The beyond-thrilling news that women are now permitted to drive cars in Saudi Arabia (What’s next? Walk down the street without a male guardian?) reminds UD of her favorite edict from that country, known to all as The Adult Breastfeeding Fatwa.
Since an unrelated man and a woman being together in the same room is strictly forbidden…
Sheikh ‘Abd Al-Muhsin Al-‘Obikan, an advisor at the Saudi Justice Ministry, recently issued a fatwa allowing the breastfeeding of adults. The fatwa is aimed at enabling an unrelated man and woman to be secluded in the same room, a situation which Islam considers forbidden gender mixing. The rationale behind the fatwa is that breastfeeding creates a bond of kinship between the man and woman, … thus making it acceptable for them to be together in seclusion.
The order generated a lot of controversy. (Egypt even saw some nipple retraction.)
One columnist pointed to a paradox, namely that the fear of gender-mixing is prompting clerics to encourage lewd behaviors like women breastfeeding grown men.
************
In an earlier post, UD imagined Rate My Expressers entries for women-taught university courses in Saudi Arabia:
Hard initially to get hold of her nipple; once locked on, very good.
Slow. Too much class time spent pumping, sucking. Female students look bored.
Plays favorites. Feedings should be fairer.
Talks endlessly about how much better she lactated when she taught at a more selective school.
Milk production fine, but men sleepy after, and professor seems unable to wake them. What are they teaching in ed school these days??