I Am You (Ana Hiya Anti): A Novel on Lesbian Desire in the ...

Mimi’s official girlfriend, the “old hag,” is another character through whom Mansour explores different types of lesbian relationships and the alternative they provide to heterosexual ones. The nameless “old hag” acts as an irritant for Mimi who has grown tired of the monotonous sexual relations they have together, but despite the monotony, the old hag is still able to bring Mimi greater sexual pleasure than her own husband ever could. The old hag is peculiar, in the sense that she does not see or understand her lesbianism in a radical or even political way. She is, by large, conservative and expresses opinions that seem to be in favour of preserving the heterosexual marital institution and the overall dependence of women on men. “Marriage is sutra⁷ and completion for the woman,” (77) the old hag argues in one instance, while in another instance, she declares that she would never give up Mimi to another woman, but would accept giving her up if the latter desired to return exclusively to her husband. Ultimately, it is not clear whether the widowed old hag is an older version of Mimi, who, happy to be released from the obligation of marriage (through the death of her husband), has no desire to re-enter into a marital relationship with a man, or whether she finds her relationship with Mimi a convenience whereby she can be applauded for her fidelity to a deceased spouse and her sanctimonious chastity whilst indulging herself in concealment from the eyes of an unsuspecting society.

With the exception of Farid, Mimi’s husband, I Am You has virtually no male characters; at least none of them, including Farid, are substantial. Instead, we are given the account of the male characters through their relations with the female characters and this helps reinforce the strongly homosocial setting of the novel, and privileges or brings to the fore Irigaray-style écriture féminine.⁸ In fact, I Am You is heavily influenced by the French feminist tradition of the seventies and contradicts local feminist discourses that often overlook the importance of sexual liberation or fulfilment in the course of fighting for more general women’s rights (economically, socially, etc).