Sex and Lies: True Stories of Women's Intimate Lives in the Arab World
by Leïla Slimani
December 12, 2020 — December 19, 2020
Los Angeles, CA
This book covers a very sensitive subject of sex in a region where just mentioning the thought can lead to controversy. However, it was an extremely insightful, intriguing, and interesting read; a combination of detailed and unfiltered stories from different perspectives touching on different aspects of the subject, followed by a discussion of current events, laws and policies, evidence and statistics presented in a qualitative form, and cultural debates. I highly recommend this powerful book, in which every page has at least one line that will make you think critically, question society, and ignite a mix of emotions that will leave you speechless, sensible, and even sorrowful. The general theme of the book is unhealthy hypocrisy.
I don’t know where to begin, I’ve had to put this book down a few times because it would constantly trigger me to deeply think about the different topics that made me zone out. I will start by talking about the women of the Arab World (where I grew up for 18 years) who are denied all individuality, restricted and deprived of their sexual needs other than for reproduction, humiliated when they are victims of sexual assault and remain in the back seat of society. We are suffering from a hurricane of cultural hypocrisy, where men are becoming sexually frustrated, violent, and morally dishonest; meanwhile, women are becoming victims both socially and physically as a result.
The most recurring theme is Islam’s relationship with sex, which the region cracks down on and uses Islam as its excuse, but underneath that veil of hypocrisy, you have Islamism, an idealogy that has destroyed parts of the region and continues to cripple the potential for social advancement.
There are several dilemmas regarding this subject, all of which are leading to collisions and crashes that have been encouraging societal collapse. The tug-of-war between advancing with reforms and upholding traditions is a complicated one, especially in a region that seems to be rapidly developing its infrastructure but suffering to figure out its future.