HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Sex in the Arab World: Author Shereen El Feki Talks with Tracy Quan

Views: 718
"If you really want to know people, start by looking in their bedrooms," says Shereen El Feki, author of the new book, Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World.

El Feki, who was raised in Canada and is a practicing Muslim, is the former vice chair of the U.N.'s Global Commission on HIV and Law. Born to an Egyptian father and Welsh mother, she was motivated by September 11th to seek a better understanding of her Arab and Islamic heritage.

El Feki found that demonstrators for political freedom in Tahrir Square during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution had little interest in also promoting sexual freedom. That's because most Arabs derive their sexual mores from their religious beliefs. The only way to bring more sexual freedom to the Arab world, she argues, is through Islam, which was far more tolerant of the needs of the flesh a thousand years ago than it is today.

On March 13, 2013, El Feki joined novelist and former sex worker Tracy Quan for "Sex and the Citadel: Does the Arab Spring need a Summer of Love?," an event hosted by the Reason Foundation at New York City's Museum of Sex.

In an hour-long conversation, El Feki and Quan discuss why political freedom won't necessarily lead to sexual freedom (4:30); why the rise of Islamism could lead to more sexual freedom (6:00); the Egyptian phenomenon of "summer marriage," in which wealthy travelers from the Gulf states enter into temporary marriages with prostitutes as a way to get around Islam's ban on sex out of wedlock (11:00); a Medieval Arabic dictionary called "The Language of Fucking," which had over 1,000 verbs for having sex (13:30); the rise of gay rights activist groups in the face of the Arab world's brutal homophobia (26:00); the sad state of sex education in the Arab world (33:30); the sexual frustrations of married Arab women (36:30); why women are the primary advocates for female genital mutilation in Egypt (42:00); why virginity is still "a big fucking deal" in the Arab world, leading some prostitutes to perform anal sex exclusively as a way of preserving their hymens (44:30); how attitudes about sex in the Arab world will eventually change by "pulling down the citadel from the inside" (49:00); and the still-common view that masturbation will lead to blindness, deformation, insanity, and hell (1:06:00).

About 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Shot by Jim Epstein and Naomi Brockwell, and edited by Epstein.

Visit http://reason.com/reasontv/2013/03/30/sex-in-the-arab-world for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live.
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for Rep. Justin Amash on Debt, Abortion, Immigration & More38:54
Rep. Justin Amash on Debt, Abortion, Immigration & More
ReasonVids
886 views
Thumbnail for Recreational Pot Will Be Legal Just About Everywhere Soon9:02
Recreational Pot Will Be Legal Just About Everywhere Soon
ReasonVids
802 views
Thumbnail for On the Set of Atlas Shrugged: 53 Years in the Making5:36
On the Set of Atlas Shrugged: 53 Years in the Making
ReasonVids
895 views
Thumbnail for Hey Google0:39
Hey Google
bestofupgoat
260 views
Thumbnail for Drew Carey & Reason.tv on Bio; Coming Soon: Reason.tv & 20/20!2:09
Drew Carey & Reason.tv on Bio; Coming Soon: Reason.tv & 20/20!
ReasonVids
859 views
Thumbnail for Lavabit's Ladar Levison on Snowden, Why He Shut Down, and How to Beat the NSA15:46
Lavabit's Ladar Levison on Snowden, Why He Shut Down, and How to Beat the NSA
ReasonVids
851 views
Thumbnail for The Pope vs. Capitalism and Human Progress: Q/A with Cato's Marian Tupy7:08
The Pope vs. Capitalism and Human Progress: Q/A with Cato's Marian Tupy
ReasonVids
734 views
Thumbnail for Advice you Bitches need to hear! 1:00
Advice you Bitches need to hear!
bestofupgoat
134 views
Thumbnail for Can FBI Cut Internet, Pose as Repairmen to Enter Your House? Don’t Cops Have Better Things to Do?!2:15
Can FBI Cut Internet, Pose as Repairmen to Enter Your House? Don’t Cops Have Better Things to Do?!
ReasonVids
816 views
Thumbnail for Guantanamo Bay in 54 Seconds: What Every American Should Know1:20
Guantanamo Bay in 54 Seconds: What Every American Should Know
ReasonVids
870 views
Thumbnail for iPhone and oBama: Two Expensive New Models (Reason.tv SOTU response!)0:58
iPhone and oBama: Two Expensive New Models (Reason.tv SOTU response!)
ReasonVids
816 views
Thumbnail for The Road to the U.S. Supreme Court4:10
The Road to the U.S. Supreme Court
IJvids
860 views
Thumbnail for Matt Walsh: A Case Study in Cuckservatism (from: The Third Rail) (2021.06.05)17:38
Matt Walsh: A Case Study in Cuckservatism (from: The Third Rail) (2021.06.05)
SmashTheJourgeoisie
689 views
Thumbnail for Obama's French Toast: Just Say Non3:03
Obama's French Toast: Just Say Non
ReasonVids
783 views
Thumbnail for Restoration of a Vintage Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date - Ref 1500 Caliber 1570 | Red Dead Restoration20:35
Restoration of a Vintage Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date - Ref 1500 Caliber 1570 | Red Dead Restoration
invidious
82 views
Thumbnail for Why don't monsters eat ghosts?0:18
Why don't monsters eat ghosts?
bestofsaidit
776 views
Thumbnail for Fix The Schools: Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey, Ep. 29:26
Fix The Schools: Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey, Ep. 2
ReasonVids
830 views
Thumbnail for Short vs Long Rest Periods for Muscle Growth | Jeremy Ethier6:18
Short vs Long Rest Periods for Muscle Growth | Jeremy Ethier
invidious
287 views
Thumbnail for What We Saw at the Mortgage Bailout Demonstration6:04
What We Saw at the Mortgage Bailout Demonstration
ReasonVids
854 views
Thumbnail for How to Stop the Incoming Dystopia!  FIGHT WITH ME FAM! 2:35
How to Stop the Incoming Dystopia! FIGHT WITH ME FAM!
bestofvoatxyz
754 views
Thumbnail for Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker on The Federal Fiscal Crisis9:54
Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker on The Federal Fiscal Crisis
ReasonVids
833 views
Thumbnail for Blame Biden for High Gas Prices | ReasonTV3:53
Blame Biden for High Gas Prices | ReasonTV
invidious
347 views
Thumbnail for yeah, well done...0:06
yeah, well done...
bestofvoatxyz
500 views
Thumbnail for Stossel: Why Some Capitalists Are the Worst Enemies of Capitalism6:07
Stossel: Why Some Capitalists Are the Worst Enemies of Capitalism
ReasonVids
942 views

points

Permalink
Reply
reason, reason magazine, reason.com, reason.org, reason.net, reason foundation, tracy quan, sex and the citadel, arab world, sex, libertarian, muslim, islam, tahrir square, shereen el feki
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle