Read Online Jean P Sasson - [Princess 02] by Princess Sultana's Daughters (pdf) - Free Book Online

out the world, they began to kiss.
    Malaak opened her eyes to watch her lover perform his rhythmic movements. Her muscles tensed when she saw that the man Shadi had softened into a woman!
    Life having produced a cynical soul, Malaak adjusted herself to the power at hand, and she became enamored of the loveliness of the woman who shared her bed. Choosing between being feared without love and being loved without fear, Malaak could not sacrifice the love.
    With Machiavellian subtlety, Malaak became what she had to be in the circumstances and atmosphere of her time.
    With a pale, sickly look, Kareem laid the pages of Maha's journal on the doctor's desk. Bewildered, he asked, "What does this mean?" He gestured toward the notepad, his tone accusatory. "You said that Maha was much improved. This writing is nothing more than the ramblings of a lunatic."
    I know not the source of my instinct, but I knew what the doctor was going to say before he said it. I could not breathe, I could not speak, I saw the room through a haze of blue. The doctor's voice came to me as from a distance.
    The doctor was gentle with Kareem. "It's quite simple, really. Your daughter is telling you that she has made the discovery that men are her enemies, and that women are her friends."
    Kareem still did not comprehend what the doctor was saying. He was impatient in his ignorance.
    "Yes? So?" 
    There was nothing else but to speak bluntly. The doctor verbalized what I already knew. "Prince Kareem. Your daughter and her friend Aisha are lovers."
    Kareem was quiet for many minutes. When Kareem regained his senses, he had to be restrained and kept from Maha's side for three days.
    Muslims are taught that love and sex between two of the same is wrong, and the Koran forbids experimenting: "Do not follow what you do not know." In Saudi Arabia, love and sex are considered distasteful, even between those of opposite sexes, and our society pretends that relationships based on sexual love do not exist. In this atmosphere of shame, Saudi citizens respond to social and religious expectations by saying exactly what is expected. What we do is another matter altogether.
    Arabs are by nature sensuous, yet we live in a puritanical society. The topic of sex is of interest to everyone, including our Saudi government, which spends enormous amounts of money employing countless censors. These men sit in government offices, searching out what they deem to be odious references to women and sex in every publication allowed into the kingdom. Rarely does a magazine or newspaper make it past the censors without losing a number of pages, or having sentences or paragraphs blacked out by the censor's ever ready pen.
    This form of extreme censorship against all conventional social behavior affects every aspect of our lives, and the lives of those who compete to claim our business.
    Asad, who is the younger brother of my husband and the husband of my sister Sara, once contracted with a foreign film company to make a simple food commercial for Saudi Arabian television. The manager of that foreign company was forced to adhere to a list of restrictions that would have been amusing had it not been authentic. The list of restrictions read: 
    1. There can be no attractive females in the commercial.
    2. If a female is included, she cannot wear revealing clothing such as short skirts, pants, or swimming suits. No flesh can be exposed other than the face and hands.
    3. No two people can eat from the same dish, or drink from the same cup.
    4. There can be no fast body movement. (It is suggested in the contract that if a female is used, she has to sit or stand without moving at all.)
    5. There can be no winking.
    6. Kissing is taboo.
    7. There can be no burping.
    8. Unless it is absolutely necessary to sell the product (it is suggested) there should be no laughter.
    When the normal is forbidden, people fall into the abnormal. That, I believe, is what happened to my daughter.
    In my country it is