Shedding light on the 'Boyat' phenomenon
- Dr Fadwa Al Mughairbi, Professor of psychology at UAE University, during the session ‘The Boyat Phenomeon’ as part of Counselling Arabia 2011 held at the Sharjah Women’s College.
Sharjah: Should the Boyat phenomenon, where young women dress and behave like men, be regarded as a problem in Arab society?
The issue is being hotly debated with experts saying labelling and
judgment should be avoided while students say it should not be tolerated
in high schools and universities.
The topic was discussed at the Counselling Arabia 2011 conference at Sharjah Women's College Wednesday.
Biological or cultural
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"People misunderstand this thing. It's not about homosexuality and we
shouldn't confuse biological problems with those people who, because of
cultural aspects, are Boyat," said Dr Fadwa Al Mughairbi, a professor
of psychology at UAE University who has researched the topic.
She explained that there are several genetic or hormonal disorders
(Testicular feminisation syndrome, hermaphroditism, Klinefelter
syndrome, 5-Alpha-reductase deficiency) that would lead to uncertainty
about a person's gender.
It could be possible, Dr Fadwa said, that those girls who were
exposed to a lot of testosterone in the first three months of their
mother's pregnancy could show more male characteristics.
She also said if a mother was a strong figure and she had brothers
whom she played with, the social upbringing would cause a girl to be
more of a tomboy.
"Gender identity is a big part of social upbringing and even men who
live in a family full of females can be a little soft and act and talk
like females because he has been with them all his life.
"We can't call them Boyat and be prejudiced against them." Dr Fadwa
said statistics about the issue in the Arab world were scarce but if a
young woman had a biological problem where gender was not clear, she
should decide if she was male or female. "Rear the child as consistently
as possible but be prepared that an intersex person may be orientate
[sexually] at a later stage."
Not conforming
"The Boyat has turned into a symptom and a product of society, which
does not live up to standards of their own community," said researcher
Dr Jose Sanchez Garcia from the University of Barcelona, Spain. These
women, he said, are reconstructing another way to be young women, which
is not viewed in a positive light by society.
The social phenomenon is a consequence of the young women seeing
themselves as individuals and this is different to Gulf society and
tradition.
Another factor he points out is that young Arabs take longer to get
married these days and this leaves the Boyat to be young in a similar
way as boys.
Dr Lorenz Nigst from the University of Vienna's Institute for
Oriental Studies said labelling girls as Boyat was dangerous. "When you
put a label on something, you want to deal with it and get rid of it
like a disease."
"People think a Boyat is disobedient and rebelling against God's
creation. Some see Boyat as suffering from a disorder," he said.
He explained that some people regard Boyats as going against their
"fitrah" (an Islamic term meaning nature or disposition) or not living
according to their fitrah as women who have a role to fulfil as wife and
mother. "By transforming their bodies they are changing their place in
the social order," said Dr Nigst.
‘Boyats' as bullies
One faculty member said some ‘Boyats' were viewed as predators that
preyed on other girls. A student mentioned that Boyats were operating as
gangs on campus and were going as far as threatening to rape fellow
students.
Dr Fadwa acknowledged that some Boyat gangs are intimidating other
students on campus. "Sometimes their self esteem comes from being
predators by being really strong like males. There should be a
counselling centre in every university so they can raise their self
esteem," Dr Fadwa said.
Another student commented that Boyats do not have medical conditions and rules against them should be set in this country.
"Alcohol is not allowed in this country because it harms ... and
Boyat is affecting the society." She called for Boyats to be handled and
treated while they are still in school.
"We can never generalise because we don't have the studies to prove
that they don't have a medical condition," cautioned Dr Fadwa.
