The ''khawal'' () was a traditional native

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian male dancer cross-dressed in feminine attire and was popular up until the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

History

Following prohibitions on women dancing in some public places, cross-dressing boys and men took their place to continue the local tradition publicly, these dancers were known as ''khawal'', an Egyptian slang for queer, and were mainly dressed in feminine clothes and outfits. The khawal imitated female

ghawazi Ghawazi (also ''ghawazee'') () are female dancers who danced in return for money in public settings, and the streets. There were male dancers as well, including men who performed movements associated with women and who were pejoratively called k ...

by dancing with

castanet Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...

self accompaniment, painting their hands with

henna Henna is a reddish dye prepared from the dried and powdered leaves of the henna tree. It has been used since at least the ancient Egyptian period as a hair and body dye, notably in the temporary body art of mehndi (or "henna tattoo") resulti ...

, braiding their long hair, plucking their facial hair, wearing make-up, and adopting the manners of women.

As they impersonate women, their dances are exactly of the same description as those of the Ghawazee emale dancers... Their general appearance ... is more feminine than masculine: they suffer the hair of the head to grow long, and generally braid it, in the manner of women ... they imitate the women also in applying
kohl Kohl may refer to: *Kohl (cosmetics), an ancient eye cosmetic *Kohl (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. ...
and henna to their eyes and hands like women. In the streets, when not engaged in dancing, they often veil their faces; not from shame, but merely to affect the manners of women.

Khawal distinguished themselves from women by wearing a mix of men's and women's clothing. The khawal performed at various functions such as weddings, births,

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

s, and festivals. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, they also commonly performed for foreign visitors, variously shocking or delighting them. The khawal were perceived as sexually available; their male audiences found their ambiguity seductive. In modern Egyptian slang, the term is derogatory and refers to a passive gay man, and is considered offensive.

References

{{crossdressing footer Culture of Egypt * Transgender topics in the Middle East Culture of the Middle East Arab culture Belly dance Male erotic dancers Cross-dressing LGBTQ in Egypt 18th century in LGBTQ history 19th century in LGBTQ history Gender systems Third gender

History

See also

References