Sex and the Citadel

by El Feki, Shereen

• ISBN13: 9780307377395
• ISBN10: 0307377393
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-03-12
• Publisher: Pantheon

Summary

A fascinating, groundbreaking look at changing sexual attitudes and behavior in the Arab world, by a leading expert on social practices in the region. Since the political unrest that swept across the Middle East in 2011, all eyes have been on the streets and squares erupting in protest. But for the past four years, Shereen El Feki has been looking at upheaval a little closer to home-in the sexual lives of men and women across the Arab world. The result is an informative, insightful, and engaging account of a highly sensitive and still largely secret aspect of Arab society. Sex might seem a strange lens through which to examine change, but it is a prism that refracts the region's complex social spectrum, from religion and culture to politics and economics. Sexual attitudes and behaviors not only are a reflection of the conditions that led to the recent uprisings but will also be a measure of hard-won reforms in the years to come. By linking sexuality to political, economic, social, and religious trends, Sex and the Citadelopens a window on the greater landscape of the Arab world. This highly personal account, rich with original research and first-person stories, gives us unprecedented and timely insight into a part of the world that is being transformed before our very eyes.