sex

Buy back your virginity for just ten euros

Team Observers — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:50:51 +0100

Photo taken by Mohamed Al-Rahhal.

Question: What are these thin strips of plastic encapsulating a reddish liquid, and why have they prompted such outrage in Egypt? Answer: an artificial hymen, made in China and complete with fake blood.

Women who wish to hide the fact that they have lost their virginity before getting married can slip it in on their wedding night, "add a few moans", and relax, Chinese manufacturer Gigimo advertises on its website.

The scandal broke out in Egypt on September 13, when a major Egyptian newspaper, citing Syrian website Day Press and Radio Netherlands Worldwide, revealed that Egyptian investors plan to import the Chinese artificial hymen and sell it in Egypt after Ramadan. The article will soon be available in stores for only 10 euros.

For Islamic conservatives, this is the final straw - an instrument of depravity that would allow women to sleep around before marriage without losing their honour! A Facebook group has been set up to denounce the product. Conservative lawmakers are pushing to bar its import, others are calling for all those who dare retail the item in Egypt to be prosecuted. islamist group's webiste.

Created in Kyoto, Japan in 1993, the item was first sold locally then exported to Thailand in 1995, before reaching mass production in China.It reportedly reached the Syrian market recently and will soon be available in Morocco.

Chinese manufacturer Gigimo says this artificial membrane, which is made of natural albumin, dissolves in water and has no side effects on its user. However, Asian media have reported several cases of vaginal infection following use of the artificial hymen.

Photo published on the Gigimo website.

'Skins' parties, even trashier than Woodstock? Really?

Team Observers — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:55:46 +0200

Photo: scene from the teen series "Skins"

If you've never heard of "Skins" Parties, chances are you're a dinosaur of 25 or over. Directly inspired by the British teen drama "Skins", the parties have been described as the craziest thing in French nightlife, where girls are loose and drugs roam free. But are they really all they are made up to be, or have they turned into commercialized gigs?

A Facebook page for an upcoming "Skins" party in Paris promises a "No Limits" bash, where anything goes. In the series, wild parties were a way for the teenage protagonists to escape their boring, frustrating lives. In the trashed homes and deserted warehouses imagined by the show's creators, lascivious tongues trade ecstasy pills, clothes come off and alcohol flows.

Online clips of the fictitious orgies inevitably prompted expressions of envy from teenage fans. Youths — first in Britain, then in France — began recreating the show's atmosphere in their own parties.

At closer inspection, however, the so-called "Skins" parties taking place in France today are a far cry from the uncontrolled and under-age get-togethers in the series. Although some die-hard "Skins" fans still organize romps at home when their parents aren't around, most larger events have merged into tightly supervised blow-outs that require months of organisation.

Sponsors work hard to keep up an underground feel (a "Skins" party organiser contacted by FRANCE 24 refused to answer our questions because we didn't fit their desired "image"), yet the series' initial influence seems to be fading.

Denmark, where girls are easy and sex unprotected

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:30:02 +0200

Image: "diogoflores" on Flickr.

The following advert was produced by the Danish tourism agency VisitDenmark. After the video had received 800,000 hits in just four days, the agency removed it from YouTube on Monday following complaints that it promoted promiscuity and unprotected sex.

Posted on YouTube last Thursday (10 September), the video was not attributed to any agency, leaving viewers to believe that it was a genuine appeal. Danish TV channel TV2 has since clarified that the scene was staged and that the woman is an actress.

Before its removal, the video was criticised by Danish Economy Minister Lene Espersen, (who's also in charge of the country's tourism portfolio), for presenting "a not very well-thought-out picture of the country." Danish sociologist Karen Sjoerup said the ad suggested "you can lure fast, blonde Danish women home without a condom". On the Web meanwhile, the ad has been labelled sickening, stupid, and just plain weird.

The "betel nut beauties" of Taiwan

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:01:35 +0200

Daylight prostitution in Taipei? Nope. Just some scantily clad Taiwanese girls selling drinks, cigarettes and nuts to passing car drivers.

Corsets, cleavages, and skirts shorter than a belt; "betel nut beauties" stop at nothing to get the attention of passing cars. Largely from underprivileged backgrounds, this unusual workforce, sat in their brightly coloured neon-lit stalls, are dressed as such in order to sell nuts, not sex. A prized stimulant in Taiwan, betel nuts are highly popular... and so are the "betel beauties".

The Taiwanese authorities did attempt to get the vendors to soften their look after blaming them for an increase in traffic accidents. But the law, passed in parliament in 2002, fell flat after it was barely enforced. It was not received warmly by the Taiwanese population.

Photos: Tobie Openshaw.

TV channel banned in Saudi Arabia for sex talk

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:57:20 +0200

Photo posted on the Facebook group page "Give it what it deserves, boycott the LBC".

Two weeks ago we talked about the Saudi man who was facing jail after disclosing his sexual habits on television. He has since been detained and, if found guilty, could be jailed for 20 years or stoned to death. Meanwhile, the Lebanese channel which aired the programme has been banned from the kingdom indefinitely.

The Jeddah offices of the Lebanese Broadcasting Company (LBC) - a channel largely funded by Saudi billionaire Walid Ben Talal - closed on Saturday by order of Saudi interior minister Prince Nayef Ben Abdul Aziz. The Riyadh offices however, which are considered less important, remain open.

It was the previous Saturday that the guest of Lebanese show "The Red Line", Mazen Abdul Jawad, was arrested by the police and detained. His colourful description of his sex life, aired July 15, caused an outcry in Saudi Arabia, where the media and Internet were flooded with indignant comments over the affair.

Talk openly about sex and risk jail

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:52:58 +0200

A 32-year-old Saudi man could face court for debauchery, premarital sex and for breaking the Islamic code after he was interviewed by a Lebanese channel about his sex life.

If found guilty, divorced father of four Mazen Abdul Jawad will face either 20 years in jail or between 13,000 and 20,000 strikes by horsewhip. It was his revelations on the Lebanese talkshow, "The Red Line" that have left the airline employee facing prosecution. Aired on July 15 on Lebanese channel LBC, his declarations about foreplay, sex toys and frigidity left the conservative Saudi population quite frankly stunned.

Around 100 of the most outraged of these people filed complaints about his actions to the court in Jeddah. Many also contacted his employer, Saudi Arabian Airlines, demanding that he be sacked.

In an interview with daily newspaper Okaz on Saturday, Abdul Jawad begged for forgiveness of the Saudi people, and blamed the incident on the channel. It was them, he said, that supplied the sex toys, and then aired the programme without blurring his face. LBC refutes the allegations, but itself has become a target for the conservatives, who call for it to be banned in the kingdom.

Sex according to Oum Mohammad

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:48:20 +0200

A sexologist like no other is causing a stir in the Arab world. She may wear a niqab but Oum Mohammad has no qualms about giving her views on fellatio (entirely normal) and sodomy (absolutely no way!). Listen to what she has to say...

"Savita Bhabhi", the sexy sister-in-law driving India crazy

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:45:23 +0200

There's a new Indian website that's not quite like the others. Welcome to "Savita Bhabhi", the first porn comic strip "made in India". A fine mix of sex and tradition that's managed to both tantalise and traumatise the country that gave birth to the Kama Sutra.

Many websites have fallen victim to an X-rating in India, but one that's yet to be branded is homemade comicstrip Savita Bhabhi. The formula is simple (a voluptuous young woman who finds herself in compromising situations), but the social implications are slightly more complicated. Savita Bhabhi is an experimental mix of both old-fashioned values and modern concepts. The leading character is a married woman - particularly evident because her the part in her hair is died deep red and she wears a gold pendant (equivalent to a wedding ring). She also wears the traditional sari and the red dot between her eyebrows (the bindi).

Savita's husband is often away, so to escape the boredom she sleeps with various passers-by. For this bhabhi (which means sister-in-law), nothing is taboo, not even incest - which is a subject that Indian webusers seem to be particularly fond of. One page of this volatile saga is published every day and translated into nine national languages. The site has already provoked complaints, according to the Information and Technology minister, and could soon face censorship. No doubt its 30,000 subscribers won't be too pleased.

Giving birth on the school field

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:21:20 +0200

This video of a UK teenager giving birth on a school field has been blocked by YouTube.

It looks as though it was filmed with a camera phone, and it's pretty convincing. That's why a local health service in the UK put it online. It's part of a campaign to shock teens into the realities of unprotected sex - a tough challenge in the midlands city of Leicester, where around five percent of girls aged between 15 and 17 become pregnant each year. In fact the scene is really played by actors. Despite the campaign's good intentions, however, YouTube decided to ban the video 24 hours after it went online on 14 May.

No erotic Disneyland for the Chinese

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:20:10 +0200

Image posted on ChinaRen.com.

China's first ever sex theme park was demolished on Monday, before it had even been opened. Deemed "evil" by officials, the giant genital sculptures that were intended to bring sexual enlightenment to the Chinese public, are now lying in ruins.

"Love Land" was planned to open to the public in October this year. But as the unusual sculptures were erected over the Chongqing horizon, locals became increasingly disturbed by what they might be faced with. Photographs of the park posted online at the weekend led to worldwide publicity and widespread debate. On Monday, the local authorities decided to tear the park down, bulldozers at the ready.