She's Upright: Sexuality and Obscenity in Islam

Abstract

This paper explores the concepts of sexuality and obscenity in Islamic traditions and the way cultures and society shape the value systems that judge beauty, propriety, and legality. I conclude that societal values are preserved in emerging religious teachings — by way of expanding categories for acts, rules, and values and by relying on practice-based consensus; not on negotiated consensus. As such, in Islam, obscenity and profanity become nuisances that disturb individuals’ spiritual balance and unwanted variables that destabilize social equilibrium.

Keywords: Sexuality in Law and Culture, Sexuality in Islam, Obscenity in Islam, Women in Islam, Propriety in Islam, Gender and Sexuality

JEL Classification: Z00