After being largely out of sight for decades, Turkey’s male belly dancers are suddenly back in style, gyrating their hips and twitching their abs to entrancing Turkish beats. Called “zennes,” the entertainers were once prevalent in the courts of the Ottoman sultans, where they sported androgynous attire and makeup, and often also served as courtesans to men of a certain rank. In the Sultans’ palaces, young men danced for the court’s pleasure, while the women remained cloistered in their harems.
Via the Wall Street Journal