For example, Abu Janat, the owner of a local barber shop, says that he often gets Iraqi emos coming to his store. “It’s embarrassing but they are some of my favourite customers,” he says. “They like to use a lot of makeup and they pay good money to make themselves look more beautiful. The main problem is that they are so demanding. They want their eyebrows to be like a girl’s and they want all the hair removed from their faces. They usually want their skin to be soft and they also ask for special haircuts.”
Nawras often meets with friends in a Nasiriyah café that opened three years ago. It is similar to many other local cafes in that it is a hall with chairs and tables. However, the clientele is unusual for Nasiriyah. It consists of emo-style youths as well as young men who are open about the fact they are gay, at least, they do inside the café.
They come here to smoke, drink coffee, play on their mobile phones and listen to music. Some of the young men come to meet potential romantic partners.
Hammoudi*, whose nickname is Cruz, says that it is not just emos coming here. “A lot of the young men who come here are obsessed with fashion and trends,” he says. “But some of us are also here to meet men.”
Sajo – who will only share his nickname - agrees. The teenager says he knows he’s been attracted to men since he was at school. He eventually left school because he was not doing well academically and because other students continuously teased him about the feminine way he dressed.
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