A Trade Like Any Other Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt by Karin van Nieuwkerk. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995, 226 pp.

Abstract

"A performer is like a candle; she sheds light for others but bwns herself
up" (p. 10). This rather sad statement gives an accurate picture of the
situation of women working in the entertainment trade in Cairo, such as van
Nieuwkerk presents it. Caught in a dilemma between economic necessity
and their significant others' evaluation of their work as shameful, female entertainers fight an uphill battle for respectability. They attempt to establish
their trade as one like any other, but with no great success.
To Western visitors to Egypt, belly dancing has been seen (and still is)
as the quintessence of the sensual and exotic Orient. In order to de-exoticize
the trade, van Nieuwkerk takes readers behind the glamorous tourist
scene and introduces us to the life-worlds of female performers and their
Egyptian audiences. She shows that although entertainment in general is
seen as an integral part of big celebrations, female performers’ reputations
suffer. And she asks:
Is the tainted reputation of female entertainers due to the fact that
entertainment is a dishonorable profession or is it due to the fact
that the profession is dishonorable for women? (p. 3) ...