In ancient Arabic literature, women were depicted as sex-crazed and nymphomaniac. The wise woman, known as the Debauchee, was famous for answering questions with “between the thighs”. The tale of Hamdouna al-Ma’mun, daughter of al-Ma’mun and the wife of his grand vizier, Bahloul, reveals this woman’s alleged insatiability.
Today, young people in the Middle East struggle to break free, find employment and leave their parents’ home. This lack of freedom leaves young people in the Middle East reliant on the state for personal freedom and sexuality. The Arab Sex Talk project, which began as a small group, aims to address this problem through an Arabic-language social-media project. It also aims to translate relevant information and stories about sex and sexuality from parents to children. Sandrine Atallah, the project’s founder, is currently studying for a Ph.D. at the University of Glasgow. She discusses the sex culture of the Middle East and the feminist movement in the region.
The recent controversy surrounding sex in the Middle East is an unfortunate byproduct of an era in which Islam is the dominant religion. The Arab world has been suffering under a dark period since the 1950s, and many countries have reacted by closing themselves off to thought and speech. This has affected the way people view sex, as Islamic conservatives have hijacked debates about sexuality. Islam has become a tool for controlling people, and it has become a climate of shame.
The Arab region has a growing sex industry, with Arab men and women turning to sex workers to fulfill their sexual desires. In a time when marriage is seen as a sacred event, most Arab people are reluctant to admit to having had sex before marriage. Even before the ceremony, women are expected to be virgins on their wedding night. However, the Arab sex industry continues to thrive. In a way, it is a necessity for the Arab people.
As for the media in the Arab world, Egyptians use the Arabic word for homosexuality, which translates to “deviance.” As such, most Arabs who have sex with their own sex are afraid of coming out publicly. They would rather maintain the privacy and secrecy that they enjoy. There is also a lack of respect for their rights to self-determination, which can be attributed to the fact that they are not accustomed to such a culture.
As for the hymen, Arab men’s fear of women is deeply rooted in their culture. Their beliefs about the hymen are rooted in patriarchal society, and they justify the extreme treatment of women. By this, they perpetuate a culture of rape and violence, in which women have little say. So, what are the consequences of Arab sex? The implication is that a man’s sexual life is limited to the woman’s sex organ.
While in Western society, the hymen is considered private, it is not in the case of Egypt. During the ancient days, a pimp, a pious man, organised thousands of marriages every year. He knew parents who sold their daughters to such arrangements, so he organised marriages between rich men and teenage girls. As a result, a woman’s’marriage’ became a form of conspicuous consumption. A girl is kept for a period of 10 days or two weeks. A ‘contract’ was drafted for her ‘husband’, and she was kept for between one and three weeks.
While there is still a huge gap between appearance and reality, Arab sex is on the rise. While many men self-identify as gay, Arab women do not, and there is a general lack of openness about their sexuality. Shereen El Feki, a practicing Muslim, lives in Cairo and London. Her new book, “Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in an Unexpected Arab World,” is a fascinating read.
While Western women are comfortable in being alone, Arab men are more likely to approach you when you’re around other people. Arab men will often be close and look at each other in the eye while talking. In addition, they’ll often touch one another, which can make foreigners uncomfortable. If you’re unsure of whether or not to approach Arabs, try to back away. In general, it is rude to stare directly into an Arab woman’s face.
HIV is a major issue in the Arab world. It’s one of the only regions where the epidemic is still growing. The Arab world also struggles with taboos that prevent them from taking steps to combat the epidemic and promote equal same-sex relations. Only two to three percent of Arabs engage in same-sex activity. It’s not surprising, then, that the problem of AIDS is particularly difficult to overcome, given that the population is so small.
