Obscene Mockery of Women in Ancient Anthologies of Arabic Poetry: A Cultural Study

Sarcasm, as a rhetorical style, inherently contains the meaning of mockery, which itself carries intentional implications. In such cases, the surface of the speech contradicts its underlying meaning. Creators often use sarcasm as a way to reject social or political realities or as a means to engage in introspection and self-dialogue, driven by subconscious thoughts shaped by inherited or acquired cultural references. Sarcasm does not usually appear overtly; rather, language and its artistic expressions play a role in cloaking it with humorous or mocking tones. Thus, the reader often encounters meanings different from those the text seems to suggest. A perceptive reader relies on modern cultural methodologies that delve beyond the text to uncover these masks and highlight their implications. This study focuses on a crucial hypothesis: that anthologies of Arabic poetry are ideologically biased in their portrayal of women, particularly in sarcastic contexts, and heavily favor a patriarchal viewpoint.