Middle Eastern and Central Asian pederasty - Revision history

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Replaced the content of the page with a redirect code

Dandelion: Dandelion moved page Pederasty in the Middle East and Central Asia to Middle Eastern and Central Asian pederasty

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Dandelion moved page Pederasty in the Middle East and Central Asia to Middle Eastern and Central Asian pederasty

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Dandelion: /* Ottoman Empire */

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Ottoman Empire

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	===Ottoman Empire===		===Ottoman Empire===
	[[File:Illustration depicting a kulampara (lover of boys).jpg\|thumb\|left\|Illustration depicting a <i>kulampara</i> (lover of boys). An <i>effendi</i> (master) caresses the face of an <i>içoğlanı</i> (boy servant).]]		[[File:Illustration depicting a kulampara (lover of boys).jpg\|thumb\|left\|Illustration depicting a <i>kulampara</i> (lover of boys). An <i>effendi</i> (master) caresses the face of an <i>içoğlanı</i> (boy servant).]]
	The early modern [[Ottoman Empire]], despite being an [[Islam\|Islamic empire]], produced many primary sources which indicate the existence of male-male love among its citizens. At present, many historians are still having disagreements with regard to male-male relationships in [[early modern]] Ottoman society—some argue on the gender of the beloveds being portrayed in poems,<ref>refer to ''The existence of male-male love'' subsection.</ref> some disagree on the tolerance for [[sodomy]],<ref>refer to ''Sodomy and Islam'' subsection.</ref>. These variations in opinions and the sometimes seemingly contradicting primary sources—literary work describing male-male relationships and yet laws prohibiting sodomy—create a constantly evolving field of study.		The early modern [[Ottoman Empire]], despite being an [[Islam\|Islamic empire]], produced many primary sources which indicate the existence of male-male love among its citizens. At present, many historians are still having disagreements with regard to male-male relationships in [[early modern]] Ottoman society—some argue on the gender of the beloveds being portrayed in poems,<ref>refer to ''The existence of male-male love'' subsection.</ref> some disagree on the tolerance for [[sodomy]].<ref>refer to ''Sodomy and Islam'' subsection.</ref> These variations in opinions and the sometimes seemingly contradicting primary sources—literary work describing male-male relationships and yet laws prohibiting sodomy—create a constantly evolving field of study.

	====Sodomy and Islam====		====Sodomy and Islam====

Dandelion: /* Sufi outlook */

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Sufi outlook

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	''Nazar'' was a principal expression of a male love that, according to the teachings, was not to be consummated physically.		''Nazar'' was a principal expression of a male love that, according to the teachings, was not to be consummated physically.

	Not all followed the teachings to the letter. On being challenged by [[Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya]] (c.~~717-801~~) of [[Basrah]] (Sufi woman saint who first set forth the doctrine of mystical love), upon noticing him kissing a boy, for appreciating the beauty of boys above that of God, the ascetic Sufi [[Rabah al-Qaysi]] retorted that, "On the contrary, this is a mercy that God Most High has put into the hearts of his slaves" (Abu 'Abdur-Rahman as-Sulami, pp. 78–79). Others also suspected the motives of dervishes who professed to love only the appearance of the boys, as reflected in this Egyptian proverb: ''In his father's home a boy's chastity is safe, but let him become a dervish and the buggers will queue up behind him''.<ref>Yusuf Al-Shirbini's 17th-century ''Kitab Hazz Al-Quhuf'', as per Khaled El-Rouayheb, ''Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500–1800''; Chicago, 2005; p. 37.</ref>		Not all followed the teachings to the letter. On being challenged by [[Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya]] (c.717–801) of [[Basrah]] (Sufi woman saint who first set forth the doctrine of mystical love), upon noticing him kissing a boy, for appreciating the beauty of boys above that of God, the ascetic Sufi [[Rabah al-Qaysi]] retorted that, "On the contrary, this is a mercy that God Most High has put into the hearts of his slaves" (Abu 'Abdur-Rahman as-Sulami, pp. 78–79). Others also suspected the motives of dervishes who professed to love only the appearance of the boys, as reflected in this Egyptian proverb: ''In his father's home a boy's chastity is safe, but let him become a dervish and the buggers will queue up behind him''.<ref>Yusuf Al-Shirbini's 17th-century ''Kitab Hazz Al-Quhuf'', as per Khaled El-Rouayheb, ''Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500–1800''; Chicago, 2005; p. 37.</ref>

	Conservative Muslim theologians condemned the custom of contemplating the beauty of young boys. Their suspicions may have been justified, as some [[dervishes]] boasted of enjoying far more than "glances", or even kisses. ''Nazar'' was denounced as ''rank'' [[heresy]] by such as [[Ibn Taymiyya]] (~~1263-1328~~), who complained, "They kiss a slave boy and claim to have seen God!". The real danger to conventional religion, as [[Peter Lamborn Wilson]] asserts, was not so much the mixing of sodomy with worship, but "the claim that human beings can realize themselves in love more perfectly than in religious practices". Despite opposition from the clerics, the practice has survived in Islamic countries until only recent years, according to Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe (see [[References]] section below).		Conservative Muslim theologians condemned the custom of contemplating the beauty of young boys. Their suspicions may have been justified, as some [[dervishes]] boasted of enjoying far more than "glances", or even kisses. ''Nazar'' was denounced as ''rank'' [[heresy]] by such as [[Ibn Taymiyya]] (1263–1328), who complained, "They kiss a slave boy and claim to have seen God!". The real danger to conventional religion, as [[Peter Lamborn Wilson]] asserts, was not so much the mixing of sodomy with worship, but "the claim that human beings can realize themselves in love more perfectly than in religious practices". Despite opposition from the clerics, the practice has survived in Islamic countries until only recent years, according to Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe (see [[References]] section below).

	==Modern scholarship==		==Modern scholarship==

Dandelion: /* Ottoman Empire */

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Ottoman Empire

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	===Ottoman Empire===		===Ottoman Empire===
	[[File:Illustration depicting a kulampara (lover of boys).jpg\|thumb\|~~right~~\|Illustration depicting a <i>kulampara</i> (lover of boys). An <i>effendi</i> (master) caresses the face of an <i>içoğlanı</i> (boy servant).]]		[[File:Illustration depicting a kulampara (lover of boys).jpg\|thumb\|left\|Illustration depicting a <i>kulampara</i> (lover of boys). An <i>effendi</i> (master) caresses the face of an <i>içoğlanı</i> (boy servant).]]
	The early modern [[Ottoman Empire]], despite being an [[Islam\|Islamic empire]], produced many primary sources which indicate the existence of male-male love among its citizens. At present, many historians are still having disagreements with regard to male-male relationships in [[early modern]] Ottoman society—some argue on the gender of the beloveds being portrayed in poems,<ref>refer to ''The existence of male-male love'' subsection.</ref> some disagree on the tolerance for [[sodomy]],<ref>refer to ''Sodomy and Islam'' subsection.</ref>. These variations in opinions and the sometimes seemingly contradicting primary sources—literary work describing male-male relationships and yet laws prohibiting sodomy—create a constantly evolving field of study.		The early modern [[Ottoman Empire]], despite being an [[Islam\|Islamic empire]], produced many primary sources which indicate the existence of male-male love among its citizens. At present, many historians are still having disagreements with regard to male-male relationships in [[early modern]] Ottoman society—some argue on the gender of the beloveds being portrayed in poems,<ref>refer to ''The existence of male-male love'' subsection.</ref> some disagree on the tolerance for [[sodomy]],<ref>refer to ''Sodomy and Islam'' subsection.</ref>. These variations in opinions and the sometimes seemingly contradicting primary sources—literary work describing male-male relationships and yet laws prohibiting sodomy—create a constantly evolving field of study.

Dandelion: /* Persia */

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Persia

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	===Persia===		===Persia===
	[[File:Princely Youth and Dervish.jpg\|250px-Princely_Youth_and_Dervish.jpg\|~~264px~~\|left\|''Princely Youth and Dervish'' (ca. 1625) by		[[File:Princely Youth and Dervish.jpg\|250px-Princely_Youth_and_Dervish.jpg\|thumb\|left\|''Princely Youth and Dervish'' (ca. 1625) by
	Reza Abbasi. Isfahan, Iran. New York, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].]]		Reza Abbasi. Isfahan, Iran. New York, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].]]

Dandelion: /* Persia */

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Persia

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	===Persia===		===Persia===
	[[File:Princely Youth and Dervish.jpg\|250px-Princely_Youth_and_Dervish.jpg\|~~thumb~~\|left\|''Princely Youth and Dervish'' (ca. 1625) by		[[File:Princely Youth and Dervish.jpg\|250px-Princely_Youth_and_Dervish.jpg\|264px\|left\|''Princely Youth and Dervish'' (ca. 1625) by
	Reza Abbasi. Isfahan, Iran. New York, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].]]		Reza Abbasi. Isfahan, Iran. New York, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].]]

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	Sanai drives the irony home by having the devout man, after the Khvaja makes his embarrassed escape, mount the boy and complete the act.		Sanai drives the irony home by having the devout man, after the Khvaja makes his embarrassed escape, mount the boy and complete the act.

			[[File:Male Couple. Erotic Lacquer Mirror-Case. Iran, Qajar Period, 19th century.png\|thumb\|264px\|right\|Male Couple. Erotic Lacquer Mirror-Case. Iran, Qajar Period, 19th century.]]

	Dick Davis comments, "A further cultural barrier, and one that can prove particularly difficult to negotiate, is the prevalence of the cult of pederasty in much medieval Persian verse". He notes that many translators have taken advantage of the fact that pronouns are not gender specific but notes that the translator "in availing himself of this help he is, as he knows, often fudging the issue, quietly bowdlerizing the texts".<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20080301005048/http://www.breadnet.middlebury.edu/~nereview/Davis.html</ref> This is held to be true even of major works, such as the ''Gulistan'' (''Rose Garden'') of Sa'adi. English translators even in the tamer episodes of the ''Gulistan'' turn boys into girls and change anecdotes about pederasty into tales of heterosexual love.<ref>Minoo S. Southgate, "Men, Women and Boys: Love and Sex in the Works of Sa'adi", in ''Asian Homosexuality'', ed. Wayne Dynes; p. 289.</ref>		Dick Davis comments, "A further cultural barrier, and one that can prove particularly difficult to negotiate, is the prevalence of the cult of pederasty in much medieval Persian verse". He notes that many translators have taken advantage of the fact that pronouns are not gender specific but notes that the translator "in availing himself of this help he is, as he knows, often fudging the issue, quietly bowdlerizing the texts".<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20080301005048/http://www.breadnet.middlebury.edu/~nereview/Davis.html</ref> This is held to be true even of major works, such as the ''Gulistan'' (''Rose Garden'') of Sa'adi. English translators even in the tamer episodes of the ''Gulistan'' turn boys into girls and change anecdotes about pederasty into tales of heterosexual love.<ref>Minoo S. Southgate, "Men, Women and Boys: Love and Sex in the Works of Sa'adi", in ''Asian Homosexuality'', ed. Wayne Dynes; p. 289.</ref>

			The visual arts also were inspired by the male love tradition. Though there are a few examples which are sexually suggestive, most of the time the works reflect the Sufi sensibilites which locate the attraction in the gaze. Thus very often we see depictions of male couples, a mature man in the company of a comely youth who is the object of his attention. Many of the artistic works of [[Reza Abbasi]], whose patron was the [[Safavid]] monarch [[Shah Abbas]], depict such handsome youths, often in the role of saqi, or "wine pourer", either alone or in the company of a man.

			[[Thomas Herbert]], the 21-year-old secretary to the English ambassador to Persia, later reported that at Abbas' court (some time between [[1627]] and [[1629]]) he saw, "Ganymede boys in vests of gold, rich bespangled turbans, and choice sandals, their curled hair dangling about their shoulders, with rolling eyes and vermilion cheeks". This was also a time when male houses of prostitution ''amrad khaneh'', "houses of the beardless", were legally recognized and paid taxes. Regarding this trade, John Chardin, traveling through Persia at the time, reported that he had found "numerous houses of male prostitution, but none offering females".

	John Fryer, who traveled to Persia in the late seventeenth century, was of the opinion that "the Persians, when they let go their modesty... covet boys as much as women". The notoriety of the Persians for boyish pleasures was such that in the late nineteenth century Richard Francis Burton referred to Central Asian pederasty as "the Persian vice". He confirmed the findings of John Chardin, indicating that the boy bordellos continued to exist, adding that "the boys are prepared with extreme care by diet, baths, depilation, unguents and a host of artists in cosmetics". He accounted for the tastes of the Persians by postulating that the habit began in boyhood, when Persian boys used each other for sexual pleasure, in a game known as ''[[alish-takish]]''. Later in life, after marrying and begetting children, the "paterfamilias returns to the Ganymede", according to Burton.<ref>R. F. Burton, ''ibid''.</ref>		John Fryer, who traveled to Persia in the late seventeenth century, was of the opinion that "the Persians, when they let go their modesty... covet boys as much as women". The notoriety of the Persians for boyish pleasures was such that in the late nineteenth century Richard Francis Burton referred to Central Asian pederasty as "the Persian vice". He confirmed the findings of John Chardin, indicating that the boy bordellos continued to exist, adding that "the boys are prepared with extreme care by diet, baths, depilation, unguents and a host of artists in cosmetics". He accounted for the tastes of the Persians by postulating that the habit began in boyhood, when Persian boys used each other for sexual pleasure, in a game known as ''[[alish-takish]]''. Later in life, after marrying and begetting children, the "paterfamilias returns to the Ganymede", according to Burton.<ref>R. F. Burton, ''ibid''.</ref>

Dandelion: /* Central Asia */

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Central Asia

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	In the aftermath of the US-Afghan war, western mainstream media have reported derisively on patterns of adult-adolescent male relationships, documented in [[Kandahar]] in [[Afghanistan]] ([http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/28/after-the-revolution-3 ''The New Yorker'']) and in [[Pakistan]] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20100909020257/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/07/11/open_secrets ''The Boston Globe'']), often conflating them with pedophilia. The youth in these relationships, usually in his early-to mid-teens, is known alternatively as ''haliq'', "beautiful boy", or ''ashna'', "dear friend", and the man as ''mehboob'', "lover", from the [[Persian]] ''mohabbat'', "love", related to its [[Arabic]] counterpart, ''mahabbâh''. The term ''balkay'', referring to a beardless boy sexually available to men has also been reported.<ref> M. Ismail, NGO Coalition on Child Rights–NWFP/UNICEF Community, "Perceptions of Male Child Sexual Abuse in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan"; NGO Coalition on Child Rights, 1998.</ref> The prevalence of homosexual relationships in Kandahar and other [[Pashtun]] areas has been explained in these articles as a behavior resulting from strict [[gender segregation]] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20110329101050/http://web.archive.org/web/20030212233646/http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-040302halekon.story?coll=la-home-todays-times ''Los Angeles Times'']) and "without any moral or educational value".		In the aftermath of the US-Afghan war, western mainstream media have reported derisively on patterns of adult-adolescent male relationships, documented in [[Kandahar]] in [[Afghanistan]] ([http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/28/after-the-revolution-3 ''The New Yorker'']) and in [[Pakistan]] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20100909020257/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/07/11/open_secrets ''The Boston Globe'']), often conflating them with pedophilia. The youth in these relationships, usually in his early-to mid-teens, is known alternatively as ''haliq'', "beautiful boy", or ''ashna'', "dear friend", and the man as ''mehboob'', "lover", from the [[Persian]] ''mohabbat'', "love", related to its [[Arabic]] counterpart, ''mahabbâh''. The term ''balkay'', referring to a beardless boy sexually available to men has also been reported.<ref> M. Ismail, NGO Coalition on Child Rights–NWFP/UNICEF Community, "Perceptions of Male Child Sexual Abuse in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan"; NGO Coalition on Child Rights, 1998.</ref> The prevalence of homosexual relationships in Kandahar and other [[Pashtun]] areas has been explained in these articles as a behavior resulting from strict [[gender segregation]] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20110329101050/http://web.archive.org/web/20030212233646/http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-040302halekon.story?coll=la-home-todays-times ''Los Angeles Times'']) and "without any moral or educational value".

	These reports however have been characterized as "privileging a political spin over more precise and informative writing", and as suffering from ethnocentric bias ([[Stephanie Skier, in ~~<i>~~queer~~</i>~~]]). Brian James Baer, writing in the ''Gay and Lesbian Review'' (March–April, 2003), claimed that "their subtext was clearly aimed at discrediting the Pashtun tradition by equating it with the ultimate American taboo, adult sex with minors", and that "Western journalists insisted on reducing relationships that are often long-term emotional bonds to a crude sexual bargain". In contrast, alternative media have carried accounts by native sources describing married men engaging youths in mutually affectionate long term relationships<sup>[''[[citation needed]]'']</sup>.		These reports however have been characterized as "privileging a political spin over more precise and informative writing", and as suffering from ethnocentric bias ([[Stephanie Skier, in ''queer'']]). Brian James Baer, writing in the ''Gay and Lesbian Review'' (March–April, 2003), claimed that "their subtext was clearly aimed at discrediting the Pashtun tradition by equating it with the ultimate American taboo, adult sex with minors", and that "Western journalists insisted on reducing relationships that are often long-term emotional bonds to a crude sexual bargain". In contrast, alternative media have carried accounts by native sources describing married men engaging youths in mutually affectionate long term relationships<sup>[''[[citation needed]]'']</sup>.

	Besides relationships following the pederastic model, cases of sexual brutality by men against youths—in this instance as one aspect of the [[military use of children]]—have also been documented. In Afghanistan, out of the thousands of [[Pakistani]] boys recruited by [[mullahs]] under the guise of [[jihad]] to fight for the [[Taliban]], it is thought that about 1500 survived, only to be held for ransom in private jails, where they were being systematically abused ([http://web.archive.org/web/20080828182801/http://www.globalgayz.com/afghan-news01.htmlJ. Jeffrey Gettleman in the ''L. A. Times'', July 2001]). Also, commercial sexual exploitation of boys in Pakistan is reported to be widespread despite the fact that prostitution of minors is illegal and there is a death penalty for child abusers, according to the Bangkok-based international child protection campaign group ECPAT ([http://web.archive.org/web/20070506213722/http://www.ecpat.net/eng/index.asp End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes]).		Besides relationships following the pederastic model, cases of sexual brutality by men against youths—in this instance as one aspect of the [[military use of children]]—have also been documented. In Afghanistan, out of the thousands of [[Pakistani]] boys recruited by [[mullahs]] under the guise of [[jihad]] to fight for the [[Taliban]], it is thought that about 1500 survived, only to be held for ransom in private jails, where they were being systematically abused ([http://web.archive.org/web/20080828182801/http://www.globalgayz.com/afghan-news01.htmlJ. Jeffrey Gettleman in the ''L. A. Times'', July 2001]). Also, commercial sexual exploitation of boys in Pakistan is reported to be widespread despite the fact that prostitution of minors is illegal and there is a death penalty for child abusers, according to the Bangkok-based international child protection campaign group ECPAT ([http://web.archive.org/web/20070506213722/http://www.ecpat.net/eng/index.asp End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes]).

Dandelion: /* Central Asia */

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Central Asia

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:06, 10 April 2019
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	In the aftermath of the US-Afghan war, western mainstream media have reported derisively on patterns of adult-adolescent male relationships, documented in [[Kandahar]] in [[Afghanistan]] ([http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/28/after-the-revolution-3 ''The New Yorker'']) and in [[Pakistan]] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20100909020257/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/07/11/open_secrets ''The Boston Globe'']), often conflating them with pedophilia. The youth in these relationships, usually in his early-to mid-teens, is known alternatively as ''haliq'', "beautiful boy", or ''ashna'', "dear friend", and the man as ''mehboob'', "lover", from the [[Persian]] ''mohabbat'', "love", related to its [[Arabic]] counterpart, ''mahabbâh''. The term ''balkay'', referring to a beardless boy sexually available to men has also been reported.<ref> M. Ismail, NGO Coalition on Child Rights–NWFP/UNICEF Community, "Perceptions of Male Child Sexual Abuse in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan"; NGO Coalition on Child Rights, 1998.</ref> The prevalence of homosexual relationships in Kandahar and other [[Pashtun]] areas has been explained in these articles as a behavior resulting from strict [[gender segregation]] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20110329101050/http://web.archive.org/web/20030212233646/http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-040302halekon.story?coll=la-home-todays-times ''Los Angeles Times'']) and "without any moral or educational value".		In the aftermath of the US-Afghan war, western mainstream media have reported derisively on patterns of adult-adolescent male relationships, documented in [[Kandahar]] in [[Afghanistan]] ([http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/28/after-the-revolution-3 ''The New Yorker'']) and in [[Pakistan]] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20100909020257/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/07/11/open_secrets ''The Boston Globe'']), often conflating them with pedophilia. The youth in these relationships, usually in his early-to mid-teens, is known alternatively as ''haliq'', "beautiful boy", or ''ashna'', "dear friend", and the man as ''mehboob'', "lover", from the [[Persian]] ''mohabbat'', "love", related to its [[Arabic]] counterpart, ''mahabbâh''. The term ''balkay'', referring to a beardless boy sexually available to men has also been reported.<ref> M. Ismail, NGO Coalition on Child Rights–NWFP/UNICEF Community, "Perceptions of Male Child Sexual Abuse in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan"; NGO Coalition on Child Rights, 1998.</ref> The prevalence of homosexual relationships in Kandahar and other [[Pashtun]] areas has been explained in these articles as a behavior resulting from strict [[gender segregation]] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20110329101050/http://web.archive.org/web/20030212233646/http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-040302halekon.story?coll=la-home-todays-times ''Los Angeles Times'']) and "without any moral or educational value".

	These reports however have been characterized as "privileging a political spin over more precise and informative writing", and as suffering from ethnocentric bias ([[Stephanie Skier, in ''queer'']]). Brian James Baer, writing in the ''Gay and Lesbian Review'' (March–April, 2003), claimed that "their subtext was clearly aimed at discrediting the Pashtun tradition by equating it with the ultimate American taboo, adult sex with minors", and that "Western journalists insisted on reducing relationships that are often long-term emotional bonds to a crude sexual bargain". In contrast, alternative media have carried accounts by native sources describing married men engaging youths in mutually affectionate long term relationships<sup>[''[[citation needed]]'']</sup>.		These reports however have been characterized as "privileging a political spin over more precise and informative writing", and as suffering from ethnocentric bias ([[Stephanie Skier, in <i>queer</i>]]). Brian James Baer, writing in the ''Gay and Lesbian Review'' (March–April, 2003), claimed that "their subtext was clearly aimed at discrediting the Pashtun tradition by equating it with the ultimate American taboo, adult sex with minors", and that "Western journalists insisted on reducing relationships that are often long-term emotional bonds to a crude sexual bargain". In contrast, alternative media have carried accounts by native sources describing married men engaging youths in mutually affectionate long term relationships<sup>[''[[citation needed]]'']</sup>.

	Besides relationships following the pederastic model, cases of sexual brutality by men against youths—in this instance as one aspect of the [[military use of children]]—have also been documented. In Afghanistan, out of the thousands of [[Pakistani]] boys recruited by [[mullahs]] under the guise of [[jihad]] to fight for the [[Taliban]], it is thought that about 1500 survived, only to be held for ransom in private jails, where they were being systematically abused ([http://web.archive.org/web/20080828182801/http://www.globalgayz.com/afghan-news01.htmlJ. Jeffrey Gettleman in the ''L. A. Times'', July 2001]). Also, commercial sexual exploitation of boys in Pakistan is reported to be widespread despite the fact that prostitution of minors is illegal and there is a death penalty for child abusers, according to the Bangkok-based international child protection campaign group ECPAT ([http://web.archive.org/web/20070506213722/http://www.ecpat.net/eng/index.asp End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes]).		Besides relationships following the pederastic model, cases of sexual brutality by men against youths—in this instance as one aspect of the [[military use of children]]—have also been documented. In Afghanistan, out of the thousands of [[Pakistani]] boys recruited by [[mullahs]] under the guise of [[jihad]] to fight for the [[Taliban]], it is thought that about 1500 survived, only to be held for ransom in private jails, where they were being systematically abused ([http://web.archive.org/web/20080828182801/http://www.globalgayz.com/afghan-news01.htmlJ. Jeffrey Gettleman in the ''L. A. Times'', July 2001]). Also, commercial sexual exploitation of boys in Pakistan is reported to be widespread despite the fact that prostitution of minors is illegal and there is a death penalty for child abusers, according to the Bangkok-based international child protection campaign group ECPAT ([http://web.archive.org/web/20070506213722/http://www.ecpat.net/eng/index.asp End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes]).

Dandelion: /* Modern scholarship */

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Modern scholarship

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	==Modern scholarship==		==Modern scholarship==

	The traditional tolerance, literary and religious, for chaste [[pederastic]] love affairs which was prevalent since the ~~800s~~ began to be eroded in the mid-1800s by colonization by the West, with the forcible imposition of Western values and laws (European visitors to pre-colonization Middle East unanimously report, with various degrees of excitement or outrage, how shockingly common boylove and other sexual practices were).. Even in countries never colonized, such as modern-day Turkey, the adoption of European Victorian attitudes by the new westernized elite accomplished much the same thing.<sup>[''[[citation needed]]'']</sup> Historical material is reported to be systematically distorted.<sup>[''[[citation needed]]'']</sup> In his monograph on same-sex relations in the pre-modern Middle East, Khaled El-Rouayheb demonstrates how Persian and Arabic love poetry and other literary material is routinely heterosexualized or devalued in critical studies authored by post-colonial Arab and Islamic scholars.<ref>[El-Rouayheb, 2005; p.156</ref> Similarly, the works of [[Abu Nuwas]], widely available in their entirety in the Arab world until modern times, were first published in expurgated form in [[Cairo]] in 1932.<ref>"Cultures of Denial", article in the book ''Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East''; in ''Al-Ahram'', 4 May–10 May 2006, #793.</ref>		The traditional tolerance, literary and religious, for chaste [[pederastic]] love affairs which was prevalent since the 8th century began to be eroded in the mid-1800s by colonization by the West, with the forcible imposition of Western values and laws (European visitors to pre-colonization Middle East unanimously report, with various degrees of excitement or outrage, how shockingly common boylove and other sexual practices were). Even in countries never colonized, such as modern-day Turkey, the adoption of European Victorian attitudes by the new westernized elite accomplished much the same thing.<sup>[''[[citation needed]]'']</sup> Historical material is reported to be systematically distorted.<sup>[''[[citation needed]]'']</sup> In his monograph on same-sex relations in the pre-modern Middle East, Khaled El-Rouayheb demonstrates how Persian and Arabic love poetry and other literary material is routinely heterosexualized or devalued in critical studies authored by post-colonial Arab and Islamic scholars.<ref>[El-Rouayheb, 2005; p.156</ref> Similarly, the works of [[Abu Nuwas]], widely available in their entirety in the Arab world until modern times, were first published in expurgated form in [[Cairo]] in 1932.<ref>"Cultures of Denial", article in the book ''Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East''; in ''Al-Ahram'', 4 May–10 May 2006, #793.</ref>

	Under the rule of both the [[Pahlavi dynasty]] monarchy and the [[Islamic Republic]] in Iran, [[Janet Afary]] claims that "Classical Persian literature—like the poems of [[Attar]] (died 1220), [[Rumi]] (d. 1273), [[Sa’di]] (d. 1291), [[Hafez]] (d. 1389), [[Jami]] (d. 1492), and even those of the 20th century Iraj Mirza (d. 1926)—are replete with homoerotic allusions, as well as explicit references to beautiful young boys and to the practice of pederasty". She further states that "professors of literature have been forced to teach that these extraordinarily beautiful gay love poems aren't really gay at all and that their very explicit references to same-sex love are really all about men and women".<ref>http://gaycitynews.nyc/gcn_432/iraniansourcesquestion.html</ref><ref>Janet Afary and Kevin Anderson, ''Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism''; University of Chicago Press, 2005.</ref>		Under the rule of both the [[Pahlavi dynasty]] monarchy and the [[Islamic Republic]] in Iran, [[Janet Afary]] claims that "Classical Persian literature—like the poems of [[Attar]] (died 1220), [[Rumi]] (d. 1273), [[Sa’di]] (d. 1291), [[Hafez]] (d. 1389), [[Jami]] (d. 1492), and even those of the 20th century Iraj Mirza (d. 1926)—are replete with homoerotic allusions, as well as explicit references to beautiful young boys and to the practice of pederasty". She further states that "professors of literature have been forced to teach that these extraordinarily beautiful gay love poems aren't really gay at all and that their very explicit references to same-sex love are really all about men and women".<ref>http://gaycitynews.nyc/gcn_432/iraniansourcesquestion.html</ref><ref>Janet Afary and Kevin Anderson, ''Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islamism''; University of Chicago Press, 2005.</ref>