saudi arabian woman breastfeed
Flickr photo by retlaw snellaI'm just trying to wrap my head around this.

UPDATE -- According to the BBC, the fatwa has been denounced, then retracted. Hopefully, that will be the end of this craziness.

Women already can't make any decisions without a male guardian, and the sexes are banned from mixing with each other, but a new fatwa forces women to breastfeed men they come into contact with on a regular basis so the men will then be considered "relatives."

Listen, I know we have weird laws here. I know it's illegal in Oklahoma to get a fish drunk but this one seems completely aimed at humiliating women. Not to mention unbelievably unrealistic.

Twodaymag at Open Salon does a fantastic job at eviscerating this new law (which also has two high-profile sheiks arguing over whether the man must suckle the breast or the lady can pump into a glass -- no, really) but here are a few of the main things that jump out at me.

  • So you don't want anything sexual going on, and you force a man to put his mouth on a woman's breast? Who didn't get the memo that heterosexual men like boobies?
  • Clearly someone also missed their human bio class and does not understand that women don't lactate their entire lives.
  • If you already force women to ask permission from their husband, father, uncle or even their son before they go to a doctor's appointment or walk outside, why not just force women to breastfeed any man on demand? What's the difference?