A tiny membrane defending ‘us’ against ‘them’

Arabic Internet debate about hymenorraphy in Sunni Islamic law

Bibliographic Data

ID15099698
AuthorsThomas Eich (University of Tübingen, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume12
Issue7
Pages755-769
Publication date2010-10-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691051003746179
PMID20455129
OpenAlexW1984039215
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited6

In the Sunni Arab world, hymen repair has become a subject of considerable controversy due to a public statement of Egypt's Mufti Guma a in 2007. This paper analyses Guma a's position and the ensuing public debate about it as a means to study the larger conceptions of virginity and the hymen in Middle Eastern societies. In line with critical feminist studies it is shown that supporters as well as critics of the operation rely heavily on patriarchal arguments, views and rhetoric. Both share the societal vision that sexuality can only be lived out licitly in the framework of marriage and both agree that this ideal is in crisis. Where the two sides disagree is over the way in which this ideal should be protected, which derives from their conceptualisation of creation in general and female nature in particular. As a result, debate about hymen repair is not only not transforming social structures but is perpetuating them

Human sexuality · Hymen · Hypocrisy · Ideal (ethics · Islam · Political science · Rhetoric · Sharia · Sociology · Subject (documents · Theology · Virginity test · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy

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