Sarkis
The Famous Hairdresser
The following was received by e-mail from a gay
Arab:
JERUSALEM-- I want to share with
you a story that my mother told me. It takes
place in Jerusalem in the sixties. There was a
famous hairdresser in Jerusalem named Sarkis. All
women loved to go and have their hair done by
him. One woman did so a lot and her husband would
always question where she is going. To Sarkis,
she would reply. Where are you coming from?
Sarkis, she would say.
The man decided that his wife had an affair
with Sarkis and made up his mind to go and kill
him. He went to his house and knocked on the
door. A beautiful, made-up woman answered. The
man asks with a tinge of anger in his tone
"Is this Sarkis' home?" The lady said
yes. "Then I would like to see him," he
said. The woman answered with anger, "shoo!
Mesh ma'abbi einak?!" "Don't I look
suitable enough for you?!"
The man did not know what to say. He returned
to his wife and said, "you can go to Sarkis
as much as you like."
This is a true story. I do not know if Sarkis
is still living or not. He must be old now.
However, the effeminate gays had a place in the
society and were tolerated as long as they served
their function catering to women's needs safely.
They probably served a function to men
self-identified as straight but also liked to
have sex with men.
The problem for me was always to keep your
masculinity, survive isolation in Amman where I
felt I was alone, and enjoy discrete sex without
being threatened of scandal. My biggest fear- and
sometimes fantasy- was that all Amman would one
day discover that I was gay, and then I would be
open target for sexual harassment from everybody.
30.7.98 N.S.
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