The human sexuality for women in Middle East - Essay Example

This partly explains the strong dominance of men over women in Islamic societies as a form of social hierarchical structure that needs to be maintained at all costs. Presently, there is considerable debate among both academics and religious scholars whether Islam has managed to keep pace with changes in modern life just the way Western civilization changed during the Renaissance period. Women in the Middle East lead lives controlled by men such as when they are can go outside of the house, whom to talk to, what to wear, what parts of the body should be covered and what topics they can discuss openly.

There is considerable suppression of women’s rights in which women are viewed as chattels and not in control of their sexuality. They are not considered worthy to be in positions of political, economic or social power. There is great importance attached to female chastity and any doubts on it resolved through honor killing or the suspected women forced or pressured to commit honor suicides. When human sexuality is discussed within the context of the Middle East, it should always be viewed within the confines of religion, primarily either Islam or Hinduism.

The two religions condition and define the sexual beliefs and practices of their faithful in this region. It is useful to bear in mind that certain basic cultural attitudes in the Middle East are primarily influenced by Islam which is the dominant religion in this part of the world. As such, it helps to explain a lot of things observed in the Middle East today such as a fatalistic view of life, a candid and realistic feeling about sex in general, the view that sexuality, pleasure, abstinence self-restraint and continence are matters of degree and personal taste.

Additionally, women are viewed as inferior human beings that partly explain the debauchery, intolerance and cruelty observed in some Middle Eastern societies as