Sexy in Saudi Arabia: 1,000 Lashes Over Reality TV Appearance

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Sex is not openly discussed in Saudi Arabia, but this is much more than mere cultural code. It is written into law, and transgressions usually lead to harsh punishments.

Such was the fate of one young man who appeared on the MTV program ‘True Life – Resist the Power, Saudi Arabia’:

Mazen Abdul-Jawad was sentenced last year to five years in jail, 1,000 lashes and a five-year travel ban after he bragged about his sexual exploits on a TV show aired by Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC).

To the Western world, these measures appear brutal and incommensurate with the crime. Which I and any other proponent of human rights would agree with. But our vast cultural differences must be taken into account for a proper assessment.  The West’s view of the Middle East is a colonial holdover, a continued attempt to define the region by  Western ethical and cultural standards. This phenomenon, dubbed ‘Orientalism’, is firmly rooted in imperialist doctrine and has only widened the divide. Palestinian theorist Edward Said’s aptly-named book Orientalism is a landmark critique of these misguided conceptions and should be required reading for everyone. Said summarizes:

…because of Orientalism the Orient was not (and is not) a free subject of thought or action…. European culture gained in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self.

Indeed, if our only references to understand the Middle East come from our own politicians and news agencies, then our impression is inherently biased and incomplete.

The case of  Mazen Abdul-Jawad is considered beyond barbaric when we compare it to our own legal system, which purports to treat people fairly and humanely. Even though this has been disproved countless times. The West fancies itself the global arbiter, the good guys whose intolerance of cultural differences is justified by the belief that it knows best. Islamic law is often extreme, but despite popular perceptions it is not always fanatical and structureless. Corporal punishment is exacted methodically and with regard to the person’s ultimate safety. 1,000 lashes will not be given out all at once, rather they will be spread out over a period of time to minimize injury and scarification. This methodical approach is both relieving and scary. Imagining lawmakers using logic to implement such torture, when the entire concept defies logic (at least secularly), sends a chill up the spine, and for me recalls the cruel efficiency of Nazi Germany. So I am in no way trying to diminish the severity of these punishments, but it must be noted that just as the West has ‘Orientalism’, the Middle East has its ‘Occidentalism‘. Our actions must appear equally as immoral and inhumane as theirs do to us, and it is impossible to say who is more right or virtuous than the other. I make no justification for either one, but it does seem important to add as many pieces of the puzzle as possible.