairo were enriched by the
friendship and good-humored assistance of my interlocutors.
Without them there would be no stories to tell. They opened
their hearts and homes to me; no words can capture their
hospitality and trust in me.
Two lovely women gave so much of themselves and their
wisdom to this book. A decade or so ago, and in between
projects on global moments and the messy outcomes of war
on human lives, I had a long conversation with my dear-
est friend, Beth Baron, that stayed with me. This book con-
tains none of the plans we made, but it has made me revisit
the question of caring and our next adventures together.
When my very dear friend Marcia Inhorn told me, “You sim-
ply have to write that book,” it was the beginning of a long-
lasting friendship that I value deeply. She was with me every
step of the way. Thank you.
Warm thanks to my dear Bonnie Rose Schulman for co-
pyediting this manuscript in its different stages. She com-
mented and made suggestions with such kindness and
sweetness.
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