I recently read an article about a book that is found offensive by some and worthy of being honored by others.
The book? Top Secret: Sexual Guidance for Married Couples
The audience? married couples in the Islamic World
The author? A 45-year old emirati marriage counselor named Dr. WedadLootah, pictured below in niqab
Dr. Lootah claims that her book is faithful to the Qoran and that she submitted the draft to a mufti for approval before its publication. According to The New York Times, Dr. Lootah works in the Family Guidance section of a Dubai Courthouse and was its first counselor. Kuwait also has a similar wing since the 1990s.
Some subjects that are many times considered the elephant in the room between couples are covered in the book, such as infidelity, female orgasm, homosexuality and AIDS for example.
"Many men who had anal sex with men before marriage want the same thing with their wives, because they don't know anything else," Ms. Lootah said. "This is one reason we need sex education in our schools."
Quoted from the Arab News in response to her opponents who deem her book inappropriate and taboo, Ms. Lootah said:
"I think a lot of people who have not even bothered to read the book are confusing matters. This book targets couples who plan to get married, not school children. Young people should be given education on these matters but the content should be appropriate for their ages."
In the end, she asserts that her main goal is not sexual liberation per say, nor is this what she advocates, rather her motivation stems from a need in society to gain greater sex education for the purpose of saving marriages, as well as for the reduction of inequalities between husbands and wives for equal sexual gratification.
On another note, I went ahead and typed sex education and islam in google and came across a panel discussion on sex education by a group of youths. These students debate whether sex education is too controversial in Islamic societies or whether above all, sex is a health-related issue that needs to be understood. I am curious to know if there is any sex education accessible to youth in Kuwait.
Two articles came out recently that blew my mind. The first, from the Associated Foreign Press, discusses one Saudi man's purchase of the most expensive sex item in the world, "a solid 18 carat gold penis enlarger worth nearly 50,000 USD"..."encrusted at his request with 40 diamonds and several rubies".
"We were approached by the customer who insisted on a solid gold version of our product because he claimed to have a severe skin allergy to stainless steel."
Later, the buyer asked to add diamonds and rubies to it.
"There is something tremendously selfish about the male ego, and subsequently 50,000-dollar orders may become the norm for companies like X4 Labs."
The second article, from The Independent, deals with a Saudi man who is getting in trouble with the law for having bragged and talked about sex on a tv show for a Lebanese-based LBC satellite tv station, after which more than 200 people filed complaints to authorities.
"The segment began with the 32-year-old Saudi Airlines employee apparently talking about the first time he had sex – at age 14, with a neighbour. Then he leads viewers into his bedroom, dominated by red accessories, where the divorced father of four says "everything happens".
Another shot shows him in a red shirt and red slippers, with a stylish goatee, holding up blurred sex toys, a sex manual and a bottle he took from a box. "It's used for women who do not have sexual desire," he explains.
In another sequence, he greets three male friends at the door of his apartment in the western seaport of Jiddah. The four, who have since been detained by Saudi authorities, then briefly discuss what turns them on and how much "comfort" they get from sex. "One million per cent," notes Mr Abdul-Jawad."
After having been to Bahrain two times, I completely empathize with the dilemma Bahrainis feel about the problems of alcohol and sex commerce caused by Saudi's tourism refugees. Why must Saudi Arabia's prohibitive domestic policy have so many negative externalities for the rest of us who would like to simply have a glass of wine in a non-sleazy bar?
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Every weekend, bumper-to-bumper traffic blocks the causeway into this small island nation as visitors from nearby Saudi Arabia flock to delights unavailable at home: movie theaters, bars and, for some, commercial sex.
With few other attractions, Bahrain's booming tourism industry thrives on the island's reputation as a freewheeling oasis just a short drive from major Saudi cities. Bahrain has little oil of its own; tourism, mostly by the four million Saudis who cross the causeway each year, accounts for a tenth of its economy.
All of this is endangered, as Bahraini legislators press to scrap the country's drinking laws -- currently the most liberal in the Persian Gulf -- and to impose near-total prohibition.
"I'm sorry to say, but Bahrain has become the brothel of the Gulf, and our people are very upset about it," says parliamentarian Adel Maawdah, one of the promoters of the new legislation. "It's not only the drinking that we oppose, but also what it drags with it: prostitution, corruption, drugs and people-trafficking...." (for full article, click here)
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