Comment on 'Sex and the Citadel,' by Shereen El Feki

'Sex and the Citadel,' by Shereen El Feki

'Sex and the Citadel,' by Shereen El Feki Sex and the CitadelIntimate Life in a Changing Arab WorldBy Shereen El Feki(Pantheon; 345 pages; $28.95)As the civil war in Syria rolls grimly on and Tahrir Square becomes more infamous for sexual assaults on female protesters than for scenes of revolution, Western pundits have proclaimed the autumn of the Arab Spring. While her subject is titillating, her treatment of it is not: A former vice chair of the U.N.'s Global Commission on HIV and Law, she is frank, nonjudgmental and unsentimental, eschewing the kind of stagey shockability that might have tempted a lesser writer when dealing with topics as unsavory as female genital mutilation or domestic violence. Will a sexual revolution follow the political revolutions that have rocked the Arab world? While recent uprisings have indeed opened up the public discourse in many Arab countries, allowing for the discussion of secularism and minority rights in a way unthinkable under authoritarian rule, sex, and in particular female desire, is still a taboo subject, even within the confines of marriage. El Feki interviews pioneering sex therapist Heba Kotb, Egypt's headscarf-wearing answer to Dr.

 

Comment On This Story

Welcome to Wopular!

Welcome to Wopular

Wopular is an online newspaper rack, giving you a summary view of the top headlines from the top news sites.

Senh Duong (Founder)
Wopular, MWB, RottenTomatoes

Subscribe to Wopular's RSS Fan Wopular on Facebook Follow Wopular on Twitter Follow Wopular on Google Plus

MoviesWithButter : Our Sister Site

More Books News