Sexuality of Tunisian Women: Involvement of Religion & Culture
INTRODUCTION:
Culture
and religion carry several prohibitions and taboos, especially in the
Arab-Muslim societies, and are therefore involved in the sexual behavior and
its perception, particularly that of women.
OBJECTIVES:
To
assess the married population's knowledge and opinion about female sexuality,
and to estimate the impacts of religious and cultural factors on women's life
experience and sexual practice in the Tunisian society.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
Our
study is in an inquiry. We targeted 55 men and 55 women agreeing to participate
in the study. They responded to an anonymous self-administered questionnaire
comprising 18 items related to the influence of religion and culture on female
sexuality. Among these items, some were binary responses (yes or no) assessing
knowledge about female sexuality in the Tunisian religious and cultural
context; 8 others explored the opinions of participants about female sexuality.
Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (15th version).
Pearson's chi-square test and Fisher's exact association test were used for
comparative study (P<0.05).
RESULTS:
The rate
of participants who did not manage to reach the threshold of 50% of responses
compliant with religious precepts and morals in the Tunisian context was
48.19%. According to 61.8% of participants, the woman should consider sex as a
religious duty, and according to 79.1%, she always ought to have sex with her
husband even when she did not wish to. This assertion was more frequently
reported by women (P<0.001). Among the participants, 35.5% did not approve
of the idea that women had the right to reach sexual pleasure, like men. Men
recognized this right less often than women did (P<0.001). With reference to
social morals, 43.6% of participants thought that the woman should always remain
passive when having sex. This opinion was more common to women (P<0.001).
There were 71.8% who thought that premature ejaculation was not a limiting
factor for female pleasure. Virginity was considered by 63.6% of respondents as
a feminine virtue to preserve. This response was statistically more frequent
among males (P<0.001). For 55.5%, in addition to sodomy, a man could not
afford all the sexual practices with his wife. This response was significantly
more frequent in males (P<0.001). Regarding the subjective perception of
female sexuality, the percentage of those who thought that women might simulate
orgasm was 70.9%. Women thought more frequently than men that such a behavior
could be justified to avoid hurting the man's pride (P<0.001).
CONCLUSION:
The
experience of sexuality within the Tunisian population is hampered by the
prohibitions related to religion and culture, at least in some of its aspects.
The reasons for that may be the ignorance of religious texts or their
misinterpretation and the biased cultural transmission not followed by
questioning or seeking deeper knowledge. The introduction of sex education in
school programs could play a crucial role in the fight against the obstacles
surrounding sexuality, in order to promote the welfare of woman, and thereby,
that of the couple and the family.
- 1Service de psychiatrie « C », faculté de médecine de Sfax, université de Sfax, CHU Hédi-Chaker, route El Aïn km 1, 3029 Sfax, Tunisie. Electronic address: kamounjihene@yahoo.fr.
- 2Service de psychiatrie « B », faculté de médecine de Sfax, université de Sfax, CHU Hédi-Chaker, Sfax, Tunisie.
- 3Service de psychiatrie « C », faculté de médecine de Sfax, université de Sfax, CHU Hédi-Chaker, route El Aïn km 1, 3029 Sfax, Tunisie.
- Encephale. 2015 Apr;41(2):144-50. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2013.10.006. Epub 2014 Feb 7.
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