Farewell Sex Legislation in Egypt Causes Outrage
APRIL 27, 2012 TAGS:
This can't be a real news item, right? Legislators in Egypt are proposing a new law that would allow men to have sex with the bodies of their dead wives for the six hours immediately following her death. The so-called "farewell intercourse law" is an extension of supposedly Islamic beliefs that marriage exists even after death, a view infamously espoused by a Moroccan cleric in 2011.
That a religious interpretation of the existence of marriage after death would somehow translate to a "right" for necrophilia has understandably bothered Egypt's National Council for Women. Dr. Mervat al-Talawi, the council's head, wrote a letter to the Egyptian National Assembly's Speaker claiming that the proposed law would undermine the status of women.
Curiously, no paper trail of the actual legislation exists, leading some Egyptian observers to believe that the law is a fabrication of those seeking to discredit a parliament heavily influenced by an Islamist bloc. News of the "farewell" law was first revealed in an opinion piece published in a state-owned newspaper and written by a "stalwart supporter of the deposed Hosni Mubarak."
Even if the legislation exists -- and its tied to another provision that would lower the marriageable age of a women to 14 -- it would be unlikely to pass.
So it's a political smokescreen, but perhaps one of the more cringe-inducing ploys to discredit an opponent I can think of.
Sex at a funeral might be a useful way to transmute intense grief into something else, but let's leave the corpse out of it.
That a religious interpretation of the existence of marriage after death would somehow translate to a "right" for necrophilia has understandably bothered Egypt's National Council for Women. Dr. Mervat al-Talawi, the council's head, wrote a letter to the Egyptian National Assembly's Speaker claiming that the proposed law would undermine the status of women.Curiously, no paper trail of the actual legislation exists, leading some Egyptian observers to believe that the law is a fabrication of those seeking to discredit a parliament heavily influenced by an Islamist bloc. News of the "farewell" law was first revealed in an opinion piece published in a state-owned newspaper and written by a "stalwart supporter of the deposed Hosni Mubarak."
Even if the legislation exists -- and its tied to another provision that would lower the marriageable age of a women to 14 -- it would be unlikely to pass.
So it's a political smokescreen, but perhaps one of the more cringe-inducing ploys to discredit an opponent I can think of.
Sex at a funeral might be a useful way to transmute intense grief into something else, but let's leave the corpse out of it.
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