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Postcard depicting a khawal (pre-1907)

A khawal (Arabic: خوال; pl. khawalat) was a type of Egyptian cross-dressing dancer popular between the 1800s and 1900s. After Muhammad Ali‘s societal reforms in 1834, khawalat took on roles previously performed by female ghawazi dancers in parts of Egypt.[1]

Culture

Orientalist writer Edward William Lane describes khawal appearance and mannerisms during his time in Egypt:

As they impersonate women, their dances are exactly of the same description as those of the Ghawazee [female dancers] … Their general appearance … is more feminine than masculine: they suffer the hair of the head to grow long, and generally braid it, in the manner of women … they imitate the women also in applying kohl and henna to their eyes and hands like women. In the streets, when not engaged in dancing, they often veil their faces; not from shame, but merely to affect the manners of women.[2]

The khawalat gained popularity after the ousting of ghawazi dancers from Cairo, replacing them at events and celebrations such as weddings, births, circumcisions, and festivals.[3] However, they were not necessarily mutually exclusive; Lane describes both khawal and ghawazi dancers being present during a wedding celebration.

Khawalat distinguished themselves by wearing a mixture of men’s and women’s clothing,[4] which brought attention to the difference of their role from traditional male and female expectations.[5] They were perceived as sexually available; their male audiences found their ambiguity seductive.[6]

Khawalat commonly performed for foreign visitors, variously shocking or delighting them.[7][8]

In modern Egyptian slang, the term is derogatory and refers to a passive gay man, and is considered offensive. [9][10][AI-retrieved source]

References

  1. ^ Peck, William H. “THE DANCER OF ESNA”. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  2. ^ Edward William Lane (1842). An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. Vol. 1. London: Charles Knight & Co. p. 260.
  3. ^ Mona L. Russell, ed. (2013). Middle East in Focus: Egypt. ABC-CLIO. p. 335. ISBN 9781598842340.
  4. ^ Judith Lynne Hanna (1988). Dance, Sex, and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance, and Desire. University of Chicago Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 9780226315515.
  5. ^ Joseph A. Boone (2014). The Homoerotics of Orientalism. Columbia University Press. p. 188. ISBN 9780231521826.
  6. ^ Anthony Shay (2014). The Dangerous Lives of Public Performers: Dancing, Sex, and Entertainment in the Islamic World. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 160. ISBN 9781137432384.
  7. ^ Karin van Nieuwkerk (2010). A Trade like Any Other: Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt. University of Texas Press. p. 33. ISBN 9780292786806.
  8. ^ George Haggerty, Bonnie Zimmerman, Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures (2003, ISBN 1135578710), page 952.
  9. ^ “The Origins of the Word ‘Khawal’“. CairoScene. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  10. ^ “In a Time of Torture: The Assault on Justice In Egypt’s Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct: I. Justice at Stake: An Introduction”. www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2025-09-26.