State business: gender, sex and marriage in Tajikistan

Harris, Colette (2011) State business: gender, sex and marriage in Tajikistan. Central Asian Survey, 30 (1). pp. 97-111. ISSN 0263-4937

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Abstract

This article examines the relation of the state to masculinity and sexuality by way of an exploration of the sexual problems of a young man and his wife in Tajikistan at the end of the Soviet era. It suggests that the regime’s inattention to this kind of issue was bound up with the importance to the state of projecting appropriate versions of masculinity. It further posits the idea that the continued refusal of the independent Tajik state to offer appropriate treatments for sexual dysfunction is consistent with the image of modernity President Rahmon wishes to present to the world. The article shows that as masculinity discursively occupies the superior gender position, with men expected to dominate, the state is itself impotent to respond when they are, in fact, unable to do so in sexual practice. However, the myth of male dominance persists to the point that it may prevent women from seeing beyond their subordination and finding mutually beneficial solutions in their familial and sexual relationships.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	the state,sexualities,masculinity,gender,marriage
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Depositing User:	Colette Harris
Date Deposited:	25 Feb 2013 12:29
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2022 01:21
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/29037
DOI:	10.1080/02634937.2011.554057

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