“Sex Talk in Arabic,” produced by a group of Arab women in the Middle East and expatriates, has drawn tens of thousands of followers on Instagram and Facebook for its sex ed graphics and videos and L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy. “Our main goal is to break down taboos and break down myths,” says its founder, Fatma Ibrahim, 32.
Physicians like Dr. Sandrine Atallah, a sexologist in Beirut, Lebanon, and Dr. Deemah Salem, an OB-GYN in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, are taking to YouTube and Instagram to debunk myths and stereotypes about sexuality that are common throughout the region, like the belief that using a tampon takes away a woman’s virginity.
“It’s a moment,” said Nancy Ali, a research associate at Sorbonne University in Paris who specializes in the study of gender and memory in the Middle East and North Africa. “Our culture and our language regarding sex is extremely euphemistic, so the idea of discussing sexual body parts in this direct way is new to us, let alone the fact that women are doing it.”
At a time when social media is under fire for spreading misinformation, these initiatives and others like them are using the platform to counter misinformation, exploiting social media’s ability to cut across class and national boundaries to reach Arab women throughout the region and beyond.
Taken together, advocates say, these sites and platforms may be the leading edge of a cultural shift, a kind of an “Our Bodies, Ourselves” revolution for the Arab world, but 50 years later and on your phone.
Arab states lag far behind most of the world in gender equality, including in the realm of reproductive health and sexual education.
About 40 percent of pregnancies in Arab countries are unintended, according to a 2018 study by the Guttmacher Institute. Female genital mutilation is prevalent in several countries. The region’s teenage birthrate is higher than average.
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