The Harem – A Rare a Privilege of the Rich

The Harem – A Rare a Privilege of the Rich

Harems conjure up images of belly dancers moving through smoke in exotic settings. Religious justification of subjugating women to be servants and sexual slaves is a common misnomer as are the images of belly dancers. Descriptions of harems by writers and society may be misleading for they hold the forbidden fruit, women cut off from society existing for man’s sexual pleasure. In actuality, harems were a privilege of those who could afford them and while not outlawed by religion, not required either.

The common conception of a harem that is true is the seclusion of women. The Sultan’s harem in Ottoman society during the latter part of the eighteenth century shows how segregated the harem was from society. In Moslem society, secluding women became prevalent and the harem was used to describe the part of the palace in which the women were secluded. Only the Sultan, eunuchs, and women were allowed in the harem.1[1] The harem “was the sphere of the women and the eunuchs that guarded them. Its centre was, of course, the Sultan’s family—his wives and concubines, and their children.”2[2] To adequately house all the people and provide for their needs, the harem was not a confined room or small are but a large place containing gardens, courts, the Sultan’s pavilion, and many other rooms among them housing for the women.3[3]

The harem itself was stratified into different levels; as only certain people could enter, it needed its own governing system. The higher your level in the harem system, the more privilege you had and the more respect you received. Kadins were the top ranking women in the self governing harem.4[4] Bowen and Gibb describe the structu...

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... One. (London: Oxford University Press, 1950), 72.

2[2]Bowen and Gibb, 73.

3[3] Ibid, 75.

4[4] Bowen and Gibb, 73.

5[5] Ibid, 74.

6[6] Siddiqi, Mohamad. Women in Islam. (Ranjit Nagar: Adam Publishers & Distributors, 1988), 144.

7[7] Siddiqi, 145.

8[8] Bowen and Gibb, 75.

9[9] Hasib, Laila. 1996. Exotic Western View of Muslim Women [online]. Muslimedia. Available from World Wide Web: (http://www.muslimedia.com/archives/special98/women.htm).

10[10] McCurdy, David W., and James P. Spradley, ed. Conformity & Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. (London: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1990), 242.

11[11] (Tucker, Judith. Gender and Islamic History. (Washington, D.C.: American Historical Association, 1993), 22.

12[12] Ibid, 33.