Behind the Veil of Vice: The Business and Culture of Sex in the Middle East - Softcover

Bradley, John R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 023011427X ISBN 13: 9780230114272

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2011

Synopsis

The Middle East has long been something of a mystery to Westerners, and in particular, the sexual mores of the region continue to fascinate. Arabs are often described as being in a state of Islam-induced sexual anxiety and young Muslims' frustrations are said to be exacerbated by increasing exposure to the licentiousness of the West.

Here, Middle East expert John R. Bradley sets out to challenge these stereotypes and uncover the real truth about sex in countries like Egypt, Syria, Morocco and Yemen.

Among many startling revelations, Bradley reports on how "temporary" Islamic marriages allow for illicit sex in the theocracies of Iran and Saudi Arabia; "child brides" that are sold off to older Arab men according to ancient tribal traditions; the hypocrisy that undermines publicized crackdowns on the thriving sex industry in the Persian Gulf; and how, despite widespread denial, pederasty is still deeply ingrained in the region's social fabric.

Richly detailed and nuanced, Behind the Veil of Vice sheds light on a taboo subject and unravels widely held myths about the region, especially regarding pedophilia and sex-trafficking.

In the process, Bradley also delivers an important message about our own society's sex-related hypocrisies, hysteria and contradictions.

About this title

About the Author:

JOHN R. BRADLEY (johnrbradley.wordpress.com) was born in England and was educated at University College London, Dartmouth College in the United States, and Exeter College, Oxford. He is the author of four non-fiction books on the contemporary Arab world published by Palgrave Macmillan that draw heavily on his personal experience: Saudi Arabia Exposed: Inside a Kingdom in Crisis (2005); Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution (2008; updated edition 2012); Behind the Veil of Vice: The Business and Culture of Sex in the Middle East (2010); and After the Arab Spring: How Islamists Hijacked the Middle East Revolts (2012). Bradley has been covering the Middle East for almost two decades. He has written essays, dispatches, reviews, and op-eds for numerous publications, including: The Washington Quarterly, The New Republic, The Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator, Salon, The London Telegraph, The Forward, The London Evening Standard, The New York Post, The London Sunday Times, Foreign Affairs, The Financial Times, The Daily Mail, The Independent, The Jewish Chronicle, The Washington Times, Newsweek, Asia Times, Prospect, and The Economist. He has been interviewed about the Middle East by CNN, the BBC, PBS, NPR, CBS, Fox News, Al-Jazeera English, Sky News, Russia Today, Channel 4 News, Bloomberg TV, and many other media outlets. Bradley's public lectures have most recently taken place at The Pacific Council for International Affairs in Los Angeles, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, London's Intelligence Squared, and The Athenaeum in Claremont, California.
 

Review:

"Bradley crushes the popular perception of the Middle East as erotically stifled, and the West as the land of sexual expression and freedom. The more nuanced truth, he says, is that these seemingly oppositional cultures have far more in common than we often admit: Both "live under rulers who, under different pretexts and with varying degrees of severity, seek to curb the unruly sex urge as a way of maintaining social control." This fascinating and comprehensive book guides readers through the seedy underbelly of the Middle East."--Salon

"Bradley's book seeks to avoid the usual cultural myopia and self-righteousness. He travels to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Morocco and Yemen, to examine the sex-trade in urban centers, from the Shia practice of temporary marriages in Iran, to child brides and casual (though covert) homosexuality across the region."--The Independent

"Bradley finds East and West united in adherence to an ecumenical creed of "Do as I say, not as I do". Not that there aren't differences in the lies we tell ourselves: hence the institution of misyar - temporary marriages, which enable a society like Iran to work around its own self-denying strictures; or the freedom of relations between men and adolescent boys in Morocco (as long as no one comes out or calls it gay). Bradley finds both sleazy secrets and what he... calls higher hypocrisies in this revelatory and thought-provoking book."--The Scotsman

"After ten years writing and traveling through the Middle East, Bradley decided to tackle the subject that everyone talks about without saying much: sex. He reveals the many different ways countries across the region talk about and regulate sex, covering legal prostitution in Tunisia, hour-long marriages in Saudi Arabia, and what West and East have in common when it comes to sex."--Zócalo Public Square

"Emphasizing the profound differences between--and within--various Muslim and Arab communities, he definitively dispels the notion of any single dominant Muslim sexuality or moral norm. Instead, Bradley argues, the prurient concerns of the West are mostly distractions from real social, political, and economic problems faced in the Middle East--many of which the West plays a major role in perpetuating--which drive Muslim unrest." Publishers Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 023011427X
• ISBN 13: 9780230114272
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288