Professor of sociology at the University of Lausanne, Salima Amari is the first French speaker to have devoted a long thesis research work at the University of Paris 8 on migrant North African lesbians and of North African descent in France. She reviews the studies devoted to lesbians of immigrant origin and the difficulties they face, but also the controversy sparked by the statements of the young Muslim and lesbian author Fatima Daas on the subject.
Terrans : What is an immigration lesbian? How does her background differ from that of other lesbians?
Salima Amari : First of all, there is not one but many lesbians in immigration, because they are plural, with heterogeneous trajectories. In my book, it is precisely about North African immigration. It includes migrant Maghreb lesbians (mainly Moroccan and Algerian) and lesbians born or arrived very young in France to Maghrebian immigrant parents (mainly Moroccan and Algerian).
The life paths of these lesbians present similarities and divergences with lesbians belonging to the majority society (not from recent migrations in France). For similarities, the issue of "coercion to heterosexuality" is clearly present in French society as a whole. It is the fact that from primary socialization, children, especially young girls, are educated with a view to forming a heterosexual couple, then founding a family.
However, what predominates among lesbians of Maghrebian origin is the weight of the constraint on heterosexual marriage and motherhood. The majority of respondents raised the permanent reminders of their families to found heterosexual families within the framework of marriage. The pressure is so great and permanent that the majority of them give in to these expectations. Some marry, then divorce shortly after to finally live their lesbian life, others contract fake marriages with gays of the same origin to have respite and others find themselves in "double lives" with one life. straight on one side and a lesbian life on the other.
Your book seems to be one of the first to address this issue. How is it that it took so long to see this topic discussed in academic circles?
The work Lesbiennes de l'Immigration: construction de soi et relations familial is the result of my thesis on the lesbian issue in connection with Maghrebian immigration in France. It seemed to me necessary to make this work available to the scientific community and the general public in order to offer another perspective on women from Maghreb immigration in France, very often reduced to the status of domination and victimization in a heterosexual context. . Highlighting the lifestyle and social practices of these women allows for a better understanding of the complexity of social relationships in a situation of intersectionality.
Certain issues have, for a very long time in France, suffered from a lack of scientific legitimacy in sociology. Issues related to sexuality, feminism, gender and lesbianism are among them. Fortunately, over the past fifteen years, a certain number of works in these fields have emerged and more and more young researchers are investing in these subjects. Because it touches on issues of gender, sexuality and immigration, my research work constitutes pioneering work. Read more via TV5Monde