The AP reports on a disturbing controversy brewing in Egypt.
Conservative Egyptian lawmakers have called for a ban on imports of a Chinese-made kit meant to help women fake their virginity and one scholar has even called for the “exile” of anyone who imports or uses it. The Artificial Virginity Hymen kit, distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo, costs about $30. It is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands into believing they are virgins – culturally important in a conservative Middle East where sex before marriage is considered by many to be illicit. The product leaks a blood-like substance when inserted and broken.
The story quotes one feminist blogger who manages to put a positive spin on the story by viewing the product as a tool of empowerment for women in a macho Arab culture that restricts women’s sexual urges but turns a blind eye to men gallivanting. She says “It sticks it in the face of every male hypocrite.”
Well…I hardly view this as a tool of “empowerment” for women, but I’m not surprised by that predictable feminist spin. Frankly, the fact that there’s a market for this type of product at all seems to me to be the greater tragedy.