On aggression,human rights,and hegemonic discourse: The case of a murder for family honor in Israel

Gossip, while a mean-spirited act of verbal aggression, has recently been considered eufunctional because it affirms traditional morality, social cohesion, and cultural stability. In a similar vein, in the name of cultural diversity, human rights anthropologists affirm the value of tradition, cohesion and stability. Extending Nader's theoretical framework on hegemonic discourse, this paper demonstrates the androcentricity inherent in these views. When Arab village women's gossip creates the climate in which the murder of a young woman is inevitable, a feminist anthropological perspective addressing the androcentric hegemonic discourse on aggression and human rights, however sensitive to multiple voices, requires challenging the assumption that aggression is eufunctional because tradition, cohesion, and stability are inherently positive.Earlier versions of this paper were presented by IMG to the joint meeting of the African Studies Association and the Middle Eastern Studies Association, New Orleans, November 23–26, 1985, to the New York Women's Anthropology Committee, CUNY Graduate Center, May 6, 1988, and to the Barnard Center for Research on Women, Barnard College, Columbia University, October 14, 1992. Fieldwork was supported by a grant from the University of Haifa. We wish to thank Richard Schuster for providing material on the most recent developments in the Arab feminist movement, and Gideon Kressel and Elliott Skinner for sharing their insights.