Ground Report

While bleeding on the wedding night is still the proof of the bride’s honor in Egypt and Middle Eastern countries, Radio Netherlands broadcasted an Arabic translation of the Chinese advertisement of the Artificial Virginity Hymen kit. Youm7 newspaper announced that the product will be available on the Egyptian market for LE 83. Gigimo, a Chinese adult toy vendor, sells it for $30. As if Egyptian women were all waiting for the miracle hymen to embark on pre-marital sex, conservative parliament members want the product banned and any exporter exiled or beheaded.

Ana Silent (I am Silent) wrote a post titled

وعشان تكونى عروسة جديدة يا دوب ادفعى 83 جنيه … يا بلاش A Band New Bride for LE 83 … a dime a dozen

The unique selling proposition of the product as advertised in the media:

استعيدى عذريتك فى خمس دقائق.. المنتج التكنولوجى الراقى.. سرك المفزع يختفى للأبد استعيدى عذريتك بخمسة
عشر دولاراً.. بلا جراحة، أو حقن، أو أدوية ولا آثار جانبية بخمسة عشر دولاراً فقط Restore your virginity in five minutes with the new technologically advanced product. Kiss your deep dark secret goodbye for only 15$ … no surgery … no needles … no medication … no side effects … only 15$

Sharm Life wrote:

اهي الصين عملتلكم بكارة .. الصين تعيد للعرب شرف بناتها من جديد Today China manufactured virginity … China restores the virtue of Arab girls طب زعلانين ليه .. دي دولة بتشوف انتم عايزين ايه Ùˆ تصنعوا
Ùˆ اكيد خفافيش الظلام من كبار التجار Ùˆ المستوردين ادوهم الاحساس ان المصريات عايزة كده But why the fuss? This is a country that discovers what you need and manufactures it … I am sure that exporters and distributing tycoons gave them the impression that this is what Egyptian girls need.

Concluding the post with a clear rejection of the product, Sharm Life wrote in defense of Egyptian girls:

بنات المصريين يعلموا الشرف معنى الشرف و مش محتاجين لبكارة مستوردة يا شوية جزم ولاد جزمة
بنات مصر تاج فوق راس كل بنات الارض
بنات مصر اخواتي و اخواتك و بناتي و بناتك
ولا زم ندافع عن سمعتهم اللى عايزين يلوثوها Egyptian girls are the epitome of virtue and they do not need your artificial hymens you scoundrels … Egyptian girls are the most honorable of all … Egyptian girls are my, and your, sisters and daughters … and we owe it to them to defend their reputation against those who want to tarnish it.

How Am I shared a different perspective:

استخدامه خارج القطر العزيز مصر هو للإشباع الجنسي أو للنشوة الجنسية …يعني سواء استخدام في منظومة الجواز او الفرينديز هناك ØŒ فهو استخدام بالنسبة ليهم اخلاقي تماما لانه بيساعدهم للوصول لحالة سعادة ØŒ واللى هيعملوه في وجوده هيعمله في عدم وجوده Abroad, outside Egypt, this product is used between couples – married or not – to enhance sexual pleasure. Thus making its use completely ethical because there are no hidden agendas other than happiness involved.

The blogger asks:

هل غشاء البكارة الصناعي هيعمل هوة أخلاقية ؟؟
اللى عايز اقوله ان الهوة دي أصلا موجودة ودا ما يمنعش انه هيزودها
لكن هو احنا بندور اننا نخلي الحفرة زي ما هي ولا نردمها
كل حملات محاربة غشاء البكارة دا اراها واهية لو فعلا هيتم استيراده
لو الشرطة نفسها منعته هيبقي مرغوب اكتر وهيتفنن الجميع في طرق تهريبه والحصول عليه وتبقي تجاره زي المخدرات كدا وبردو هينتشر
وحتى لو قدرنا نحارب وجوده ، هل هنحارب عمليات الترقيع الموجودة حاليا في شقق تحت بير السلم ؟؟
هل قدرنا اصلا نحاربها وهي اللى موجودة من زمن ليس بالقليل؟؟
ما اعتقدش بل هي بتزيد لأن الطلب عليها بيزيد Will the artificial hymen create a moral abyss?
What I want to say is that the abyss already exists, it might grow deeper, but what do we really want to achieve by burying our heads in the sand?
All the campaigns attacking the product are meaningless; even if the law makers banned the artificial hymen, this will only make it more desirable and people will find ways to smuggle it, sell it, distribute it, and buy it – just like drugs. Even if we ban it, what will we do with the illegal hymen restoration surgeries? Haven’t we been fighting them for quite some time? As long as there is demand there will always be a market.

Nawara Negm thinks the Chinese are brilliant:

بس لما عرفت ان الصين بتصنع غشاء بكارة دماغي اتنقلت، ولاد الجنية، ولاد الجنية، ايه اللي بيعملوه ده؟ قاعدين يشتغلوا بس؟ ما بيعملوش حاجة تانية في حياتهم؟ ما بياكلوش؟ ما بيشربوش؟ ما بيناموش؟ ما بيتفرجوش على التلفزيون؟ ما بيعاكسوش في التليفونات؟ ما بيقعدوش على الشات يقولوا: ممكن نتعرف؟ مافيش حاجة في دماغهم خالص كده غير الشغل؟
طب احنا مش Ø­ ينفع معانا العيشة دي، انا غيرانة I was baffled when I found out that the Chinese manufactured a hymen for sale  … those people … do they just work? Don’t they do anything else in their lives? Don’t they eat? Don’t they drink? Don’t they sleep? Don’t they watch TV? Don’t they waste their time in prank calls? Don’t they chat with strangers online? Don’t they think of anything other than work? Why aren’t we like that? I am so jealous!

In an attempt to educate Egyptian males on how to spot an artificial hymen, Moftah posted pictures of the female genitalia, the different types of hymens, and the difference between an intact hymen and a torn one. Mohaly wondered if raped women deserve a life:

Would you go against your society and family and marry a girl who has been raped? Out of love and respect and trust – not out of pity or a heroic temp feeling? Only at a certain phase you would know this truth about her. Would you believe her word, or she has to provide some proof? Would you be able to completely forget this fact and start a normal life with such a girl, keeping in mind that she is human, or unconscious influence of society would interfere here? … Would you be yourself and really work on making it up to her because she is just the same girl you know well enough to ask her to share your life? or would tradition interfere and you prefer to stay away and enough that you would keep her secret?

Eman Hashim of Muslimah Media Watch quoted Souad Abdel Rasoul from Radio Netherlands saying:

China is a country that has really understood us and revealed our truth, our diseases, and our obsession with image but not content. We are a contradictory nation that suffers from severe schizophrenia.

By selling us prayer beads, Ramadan lanterns, Hajj clothes, veiled Barbie dolls, Islamic swimsuits, and no hymens, China has been caressing the “Islamic” concept inside all of us by providing us with the image of what we want others to see in us, even if it is just a lie

She also quoted Sheikh Saied Askar, a member of the parliamentary bloc of the Muslim Brotherhood and a member of the Committee of Religious Affairs of the People’s Assembly, warning the Egyptian government:

Girls in general are afraid of committing such a sin for the sake of preserving their membranes and the presence of such products will tempt the weak souls to commit it as the availability of an alternative is now everywhere.

Eman Hashim found the Sheikh’s statement offensive:

So any Egyptian girl who doesn’t have premarital sexual relationships does so only for the sake of staying a virgin? So virginity as a virtue and a concept is all about the hymen? I am not defending the product, nor am I defending premarital sex. I am offended by the implication and questioning the value of “virginity”.

Let’s assume for a second that this is the case, that the hymen is everything. So this is how women are supposed to be treated? Like children who are better kept away from danger cause they are incapable neither of protecting themselves, nor telling right from wrong? Notice how Askar refers to women as “girls.”

According to Askar, a woman is a weak creature who is incapable of choosing what to do and what not to do, and is easily tempted to commit “sins” if they became closer and easier to her. No mention is made of how the fake hymen may tempt men to sin—doesn’t a man face the same temptation?

Rather than asking ourselves what made China come up with such an idea or why there’s a very high possibility that the manufacturer of this product might hit his first million from selling it in Egypt, we are “afraid” that it might just make sex easier and in turn, more common.

In a community that worships appearances and gives minimal—if any—attention to the reality of things, it’s no wonder that news of a product like this can spread quickly.