From Voyeur's Corner to My First Time: new magazine attempts to lift veil on Arab taboos

"Sexuality is a largely hidden topic in the Arab world, though attitudes vary according to social norms and regime. Lebanon is a liberal island in a conservative sea, but even there frank discussion of sexual issues is frowned on.

Contradictions abound: Syrian women buy daring lingerie for their trousseaux, but suffer a high incidence of violence from husbands or fathers. Egypt was scandalised by the sex in Alaa al-Aswany's bestselling novel, The Yacoubian Building. But Egyptian films have tackled issues such as pressure on women to remain virgins until marriage. French influence has left a liberal mark on the Maghreb, but freedoms tend to be confined to westernised elites. Saudi Arabia is the intolerant heartland where the religious establishment polices personal morality. Homosexuality is widely criminalised."

But attitudes everywhere are under pressure from globalisation and its tentacles - including foreign travel, satellite television and the internet. An Arabic-language erotic magazine delivered by courier is the latest manifestation of this unstoppable revolution."

So reports The Guardian in relation to a new quarterly magazine Jasad ["body"] to be published in the Arab "world":

"On any western coffee table it would not look out of place: a magazine with a slightly risque cover and articles ranging from sexuality to fetishism and the human body. But on the newsstands of the Middle East it's a different matter. In the run-up to its launch next week, the glossy quarterly Jasad ("body" in Arabic) has been generating plenty of curiosity and hostility as it prepares to take on some of the most powerful taboos in Arab culture.

Issue one of the Lebanese title includes articles on self-mutilation and cannibalism as well as stories on sexual themes by authors from Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Palestine. Pseudonyms are not permitted. Regular features will include Body-Talk, Voyeur's Corner and My First Time."

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