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Homosexuality is a taboo subject in the Arab world. While cleri denounce it as a heinous sin, newspapers write cryptically of 'shameful acts' and 'deviant behaviour'. Amid the calls for reform in the Middle East, homosexuality is one issue that almost everyone in the region would prefer to ignore. In this absorbing account, Guardian journalist Brian Whitaker calls attention to the voices of men and women who are struggling with gay identities in societies where they are marginalized and persecuted by the authorities. He paints a disturbing picture of people who live secretive, fearful lives and who are often jailed, beaten, and ostracized by their families, or sent to be 'cured' by psychiatr...
The problems in the Middle East run deeper than dictatorship. Inspired by the popular uprisings that overthrew the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, Arabs across the Middle East are demanding change. But achieving real freedom will involve more than the removal of a few dictators. Looking beyond the turmoil reported on our TV screens, Guardian journalist Brian Whitaker examines the 'freedom deficit' that affects Arabs in their daily lives: their struggles against corruption, discrimination and bureaucracy, and the stifling authoritarianism that pervades homes, schools and mosques as well as presidential palaces. Drawing on a wealth of new research and wide-ranging interviews, Whitaker analyse...
In Arab countries, openly declaring a disbelief in God is a shocking and sometimes dangerous thing to do. Many have been imprisoned for it, some have been forced into exile and others threatened with execution. And yet, in a region where the influence of religion is almost inescapable, growing numbers are claiming a right to believe - or disbelieve - as they see fit. Social media have given them a voice and the uprisings that toppled Arab dictators have emboldened them to speak out. In this ground-breaking book, journalist Brian Whitaker looks at the factors that lead them to abandon religion and the challenges they pose for governments and societies that claim to be organised according to the will of God.
A Muslim punk house in Buffalo, New York, inhabited by burqa-wearing riot girls, mohawked Sufis, straightedge Sunnis, Shi’a skinheads, Indonesian skaters, Sudanese rude boys, gay Muslims, drunk Muslims, and feminists. Their living room hosts parties and prayers, with a hole smashed in the wall to indicate the direction of Mecca. Their life together mixes sex, dope, and religion in roughly equal amounts, expressed in devotion to an Islamo-punk subculture, “taqwacore,” named for taqwa, an Arabic term for consciousness of the divine. Originally self-published on photocopiers and spiralbound by hand, The Taqwacores has now come to be read as a manifesto for Muslim punk rockers and a “Catcher in the Rye for young Muslims.” There are three different cover colors; red, white, and blue.
Sexual desire has long played a key role in Western judgments about the value of Arab civilization. In the past, Westerners viewed the Arab world as licentious, and Western intolerance of sex led them to brand Arabs as decadent; but as Western society became more sexually open, the supposedly prudish Arabs soon became viewed as backward. Rather than focusing exclusively on how these views developed in the West, in Desiring Arabs Joseph A. Massad reveals the history of how Arabs represented their own sexual desires. To this aim, he assembles a massive and diverse compendium of Arabic writing from the nineteenth century to the present in order to chart the changes in Arab sexual attitudes and ...
Beat The Status Quo! Those who wish to improve are willing to make changes, others are dreamers. As Henry Ford so aptly put it: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." While this does not mean you have been unsuccessful, aspirations to move to a higher standard will require changes. What changes can a book like this offer? Beat The Curve is a compilation of authors who have outperformed the status quo. Their fields are different and their approaches are varied. Their ability and passion for their work, coupled with their perseverance, have allowed these Celebrity Experts(r) to soar to a higher level. While they have developed their successes in different ways, there are the common threads throughout. Why not be guided by a mountain climber who has been to the top before? To quote the Chinese philosopher, Confucius: Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure. With the expert help available in the pages of this book, you will not only learn from their successes and their failures, but you will now have their guidance to help Beat The Curve.
‘A stimulating, elegant yet pugnacious essay’—Observer In this highly acclaimed seminal work, Edward Said surveys the history and nature of Western attitudes towards the East, considering Orientalism as a powerful European ideological creation—a way for writers, philosophers and colonial administrators to deal with the ‘otherness’ of Eastern culture, customs and beliefs. He traces this view through the writings of Homer, Nerval and Flaubert, Disraeli and Kipling, whose imaginative depictions have greatly contributed to the West’s romantic and exotic picture of the Orient. In the Afterword, Said examines the effect of continuing Western imperialism.
TO PUSH OR NOT TO PUSH - is that the question?What is the importance of pushing ourselves?...Why do we push?Pushing implies effort, Effort implies desire, Desire implies emotion, And emotion implies passion.If this is accurate for most of us, Pushing To The Frontassumes a passionate mindset.The Celebrity Authors in this book have one thing incommon - passion for their goals. They have 'blood, sweatand tears' invested to make a success of their pursuits.Now, we all have passion, which is one part of the menufor success - but: Do we have a plan to utilize and direct that passion?The Celebrity Experts in their field in this book havedeveloped multiple methods to succeed in their fields.They started out looking to improve their health, wealthand success in their lives. See how they achieved theirsuccess. They will show you their secrets.With odds not much different to yours, and at timesmuch more difficult, read how these Celebrity Expertshave done it, then copy these methods of "Pushing ToThe Front" to achieve YOUR goals.One finds limits by pushing them. Herbert Simon
This collection of essays sets the attacks on the United States in historical perspective. It rejects the notion of an age-old 'clash of civilizations' and instead examines the histories of American nationalism, anti-Americanism, US foreign policy and Islamic fundamentalism amongst other topics.
Writings on gender in the Middle East have tended to focus overwhelmingly on the status of women, on the rise of Islamist politics and veiling, and on the social construction of female identity. In the process issues of male identity in a region which has seen enormous social transformations over the past thirty years have been somewhat neglected. This book looks at the process by which stereotypical male identities get constructed, reproduced and contested in different parts of the Middle East.