Manhood Is Not Easy

Karin van Nieuwkerk takes the autobiographical narrative of Sayyid Henkish, a musician from a long family tradition of wedding performers in Cairo, as a lens through which to explore changing notions of masculinity in an Egyptian community over the course of a lifetime. Situating his account within a growing body of literature on gender that sees masculinity as a lived experience that changes and is negotiated over time, she shows that the challenges faced by Henkish are not limited to his profession and that his story offers profound insights into socioeconomic and political changes in Egypt at large and the ways these transformations impact received notions of masculinity.