id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentence	flesch	summary	cache	txt
alusur-8287	Antrim, Zayde	Qamarayn: The Erotics of Sameness in the 1001 Nights	2020-10-01	44	.pdf	application/pdf	25988	1261	61	The emphasis seems to be on firmness rather than size, which is sustained by more figurative descriptions of the term “chest” (ṣadr) upon which “two pots” (ḥuqqān) or “pomegranates” (rummān) may appear.32 Significantly, this latter metaphor also appears in the poem that opens this article, which is repeated in two different stories to describe a he-character, raising questions about the extent to which breasts can be understood to sex the body.33 Reinforcing this impression of embodied sameness, both he- and she-characters are described as possessing “soft curves” (līnat al-aʿṭāf) and “hips/haunches/buttocks” (ridf) that are “quivering” (murtijj), “full to bursting” (daghaṣ), or “heavy” (thaqīl).34 Similarly, necks, arms, thighs, and bellies are praised for being soft, smooth, and silky; the belly and its navel, folds, or creaminess in particular function as a catalyst for sexual arousal in the stories.35 The provocative sight of the belly, rather than the genitals, cannot be attributed 29. See Lyons with Lyons, trans., The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, 3 vols.	cache/alusur-8287.pdf	txt/alusur-8287.txt