Sexuality and eroticism in Islam
All topics-
"Break norms, find freedom"
Indie film "Warsha" tackles Arab gender taboo
Lebanese director Dania Bdeir, who has just scooped up the Sundance Film Festival's award for best international short film, says she wants her short to "break the norms" on sexuality and gender in the Middle East.
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Sex education
The Arab Spring's greatest success?
People in Arab countries have been talking more openly about sex and sexuality for some time now, especially on social media. And for the first time ever, they have the vocabulary to discuss these topics. By Lena Bopp
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Best of Qantara.de 2021
Top ten most-read articles on Qantara.de
Every year in December, the team at Qantara.de takes a look back at the articles that proved most popular with our readers. This year is no different. Here is a run-down of the stories that mattered most to you in 2021. Happy New Year to all our readers!
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Sex education in the Arab world
Let's talk about sex, habibi!
Sex education – taboo in the Middle East. Or is it? Thanks to social media, millions these days are daring to ask everything about "it". Jennifer Holleis has the details
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Book review: Fatima Daas' "The Last One"
Confessions of a Muslim woman
In her debut novel, Fatima Daas makes use of traditional narrative forms reminiscent of Koranic suras. The piercing, insistent rhythm of her writing style addresses topical issues such as same-sex love, gender and questions concerning her identity as a French woman with Algerian heritage. Volker Kaminski read the book
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Meryem Alaoui's "Straight from the Horse’s Mouth"
A fiercely enjoyable feminist fairytale
Even though Meryem Alaoui's debut novel "Straight from the Horse's Mouth" centres on a female character working in a field – sex work – that is often, at least in Arabic literature, linked to Morocco, it does so with humour, warmth, and a tumbling, cartwheeling taste for the fantastic. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
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Pride Month 2021
Malaysia seeks stricter sharia laws for "promoting LGBT lifestyle"
A Malaysian government taskforce has proposed amendments to sharia law that would allow action to be taken against social media users for insulting Islam and "promoting the LGBT lifestyle"
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Femicide and coronavirus in the Maghreb
Algeria's ongoing war against women – #WeLostOneOfUs
The Algerian state's insufficient response to a recent spate of femicides has driven hundreds of women to defy coronavirus lockdown restrictions to take part in street protests, while also rekindling a debate about the death penalty. By Dalia Ghanem
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The "India Love Project" on Instagram
Fighting hate with love
Marrying for love is still quite a rare thing in India. Religion often gets in the way, as do caste and parental opinions. After the defamatory term "Love Jihad" started trending on Twitter, three journalists set up the "India Love Project" on Instagram to share stories of love that have transcended boundaries and discrimination of all kinds. By David Pfeifer
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Turkey
Sect leader Adnan Oktar – 1,000 years for sex crimes
A Turkish court has sentenced Islamic television preacher and author Adnan Oktar to more than 1,000 years in jail for crimes including forming and leading a criminal gang, fraud and sexual abuse
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Teenage pregnancies in Pakistan
What sex education is really about
Young people in many developing countries are not systematically taught about reproductive health and the psychology of intimacy. It is harmful to keep all things sexual shrouded in secrecy – as is evident in Pakistan, for example, where many girls are still married off in their teens. By Mahwish Gul
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Confronting social taboos in the Gulf
Emirates talk show host Anas Bukhash lays it on the line
Emirati talk show host Anas Bukhash has struck a chord with his programme "ABtalks" which probes social questions that others fight shy of. In the Gulf, "nobody wants to talk about the elephant" in the room, he says. By Diana Hodali