This book analyzes how the state constructs and reproduces gender identities in the context and geopolitics of Jordan. Guardianship over women is examined as not only the basis of womens legal and social subordination, but also a key factor in the construction and reproduction of a gender hierarchy system. Afaf Jabiri probes how a masculine state gives power and legitimacy through guardianship to institutionsincluding family, religion, and tribein managing, producing, and constructing gender identity. Does the masculine institution succeed in imposing a dominant form of femininity? Or are there ways by which women escape and resist the social and legal construction of femininity? Based on over 60 case studies of contemporary women in Jordan, the book additionally examines how the resultant strategies and tactics developed by women in Jordan are influenced by and affect their status within the guardianship system.
Chapter 1: Introduction: Gender, Law, and Politics in Jordan
Chapter 2: Constructing Normative Femininity: The Engagement of Law and Religious Interpretations
Chapter 3: Womens Alternative Forms of Femininity: Compliant, Pragmatic, and Exceptional Selves
Chapter 4: Womens Everyday Tactics of Defiance and Compliance
Chapter 5: Rebelling Against the System of Guardianship: Women in Need of Correction and Rehabilitation
Chapter 6: Conclusion: State, Gendered Power of Guardianship, and the Potential for Change
Afaf Jabiri is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Gender Studies in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, UK. She contribulã"
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