Madelyne Heslop, TA: Chanae Valdez, April 1, 2015, Simple Quiz 2
Guests of Sheik
There are thousands of different societies throughout the world, and within each are
different sub-groups and cultures. With all of these different types of people, what is it that
holds every society together and keeps it functioning? While there are many possible
answers to this question, Emile Durkheim concluded that it all comes down to two types of
solidarity, organic and mechanical. Organic solidarity is more commonly seen in modern
societies and their economies. It exists when the people within the society each have
different roles and therefore must rely on each other. Mechanical solidarity is more closely
based on the people having common beliefs and ways of life. These societies therefore stay
together based on these similarities. (Crandal11). In the book Guests of the Sheik by
Elizabeth Fernea, the gypsies, women and village folk all demonstrate one of these different
solidarities. Due to their lower status in society, common practices and slight isolation from
others, the gypsies and women both are bonded together by mechanical solidarity. The
village folk are an example of organic solidarity due to their focus on the economy. These
differences in solidarity restrict that these three groups intermingle. The women and the
gypsies hold the strongest bonds because they are held together by mechanical and not
organic solidarity.
The first group that demonstrated mechanical solidarity in Guests of the Sheik was
the gypsies. The gypsies are a nomadic people that travel from town to town without
staying in one place for very long Fernea 57). As mentioned earlier, the gypsies are also
considered by other Iraqis to be lower class due to all of the differences between them and
the rest of society. For example, the gypsies have a very different sense of dressing
themselves. The men and boys wear tight pants and silk shirts while the women and girls
Madelyne Heslop, TA: Chanae Valdez, April 1, 2015, Simple Quiz 2
wear bright floral dresses with silk petticoats (Fernea 57). In the rest of the Iraqi society,
bright clothing is not common at all. The women wear black abayahs, and the men black
dishdashas (Fernea 8). The gypsy dress is one element of the many that binds them
together in their mechanical solidarity because they are one of the only groups of people
that dress non-traditionally. They must remain together because if they tried to join a
different group, this practice would not be acceptable.
Another common trait amongst the gypsies that reinforces their mechanical
solidarity is their way of life and the isolation that they have from the rest of the village.
Due to their extensive travel and nomadic way of living, the gypsies do not have homes, but
live in tents instead. They dance, sing, and play instruments, and using this as a way of
making money as well as personal entertainment (Fernea 58). For the gypsies, this lifestyle
is normal, but for the traditional Iraqi culture, it is very unique. The gypsies hardly
intermingle with any other groups, and therefore must support one another. This lack of
connection to the rest of the village enforces their mechanical solidarity. Ironically, two of
the things that keep them separate from everyone else, their social status and lifestyle, are
what bind them together as gypsies.
The women of the village are another group that demonstrate mechanical solidarity
in the society. Like the gypsies, they are not as high up in societal ranking. The women
receive more respect than the gypsies, but they are seen as being inferior to the men. In the
Iraqi society, because the females are kept very separate from the males, the author
Elizabeth became very close to the rest of the women. The time spent together, separated
from the men, allowed the women to form their own beliefs and customs that give them a
strong sense of mechanical solidarity. Similar to the gypsies, one binding belief amongst the
Madelyne Heslop, TA: Chanae Valdez, April 1, 2015, Simple Quiz 2
women is the clothing deemed acceptable to wear. As part of their religious beliefs and
cultural customs, all women are required to wear abayahs. An abayah is piece of clothing
that covers the women from head to toe. The Iraqi women believe that they should not be
looked at by men other than their own husbands (Fernea 6). They do not remove their
abayahs or uncover themselves in public or in front of men. This practice changes when the
women are alone together, where they are allowed to uncover themselves and socialize
comfortably (Fernea 28). The Iraqi women’s clothing holds the foundation to many aspects
of the mechanical solidarity that ties them together. The first aspect mentioned was their
belief that it is necessary to wear one. When Elizabeth first arrived to El Nahra, she was
very resistant against wearing an abayah. She didn’t have the same beliefs as the other
women and therefore didn’t see the need to dress like them too. A short time passed
however, and Elizabeth felt very uncomfortable wearing “western” clothes. When a woman
offered to make her an abayah, after very little convincing, Elizabeth agreed (Fernea 7). As
was shown by Elizabeth’s rejection of the abayah at first, she understood that by not
dressing traditionally, she would lack that connection to the society and the women might
reject her (Fernea 5). By changing her opinion and altering her own personal clothing
custom, Elizabeth was able to connect to the women and join in on this belief that keeps
them together. The women depend on each other for emotional and moral support because
they are all each other have. Other than their husbands, there are no other men that even
see their faces; therefore, the women are bound together so support one another in their
common belief.
Another example of how the women’s lifestyle causes their mechanical solidarity is
in the way in which the women act. Not only are they private about the way that they dress,
Madelyne Heslop, TA: Chanae Valdez, April 1, 2015, Simple Quiz 2
but also the women are very orderly in the way that they live their public lives. In fact, the
“perfect” wife doesn’t go out much in public, but stays in the home to take care of her
husband, children and guests. To live within these restrictions and stay out of the public
eye when not in the home, the women have developed their own way of travel. By
traveling on separate bridges, alleys and pathways, the women are able to remain un-seen
while still accomplishing what they needed to do (Fernea 50). This is a custom that the men
do not have to deal with, and therefore do not understand, but each of the women does.
This way of travel once again proves the difference in societal ranking between the women
and the men. Their inferiority gives the women these different characteristics that end up
binding them together with mechanical solidarity. If all of the people in the society were
treated perfectly equal, the women would not have the bond that wearing the abayah and
staying hidden while traveling create.
Similar to the Gypsies, the women do not intermingle with other groups. The
women mainly stick to themselves and intermingle within their sex. There are times when
a woman might host a party for her husband and other men, which would cause her to
mingle for a limited time with them, but it is not a common practice (Fernea 99). As
discussed earlier, this separation and slight isolation reinforces the mechanical solidarity
amongst them. While the women do depend on each other as one would in organic
solidarity, they do not hold different roles, so instead, they depend on each other because of
their similarities. The women understand the other women, their challenges and beliefs,
giving them a bond that many of the other groups do not hold.
The final group that holds a different bond of solidarity is the village folk. . The
village folk and the men, women and children of El Nahra that keep the village running.
Madelyne Heslop, TA: Chanae Valdez, April 1, 2015, Simple Quiz 2
They are unique to the gypsies and women because they are bonded through organic
solidarity instead of mechanical. As explained above, organic solidarity is more highly
focused on the different roles in society and the dependence upon each. Everyone has
unique responsibilities, and must trust in the fact that everyone else is completing their job,
allowing them to continue in their specialty as well. This type of solidarity is very prevalent
in many economies, and that of El Nahra is no different. The street market of the village is a
telling example of how organic solidarity binds them all together. Elizabeth describes the
market as many winding alleyways lined with small huts, each housing a different
merchant family. These families all have their own specialties, from weaving cloth to
making clogs (Fernea 153). While some of the specialties may seem insignificant, each
person relies on the other to keep the society moving. Everyone must fulfill their respective
duties, or the village would be left without the needed items and services. If this economic
need is not prevalent, the village folk would have no reason to stay together. They are
different from the gypsies and women, not only in the type of solidarity that they have, but
because this solidarity allows them, even requires them, to intermingle. If this
intermingling did not exist within the villagers of La Nahra, nor with people from other
villages, there would be no organic solidary and the village would lose the “glue” that keeps
it together. There must be common rules in their economics, interaction and trade in order
for their organic solidarity to exist.
As proven through the examples of the women and the gypsies, mechanical
solidarity is a lot stronger than organic solidarity. This is because with the gypsies and the
women, there is nothing forcing these groups to stay together. The village folk are tied
together through their economic needs, while the women and the gypsies choose to stay
Madelyne Heslop, TA: Chanae Valdez, April 1, 2015, Simple Quiz 2
together due to their common beliefs. If the village folk no longer felt the need to depend on
the different talents of others, they would have no reason to stay connected. The women
and the gypsies have a different, deeper connection to one another. Their slight isolation
from the rest of the people gives them a stronger need to stay and support one another.
Their lower social ranking and distinct beliefs regarding their lifestyles help maintain this
mechanical solidarity and need as well.
Through the examples in the book Guests of the Sheik, it can be concluded that
societies are held together by either mechanical or organic solidarity. The gypsies and
women show the strength that comes with being connected mechanically, while the village
people demonstrate the effects and risks of organic solidarity. Each group is unique in their
lifestyles choices that allow them to bind together within their distinct groups, but separate
themselves from others. By understanding the function of solidarity, societies can create
stronger bonds both mechanically and organically, keeping them closer in their community
and functioning smoother in their society.
Madelyne Heslop, TA: Chanae Valdez, April 1, 2015, Simple Quiz 2
Works Cited
Crandall, David. A Short Introduction to Anthropology. BYU Academic, 2011. 126. Print.
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock. Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village. Anchor
Books ed. New York: Doubleday, 1989. Print.