Sexuality in contemporary Arab society

Type Journal Article - Social Analysis
Title Sexuality in contemporary Arab society
Author(s)
Volume 49
Issue 2
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2005
Page numbers 16-33
URL http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/berghahn/socan/2005/00000049/00000002/art00002?crawler=true
Abstract
Arab scholarship of sexuality is currently emerging against many obstacles. This article provides a suggestive introduction to the current state of knowledge in the area. After briefly sketching an archetype of Arab sexuality, especially its peculiar form of phallocracy, new sexual trends are reviewed, some of which adapt current practices to Shari'a law (e.g., visitation marriages), while others break with it altogether (e.g., prostitution). The article then discusses three distinctive areas of public and policy concerns in the region, namely, honor killings, impotence and Viagra use, and sex-education programs that are precipitated by concerns over HIV/AIDS. The essay concludes with an assessment of some of the main challenges still facing research into the topic in the Arab Islamic world

Related studies

»