Monday, December 26th, 2016
Stephan: When I read about the Islamic world I almost never see anything mentioned about what two years of living in the Middle East convinced me is one of the major social trends that shape Muslim societies: the extreme sexual dysfunction that defines these cultures.
Fundamentalist religiosity whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Buddhist always has three characteristics: 1) Deep and profound sexual dysfunction and gender distortion; 2) a sense of self-righteous superiority; and, 3) a sense of persecution and grievance.
It is my view that what brought on the Arab Spring uprisings was initially the disruption created by the Neocon ignorance that led to the invasion of Iraq. But what fueled it was the internet, movies, and television. For the first time young people, particularly women, could see that the rest of the world did not live in the sexual and gender misery that haunts the Arab world and makes creative expression, and originality of action almost impossible. This essay is one of the rare assessments of that reality, written by someone who comes from that world.
ORAN, Algeria — After Tahrir came Cologne. After the square came sex. The Arab revolutions of 2011 aroused enthusiasm at first, but passions have since waned. Those movements have come to look imperfect, even ugly: For one thing, they have failed to touch ideas, culture, religion or social norms, especially the norms relating to sex. Revolution doesn’t mean modernity.
The attacks on Western women by Arab migrants in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve evoked the harassment of women in Tahrir Square itself during the heady days of the Egyptian revolution. The reminder has led people in the West to realize that one of the great miseries plaguing much of the so-called Arab world, and the Muslim world more generally, is its sick relationship with women. In some places, women are veiled, stoned and killed; at a minimum, they are blamed for sowing disorder in the ideal society. In response, some European countries have taken to producing guides of good conduct to refugees and migrants.
Sex is a complex taboo, arising, in places like […]
If one is a reader this isn’t new knowledge, but the closing line about the same or similar attitude in the west is particularly chilling to this woman. I’ve often attributed it to a backlash of what I call a dying beast.. the aging patriarchy who aren’t prepared and unconsciously fear the growing movement of empowerment of women and girls. Something that would wane over the next few years. I don’t believe the progress made can be put back in the box so to speak but Trump and his followers, the ongoing prevailing attitude about rape in the halls of injustice, the the police, and college campuses are troubling.