tion of those rules, and prosecutorial practice, leave
a residue of social violence that influences those
forms of being (a virgin) and bargaining (for sex)
described here. In the modern Arab world, partial
liberalization of the normative command of virgin-
ity was introduced by the nationalist elites that
took power after Arab states gained independence.
Desegregation of gendered public space through
education and work wrapped the command of vir-
ginity with a particular form of ambiguity that
allowed for sexual maneuvering that did not exist
before. The criminal codes put in place by these
elites reinforced this partial liberalization by com-
bining rules taken from a “passion” legal regime
with those taken from an “honor” legal regime.
Poststructuralist feminism deconstructs the lib-
eral distinction between honor (seen as instrumen-
tal and rational) and passion (seen as driven by the
irrational rage of jealousy). Honor killers can be
driven by rage, seen culturally as a natural reaction,
and passion crimes can be executed to maintain the
honor of the killer. But poststructural feminism
does not see passion and honor as the same, either,
in the way radical feminism does. Rather, it asserts
that passion and honor have a differential impact
on the culture of sex. Which kind of rules a partic-
ular regime picks to award which kind of excuses
to which kind of men will distribute power and sex-
ual subjectivities differently between men and
women. The difference makes a difference.
Poststructuralist feminists do not avoid talk
about sex. Since honor killings are disciplinary of
sexual practice, the goal is to open up resistance
through reformed law and social norms that allow
for more pleasure and new forms of pleasure.
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