THE IRANIAN VIEW OF SAME SEX RELATIONSHIPS

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WILLIAM O BEEMAN, NEW AMERICA MEDIA - As an anthropologist, I can state
with confidence that sexuality varies tremendously between cultures. The
notion that one is either "gay" or "straight" does not accord with what
we observe in human sexual behavior, which is far more flexible. This
categorization is an artifact of American culture, which glories in
binary categories for classifying people. Folks that identify as
"bisexual" (yet another ambiguous category) in the United States often
get grief from both the gay and straight community for "deluding"
themselves about their sexuality.

Of course it is impossible to discern precisely what President
Ahmadinejad meant in his remarks. But what is true is the construction
of same-sex behavior and, indeed, same-sex affection in Iran is
extremely different than in Europe and America. There has been a recent
phenomenon of Western-style "gay culture" emerging in Iran – replete
with gay bars, clubs and house parties – but this is very new, largely
limited to the upper classes, and likely not known to President
Ahmadinejad, whose social milieu is the middle and lower-middle class.
This recent Western-style gay phenomenon is distinct from ordinary
same-sex behavior as practiced traditionally in Iran. Indeed, there was
not even a word for homosexuality in Persian before the 20th century. It
had to be invented. The term used by President Ahmadinejad was
"hamjensbaz," a neologism that literally means, "playing with the same
sex."

In Iran, same-sex sexual behavior is classified rigidly into active and
passive roles. The Arabic terms "fa'el" and "maf'oul" (active and
passive – actually grammatical terms used to describe active and
passive verbs) were the common designation for these roles. The passive
partner is still called by the Arabic term "obneh," or, more crudely,
"kuni." (Kun means anus.) The active vs. passive same-sex preference is
well known in the Western world, but it is constructed quite differently
in Iran and other Arab and Mediterranean cultures.

Active partners in Iran do not consider themselves to be "homosexual."
Indeed, it is a kind of macho boast in some circles that one has been an
active partner with another male. Passive partners are denigrated and
carry a life-long stigma if their sexual role is known, even after a
single incident. They have been deflowered, as it were, in the same way
that women might lose their virginity, and they are considered to be
"xarob" or "destroyed."

In actual fact, many men are "versatile" in their sexual activity but if
they are known to have relations with other men, they will always claim
in public to be the active partner. Same-sex relations between females
are undoubtedly practiced, but this is the deepest secret in Iran, and
rarely talked about at all.

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_
id=3a90d68c4ee619b83cd450f0661f0343


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