BANGKOK, Thailand -- Turkey's first sex shop for devout Muslims has
opened for business online, prompting a debate among Turks, Islamists
and local media about the role their religion should play in the sale
of such items.
The website
Bayan describes its
aphrodisiacs, creams, condoms, alcohol-free lubricants and other
intimate products as safe and "halal" -- which it spells "helal" --
meaning they conform to Islamic traditions.
"Scream Orgasm Cream" sells for 74 Turkish lire (about US $38.00).
"Bella Donna Spanish Fly" is available for 34 lire ($18.00).
"We don't sell vibrators for example, because they are not approved by
Islam," said the website's owner, entrepreneur Haluk Murat Demirel,
38, according to Reuters.
"There are also other sections on the website that discuss sexual
intercourse in terms of Islam," Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Turkey's Muslim majority are Sunni and the government is
constitutionally secular.
"There are relatively few sex shops, even in major cities, although in
parts of Istanbul those that do exist advertise themselves with neon
signs," Reuters reported.
Products for females accounted for 45 percent of the website's sales
after it went online on Oct. 21, Demirel told Turkey's BirGun news.
Demirel said he would not open a shop in the street because customers
are usually too nervous or self-conscious to enter.
He said most of the negative reaction to his website came from
Turkey's leftist and non-religious groups, while Islamists and other
Muslims offered support, BirGun reported.
Tayfun Atay, a columnist for Turkey's liberal Radikal newspaper,
"reminded his readers about the importance of sexual fulfillment in
Islam but then joked about why some of the products did not have more
religious-sounding names," according to Barin Kayaoglu who analyzes
the media for Al-Monitor Turkey.
Radikal's columnist "pointed out how the 'halal' sex shop is a
continuation of a long procession of 'Islamized' pop culture items,"
said Kayaoglu, who is a University of Virginia doctorate student and
recent Smith Richardson Foundation fellow in International Security
Studies at Yale University.
"If we get an 'Islamic reality show,'" wrote Atay, "it’s normal to
have a 'halal' sex shop."
Others agreed that Turkey's Muslims were responding to the modern world.
"They made up something called Islamic fashion, then an Islamic
fashion show, then an Islamic hotel, then an Islamic holiday, and
finally Islamic literature," said Hurriyet newspaper columnist and CNN
Turk commentator Ahmet Hakan.
Turkey's pro-democracy Aydinlik newspaper joked how "the toys" are
probably "blessed with prayers."
"Despite Turkish society’s conservatism on matters of sex, sexuality,
the female body and religion, that no one has threatened the owners of
the 'halal' sex store with a lawsuit -- or worse -- is good news,"
Kayaoglu said.
"Turkey seems to be developing a more tolerant streak toward that
which is different."
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Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco,
California, reporting news from Asia since 1978, and recipient of
Columbia University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He is a co-author
of three non-fiction books about Thailand, including "Hello My Big Big
Honey!" Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing
Interviews; 60 Stories of Royal Lineage; and Chronicle of Thailand:
Headline News Since 1946. Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the final
chapter, Ceremonies and Regalia, in a new book titled King Bhumibol
Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in Perspective.
His websites are:
Asia Correspondent
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(Copyright 2013 Richard S Ehrlich)
