Couples in the Global Margins Sexuality and Marriage between Egyptian Men and Western Women in South Sinai Nadeem Karkabi Abstract: Tis article examines relations between older Western women and younger Egyptian men in South Sinai, Egypt. Eschewing the label ‘female sex tourism’, it analyses the practices that these couples adopt in order to legitimate their relation- ships and further refers to alternative modifcations of ‘urf marriages and polygenic relations. Te article argues that these partnerships, as practised in the Sinai periph- ery, have come into existence in an efort to overcome changes caused by globalisa- tion in the original cultures of these men and women and present alternatives to the otherwise difcult choices that they face in their mainstream societies. Keywords: kinship, polygyny, romance, sexuality, South Sinai, tourism, transna- tional migration, ‘urf marriage Introduction Te development of touristic infrastructure in South Sinai, Egypt, has recently led to a creation of social space constituted by ethnic and cultural diversity. As a result of increasing global mobility, Bedouin nomads, Egyptian labour migrants and foreign citizens are settling down in the regional tourist towns. Tis has encouraged sexual, emotional and marital relationships to take place between local men and European women. Teoretical literature on women and sex tour- ism refers to the relations of older tourist women and younger local men in terms of exploitation, prostitution, consumerism and victimisation. Notwithstanding the economic inequality and age gap between the discussed partners, this article will argue that such labelling is rather one-sided and does not take into account individual aspirations and subjective actions. Te intersection of global struc- tures that situate Western European women in a position of economic power Anthropology of the Middle East, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2011: 79–97 © Berghahn Journals doi:10.3167/ame.2011.060107