PALESTINIANS (Palestina, Jordan, Gaza strip)
Index → Middle East → Palestinians
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Kanaaneh (2002:p192-5, 196-7)[1] in Israel:
"Buthaina believed that many girls knew about sex (and
were too eager for it) but she also said there were still some girls who are
"embarrassingly ignorant" in matters of sex [...] Sex education is
increasingly considered a modern essential, but many people still see society
in general as far from that goal. Although many more girls receive sex
education today, almost everyone has stories like Buthaina's
about girls "tragically" left in the sexual dark. The few trained
sex educators see themselves as pioneers and innovators. The push for sex
education is relatively recent; the educational process is considered to be
at the starting point. [...] Many mothers said they were particularly afraid
that if they told their young children about sex, the children might repeat
what they were told in front of other people in an inappropriate context and
embarrass their parents. [...] One of the big hurdles in sex education is the
"prick" that /Abla Jabaly
admits to; in a society that is just beginning the process of sex education,
such talk is still embarrassing.[...] This prick of shame especially haunts
parents when they try to instruct children of the opposite gender. [...]
While many parents feared their sex-educated children might blurt things out
at inappropriate moments, many others feared being embarrassed by their children's
lack of sex education; that, too, reflected negatively on them. Sexually
ignorant children reflected the sexual ignorance of their parents. [...] fear
that sex-educated children will blurt out "shameful" things is
balanced by fear that children without sex education will demonstrate the
"ignorance" and "neglect" of their parents. Most
Palestinian parents thus engaged in some form of sex education for their
children or counted on others to do so. It was widely considered a modern necessity,
essential for producing proper, safe heterosexuality in a potentially
treacherous new era. This is clearly not to say that forms of sex education
and regulation did not exist in the
Abdulla (1966:p160-1)[2] in Jordan:
"Children, male and female, receive no sex education at home. They acquire such knowledge from their playmates, from older children, and by direct experience. Boys learn to masturbate in groups, but in seclusion from other people. Although the mores of this culture call for chastity, such group practices often lead some young men to practice homosexuality in early life. Such behavior is normally abandoned after marriage. Any male who plays the role of a female in such a relationship is usually ostracized, and he and his relatives are put to shame. Such an individual receives no sympathy, and often is mistreated by his own kin. Adolescent boys are frequently tempted to have sex relations with female animals-expecially female donkeys and horses."
Janssen,
D. F., Growing Up Sexually. Last revised: May 2005 |
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[1] Kanaaneh, Rh. A. (2002) Birthing
the nation: strategies of Palestinian women in
[2] Lutfiyya, Abdulla, M. (1966) Baytīin a Jordanian village: a study of social
institutions and social change in a folk community.