Vrouwen die als mannen staan. Lichaamstaal en sociale hiërarchie in Noord-Afrika

Samenvatting

Women who stand like men. Body language and gender hierarchy in North Africa. This article, based on field work in Algeria, deals with the different ways men and women use their bodies and how they display and affirm a gender hierarchy. The gender codes of proper posture and movement are violated by prostitutes for professional reasons. It is argued that prostitutes adopt masculine body language, thereby seeming to challenge the cultural spatial order and the gender hierarchy it reflects. However, the danger ensuing from this adoption of masculine symbols of power is averted by a change of meaning. When women use the masculine code, it does nog lead to a higher status, as it does for men, but on the contrary to social degradation. This prevents other women from standing and moving like men. Prostitutes thus contribute to the preservation of the gender hierarchy instead of serving as a force of structural change.