Sex/Sexuality

This cracked me up so badly!

… it occurred to me that Democrats really don’t need to do anything. All liberals need to do is sit back and watch while the whole Republican government resigns after it’s discovered that they’re all actually gay.

That makes at least three this year. Mark Foley, Larry Craig and Richard Curtis. Am I missing someone?

Am I the only one finding this hilarious?

PBS has an excellent report about prostitution in Dubai. It comes together with a 12 minute video clip which is very revealing and unique. It’s worth your time.

What caught my attention in this short documentary is that some women in Dubai aren’t forced into prostitution but that they actually voluntarily get involved in it. Apparently the money is too good to resist. Some of them make as much as 7,000 American dollars a month. It was a little shocking to me.

Click on the picture below. I LOVE the sexy designs on her arms. It’s a very clever strategy of standing out and kicking the competition’s ass.

A Moroccan prostitute displays the henna patterns on her arms. Muslim prostitutes are paid the highest in Dubai. [Drima: Actually, according to some naughty guys I know who live in Dubai, Arab prostitutes are the most expensive].

Via Little.Miss.Dalu

My, oh my, I need to bang my head on a wall a hundred times and puke! WTFish??!

A fundamentalist church pastor had sex with two of his teenage daughters to educate them on how to be good wives, a South Australian court has heard.

One is 13 and the other is 15.

The man told the court the sex was not about fulfilling his desires but about teaching his daughters how to behave for their husbands when they eventually married, as dictated in scripture.

Since when does the Bible instruct a father to rape his daughters? Maybe this loony “religious” nut should go chill with the Taliban in Afghanistan or something.

These are the best parts of the article as observed by Little.Miss.Dalu:

Enraging parts, dutifully, highlighted.

a) The title of this article is infuriating, “had sex?” shouldn’t it be “raped?”
b) and this is according to the scripture? You mean the scripture according to sick rapist fucks? Cuz I sure as hell would like to know where in the bible he pulled this from.
c) His fuckin’ wife and church remain supportive of this bullshit??!
d) HE ONLY GET 8 YEARS WITH ELIGIBILITY FOR PAROLE IN FOUR?

To ‘educate’ them on how to be good wives?

Brain overload.

This is so wrong!

Oh yeah baby!

The Vietnam War-era slogan “Make love, not war” has been taken to its logical extreme by an Israeli pornographic website, which is engaged in a sort of cultural exchange of bodily fluids with the Arab world.

According to a recent report in Daily Variety, when executives at Ratuv installed software that could track where their users were logging in, they found that the site was getting thousands of hits a week from such countries as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, even though some of these governments block the “.il” domain address on Israeli websites. So Ratuv responded by translating the entire site into Arabic, and traffic quickly skyrocketed.

What makes this more than a tale of clever entrepreneurs making a buck off Middle Eastern sexual repression is that Ratuv isn’t an ordinary porn site. It’s a clearinghouse of political parody porn, making fun of Israeli affairs such as sex scandals and often featuring Mossad agents or army soldiers getting out of uniform, thus providing a view of the Israeli military seldom seen in the Arab world. The next step, says Ratuv’s manager, is to make movies with Israelis and Arabs performing together, in order to foster more intimate relations between the two peoples.

They should call it “The Arab-Jewish BOOM BOOM Room”.

Yaaay to making love, not war!

UPDATE: Here’s a related post about porn and the difficulty of getting married in Muslim countries thanks to crappy economic conditions.

I thought I had seen it all but it turns out I’m so dead wrong. I still can’t get over the culture shock I had when I watched Maury for the first time but THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTFish? Lord have mercy on her mother! I am speechless.

Awwww, aren’t they cute?

By the way since when has homosexuality stopped being a crime in Saudi Arabia? Oh but wait, it’s not in the United States. Hmmm, now it makes sense.

This post is right on spot! Be sure to read it. And in case you didn’t know, last time I checked, Sudan was number one in the Arab world in terms of HIV/AIDS infections and third in terms of drug use and addiction. Yaaaay to my country. Let’s dance baby.

Meanwhile the condom debate still wages. I said it previously and I’ll say it again. Muslim and Christian religious leaders in Sudan should chill out. Advocating condom use is not the equivalent of promoting premarital sex. The UN may intervene and help through creative means. I suggested the following before:

I think the UN should air drop hundreds of thousands of condoms on Sudan.

Make that millions of condoms. XXL please! After all, we’re Sudanese.

PS: Condoms aren’t enough. They’re useless when it comes to oral sex.

Surprise, surprise, Sudanese girls and boys in da house (especially you naive ones)! Allow me to introduce to you Ali, a gay Sudanese who blogs at BlackGayArab. I just discovered his blog today!

So, what’s your reaction? Sooner or later this was going to happen you know. Do you think it’s real… or is it just some fake blog by a stupid guy trying to tarnish the image of Sudan? Worse still, it could even be a Jewish conspiracy.

Ah, the wonders the blogosphere can bring these days.

UPDATE: Ali responds.

She’s a hero! Go Kotb! You have my 100% support, respect and admiration!

I’m talking about this one. The comments were interesting to read. I especially liked this one by Rihab:

We regard things as normal depending on how accustomed we have become to them, for example, in a Muslim country the notion of a man having more than one wife is regarded as normal, whereas in a non-Muslim country it is regarded as abnormal. Straight men holding hands is normal in many Arab countries, in many non-Arab countries it would be odd if they aren’t gay. So “normality” is simply whatever you got used to over time in which case “normal” is a very relative term.

This one by Jina at Mideast Youth was also interesting to read:

Normal is when majority agree on one thing. Being black in white man’s land was abnormal, being white in black man’s land was abnormal. Cowboys dueling with each other was normal at one time, it’s not now. Blacks taking the back of the bus in the States were normal at one time, it’s not today. A noble killing a commoner was treated as nothing but a commoner killing a nobel was a crime.

I read my post again and I now realize how crazy it must have seemed to many readers. I’d say that a lot of what I wrote was emotional. I guess I don’t need to provide reasons for that. I’m sure most of you can tell where I’m coming from. I can pretend to be a wise ass and give you some fake opinion to seem all smart and intellectual but at the end of the day, it won’t benefit me. After one year of blogging, I have noticed that it’s mostly the seemingly “loony” posts such as this one, that trigger the most thought provoking comments. So yes, it’s pretty much worth it, even if it results in the following:

Sudanese Thinker goes on yet another anti-gay rant with the proviso that “he doesn’t mean to offend anyone”. Of course ST is entitled to his own opinion but the whole piece is full of misinformation and plain bigotry. He ends up telling us of an encounter with “2 gay dues and a transsexual” and concludes that you cant judge people on the basis of their sexuality. And he even has some friends who are atheist as well! God what a relief on both counts.

Oh no, the dreaded ‘B’ word. Cool! I’m now officially a bigot! Yaaaay! Oh well, at least Nominally Challenged (who’s gay) is cool with my post me. I’ve exchanged some private emails with him. Thanks man! Whether we agree or not is something, but the fact that we can have a decent, calm and honest cyber conversation is another different thing that I greatly value. More food for thought.

NOTE: Contained here within this post are my personal thoughts and opinions. I honestly don’t mean to offend anybody with what I’m about to say. I don’t have the intention to. This is Drima just being Drima. Enjoy! Your comments are welcome.

Sudanese Culture, Homosexuality & My Personal Opinion

In Sudanese culture, homosexuality is a big gigantic red no and is regarded as a pretty huge crime. It is not tolerated at all. If any man dared to walk down the streets of Khartoum advertising the fact that he’s gay or even slightly feminine, he would most certainly get beaten up. Yeah, I mean like literally beaten up, as in smacked in the face, punched in the nose, kicked in the stomach and thrown with a few bricks. He’ll probably get killed! (Hell, even the simple act of shaving your moustache in Sudan is considered something totally unmanly)!

I don’t regard homosexuality as something normal and I don’t think it should be “normalized”. As offensive as that statement may sound to some people, I don’t intend for it to be so. I really don’t. Vagina + Penis = Baby. That’s how it’s intended to be. The norm is attraction between male and female. Penis and penis aren’t the norm and while the naughty guy in me may fantasize about the idea of vagina and vagina, I also believe that it’s not the norm. The 2 purposes of sex are procreation and enjoyment. Homosexual sex can result in enjoyment but it won’t result in procreation. Maybe that’s why homosexuality is regarded as a major sin in many religions. If today we all turned homosexual, the existence of the human race will eventually come to an end.

Now I understand that some of you have trouble reading the above. It might seem too simplistic to you but it isn’t to me. Sure, homosexuality is something that exists in the animal kingdom but so what? We’re different from animals. We’re different because we were blessed with conscience, the freedom to do right or wrong and the freedom to think freely. I’m sure Darwin and Richard Dawkins would super disagree with me though.

There might be another reason some of you have trouble with my opinion. If I’m saying that homosexuality isn’t the norm, then wouldn’t that imply I think gays are abnormal? The answer is yes. Allow me to elaborate but before I do please keep in mind that I’m not using the word “abnormal” in a derogatory sense (at least not in most cases).

The Causes of Homosexuality: Nature, Nurture or Both?

There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer. Some researchers point towards nurture, some towards nature and others point towards both. Personally I don’t know. I’m not a scientist but I am open to arguments from the nature perspective. My stance is lenient towards people who have an odd sexuality that occured as a result of nature.

You can’t really blame them for being that way can you? I can’t. If they were born that way then it’s not their fault now is it? Some gay men claim that since they were little kids, they’ve always known that they didn’t like girls. Others claim that they’re women stuck inside men’s bodies. How can you explain that? Does it have to do with some kind of hormonal unbalance? I don’t really know and that’s why I remain very open to scientific arguments from the nature perspective. Not so long ago hermaphrodites were treated like outcasts in society. They were looked down upon and were considered abnormal (in a derogatory sense). I’m absolutely against that. Sure, their condition is an abnormality. A baby is supposed to be born with 10 fingers and 10 toes but it is simply wrong to outcast a baby born with 9 fingers and 23 toes. The analogy might not be completely accurate but I hope you get the idea.

According to research from the nurture perspective, some people turn gay due to unfortunate childhood experiences which include sexual abuse. I am quite open to such ideas but not as open as I am to arguments from the nature perspective. Sure, getting sexually harassed during childhood is a very nasty experience but it doesn’t mean it’s an excuse to turn gay. Not all men who get locked up in jail for many years turn gay. Only some do.

There are some cases however whereby nurture “arguments” will do nothing to change my mind. Example? I know a guy who turned gay about a year and a half ago. The reason? He got dumped for the third time in a row by a girl he was deeply and madly in love with. What a pathetic reason, absolutely pathetic. Now that’s what I’ll refer to as abnormal in a derogatory sense.

Some Essential Background

Amongst my close friends, making fun or being hateful towards other people’s religions is something unacceptable (Scientology is an exception). Racism is also something generally unacceptable although a minority of close friends could be classified as mild racists and a few others (2 actually) as unfortunately super racists (you know, the kind who believe that a good Jew, or at least a “media shaped” good Jew is a dead Jew). However there’s one thing that’s generally quite “acceptable” and that’s making fun of gay people and using terms like “faggots” to describe them. Yup, you read that right.

All of us haven’t really had any “pleasant” encounters with gay people or transsexuals. In fact the only gay/transsexual people we bumped into, or that bumped into us, have always been the really loud obnoxious annoying type, that love to make freaky comments such as pointing at me or one of my friends and shouting in their “feminine wannabe” voices “oh my God, you’re so cute”. My immediate reaction would always be “yuck! Damn you, stop harassing us, you freaky abnormal weirdoes”. What’s worse is when the transsexuals try to approach. Good thing they back off. Oh thank the Lord they always do, otherwise I swear I’ll end up beating one of them in these coming days and I might actually break his (her?) neck. Okay maybe I won’t but you get the idea.

As you can imagine, we developed a wonderful hostility towards gay and transsexual people. Or to be more accurate, most of us didn’t develop any hostility at all, we simply enhanced it further (way further), given the fact that we came from cultural backgrounds which regard homosexuality as something absolutely unacceptable and forbidden.

The Incident

Last week’s Sunday night was pretty unique for one main reason. (No, I didn’t get drunk and find myself in the morning in bed with a gay dude. Oh no, thanks but no thanks. Drima is straight, very straight. In fact he’s as straight as an arrow. He also doesn’t drink). Here’s what happened. Last week’s Sunday night K, a new friend of mine brought me along to his friend’s party where I ended up having an interesting conversation with 2 gay dudes and one transsexual. All three are fashion designers.

I was extremely uncomfortable in the beginning and felt like cursing my friend but I convinced myself to remain respectful since I was a guest. At first, I conversed with everyone except the transsexual. After a while, the party got going when the host started blasting some really good old school hip hop music. Eventually we all conversed, laughed and joked around until I completely forgot the fact that 2 of the guys were gay and one was a transsexual. It didn’t bother me much anymore. Unlike previous cases, they didn’t try to hit on me and they didn’t make any flirtatious moves which was obviously a very good thing. As a result, I learned three new fashion words. Cetour, retro and bohemian (did I spell them right?). Moreover I started thinking and I gained a new perspective.

You’ve got 2 persons:

a) A guy who’s straight but steals money from friends, doesn’t give to charity and is racist.

And

b) A guy who’s gay, is loyal to his friends, gives to a lot to charity and vehemently opposes racism.

As much as you may disagree with it, you can’t simply discredit (b) as immoral simply based on his homosexuality.

Having spent some of my childhood in conservative Qatar, I never one day thought I would have atheist friends. Some of the coolest and nicest people I’ve gotten to know since then are atheists. I remain in contact with most of them.

Having been exposed to only crazy annoying gays and transsexuals, I never thought that one day I’d actually have a decent and enjoyable conversation with any of them.

PS: Which public toilets do transsexuals use? I’ve always wondered. Women’s or men’s? Oh ya and strangely I have 2 friends who are bisexual. They’re both girls!

I’m talking about a unique group of Palestinian women who oppose the Israeli occupation.

We are Palestinians living under occupation by Israel. The political situation is deteriorating as time passes by, and women’s rights is pushed further back on the political and social agenda. Anytime a woman tries to speak up, she is faced with fierce reactions from her surroundings. We have been under occupation since 1948. Being a Palestinian in this country means limited control over your life; everything is in the hand of the occupier. You are limited in moving around since most of the time you are not able to, because of curfews, closures, checkpoints and the wall that the Israeli government started to build since 2002 around the West Bank. You are focusing all of your energy on being able to provide for your family and basicaly in most cases just being able to survive.

Sounds lovely so far right? They deserve our full Muslim support right? Okay, I guess you’re probably still wondering what’s so unique about them… Here, ehm ehm (drumroll).

We are Gay in a society that has no mercy for sexual diversity. Coming out is not even an option because the consequences can be very severe. The options that are open to us are very slim; we either live a double life in order to survive, and still maintain good relations with the family, or run away to Israel where we can be forced into a hard life; prostitution, drugs..etc.

We have decided that the time has come to defy the norms of our society, and make them hear our voices for a change.

Yup, first it was Saudi lesbians and now it’s Palestinian lesbians aka ASWAT! Yaaay, woohoooo!! LOL!

(hat tip: Nizo)

Hmmmm… I wonder how many “closet” Lesbians there are in Sudan… Yo, Sudanese ladies in the house… Any idea? I had the shock of my life last holiday when I met a Sudanese lesbian couple in Mamoon 7immeda uni. Long story. Maybe another day. Meanwhile enjoy the rants of Saudi lesbians here and here.

Precious: Living the MATRIX

Halalhippie: All ye ladies out there

Hipster: Misery Churns in Eastern Sudan, Away from the Spotlight

Isis: Rejecting My Virginity

BTW can you all do me a favor and tell me what browser you’re using and if the blog is loading properly. Can you see the moving message above? I’ve been having some problems viewing the blog with Internet Explorer but I get no problems at all when I use Firefox.

UPDATE: Hey guys thanks for the feedback. It seems only one of you so far has the same problem I have when viewing with Internet Explorer. I just wanted to be sure ya’ll are able to view things properly. BTW is this Kucinich guy retarded??! No seriously WTFish is wrong with this dude. No offense to all the Donkeys in the house but do you all realize the consequences of what some in your party are suggesting? Maybe you should read what she’s saying. This is unbelievable!! No wonder the Elephants are so pissed off and depressed.