 |
|
 | |
 | |
|
|
| |
| |
In Al-Anissa Hanafi (Miss Hanafi, 1953) Isma'il Yasin institutionalized the role of drag queen. In this nationalist parable, a traditional baladi Hanafi is forced into an arranged marriage with his stepsister. At the point of consummating the marriage, Hanafi is stricken with abdominal pains and is rushed to the hospital for an emergency operation that accidentally transforms him into a woman.
Hanafi then devises various strategies to wed his beloved -- a butcher's assistant in a popular quarter of Cairo. He succeeds in the end and even gives birth to quadruplets before the official wedding ceremony. Yasin's drag is not meant to be erotic; it mainly consists of modified traditional women's dress with very little homosexual double meaning associated with the transvestite disguise. Cross-dressing here serves as a comic vehicle for introducing class issues and the cultural transition from traditionalism to a particular kind of nationalist modernity.
The title means "Miss Hanafi".
 |
This Page: Al-Anissa HanafiReturn to Alphabetical Index PageReturn to Home Page |
Hazel Freeman's |
 |
Hazel Freeman |
and hosted at |
|
