Gender and Sexuality as Central Themes
In Disgraced, the theme of gender and sexuality pervades the play from start to finish. There are many examples of gender and sexuality in Ayad Akhtar’s award-winning play. It is set in an East Side New York City townhouse and stars Amir Kapoor (of South Asian heritage) and his Caucasian wife, Emily. Emily is a young artist inspired by Islamic culture and strives to incorporate elements of it into her work.
Abe (born Hussein Malik), Amir’s nephew, is a young man attempting to assimilate into American culture while remaining true to his cultural heritage. The story also features Jory, the spouse of Isaac, a middle-aged Caucasian gentleman who owns prominent art museums and is Emily’s art dealer. In this 90-minute one-act play from 2012, numerous conflicts of varying lengths emerge, involving personal and external reasons.
Audience Bias and Sexualization
The drama explores a variety of subjects, including gender and sexuality. What is less clear is Akhtar’s use of Disgraced to persuade the audience to confront their implicit gender biases. Although Amir is abusive to his wife, Emily, I kept empathizing with the male character, Amir. This comment by Akhtar outlines his motives for the domestic violence scene involving Amir and Emily: “I want the audience to be so fully humanly identified with a protagonist who acts out in an understandable but tragically horrifying way, that no matter what text you put on top of it, you cannot dissociate yourself from him” (Akhtar 92).
This comment convinces the audience that he assaulted his wife, and we could fault her for his behavior. Emily is depicted in numerous ways, but one of her character traits mentioned several times in the play is her unreserved sexuality. The audience’s sympathy for Amir and contempt for Emily reflects not Akhtar’s ideals but America’s prejudice against openly sexual women.
Double Standards and Reversed Gender Roles
Women who openly express their sexuality are frequently seen negatively. Emily begins her act by painting Amir resembling a Velázquez picture: “You sure you don’t want me to put pants on? / Emily: I only need you from the waist up. / Amir: I still don’t get it” (Akhtar 65). Emily portrays Amir without his pants, making the male character awkward. Typically, the female is the object of sexual attraction or glance rather than the male. “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female” (Akhtar 65). There is a gender role flipping in this scenario, with Emily taking the lead role and Amir taking the passive position. In comparison to Amir, Emily is portrayed as the sexual aggressor.
The play further manifests an apparent double standard in American society. Women are expected to repress their sexual inclinations, whilst men are encouraged to be open and proud of their sexuality. Women who are open about their sexual orientation are viewed as “whores” and stigmatized. Emily and Amir’s chat reveals that Amir is uneasy being the “sexual object” of Emily’s gaze (Akhtar 32). The audience recognizes Amir’s weakness, and they can relate to him.
Emily’s sexuality is revealed once more at the start of scene three. “Emily approaching him. Sexual. / Amir: Honey. / Emily: What? / Amir: We’ve talked about this. (Beat) It doesn’t help. / Emily: I miss you, Amir. / Amir: I know” (Akhtar 34). Emily appears to utilize her sexuality to solve her troubles in this scenario. Akhtar could have chosen other words to characterize Emily’s approach to Amir, but he settles on “sexual” (Akhtar 35). This was not by chance; he seeks people to see Emily utilizing her sexuality to acquire what she wants while avoiding her troubles.
Work Cited
Akhtar, Ayad. Disgraced. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.