Orientalism and Harems

We have been talking on this blog about how Western hegemony has influenced and continues to maintain stereotypes on cultures which have seen better recognition from the work of scholars in many fields of study (archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, etc.). Schools of thought carried by European nations, reinforced during their subjugation of parts of the world as colonisers,

Fantasy as reality

The school of thought carried by European nations, reinforced during their subjugation of parts of the world as colonisers, that lesser peoples possess cultural phenomenons inherent to their late and immature development is still, to this day, source of fantasies in the collective imagination. Authors would often use tropes to expose issues Europeans were facing in terms of religious code of conduct governing even the slightest parts of everyday life and marital relations; for example, the Ottoman Empire was thought to harbour the most ludicrous aspects of men to women relationships, eroticism and lovers intrigue taking up most of a sultan's busy day. Such fantasies include the harem, a place forbidden to men where the monarch where he would store his women to fulfill his most epicurean depravity on the most lavish setting which would certainly contrast with a king's way of life on the European continent. These orientalist clichés scholars have been trying to deconstruct are still common tropes in today's fiction, from cinema to literature.

A harem's real purpose

First and foremost, the place called harem was in fact a part of the sultan's home. Housed on the monarch's domain, women were actually part of the court's life. These places were forbidden to anyone of lower birth (such was the case for courts in Europe as well); but eunuchs were not the only ones permitted to enter the place, men were also part of the roster working and servicing the harem. Women were not exclusively under house arrest and could take a leave.
While women were certainly victims in the matter, treated as an afterthought for men much like how they were in Europe as well, their political role in the seclusion of the sultan is undeniable. The sultan's place in the political systems at the time was not eternal, he could be overthrown by a challenger who would have gathered enough support from disgruntled followers. Women were thus a force of influence close to the monarch, and as such families would send their daughters to the monarch's palace in order to maintain or improve their standing in the kingdom or empire.
On the other hand, the sultan would also benefit from women leaving his side, in becoming part of the network he would build by marrying them to his followers (his army's generals, notables, ...) and retain the sword and political or economic power of his followers.

Contesting the cultural significance of others

The origin of Western definition of harems being obscure places of unspeakable events could come from European travelers and nobles males being forbidden from entering the most intimate parts of the palace and to this chasm existing between such different cultures where intolerance was substantial, especially in Europe. So while women were considered as a bargaining chip to reinforce the power of a house or a monarch's rule, the Western idea of women as a sexual object is not the reality and their role matched or even exceeded the influence some women in history had over men in power in Europe.