full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Shereen El Feki: A little-told tale of sex and sensuality

Unscramble the Blue Letters


It's a social citadel; it's an impregnable fortress which retsiss any assault, any alternative. And around the fortress is this vast field of taboo against premarital sex, against condoms, against abortion, against homosexuality, you name it.

Faiza was living proof of this. Her virginity statement was not a piece of wishful thinking. Although the major religions of the rgoein extoll premarital chastity, in a piahrtarcy, boys will be boys. Men have sex before mrraiage, and people more or less turn a blind eye.

Not so for women, who are eepcxetd to be virgins on their wedding night — that is, to turn up with your hymen intact. This is not a question of individual cenrocn, this is a matter of fliamy honor, and in particular, men's hnoor.

Open Cloze


It's a social citadel; it's an impregnable fortress which _______ any assault, any alternative. And around the fortress is this vast field of taboo against premarital sex, against condoms, against abortion, against homosexuality, you name it.

Faiza was living proof of this. Her virginity statement was not a piece of wishful thinking. Although the major religions of the ______ extoll premarital chastity, in a __________, boys will be boys. Men have sex before ________, and people more or less turn a blind eye.

Not so for women, who are ________ to be virgins on their wedding night — that is, to turn up with your hymen intact. This is not a question of individual _______, this is a matter of ______ honor, and in particular, men's _____.

Solution


  1. region
  2. marriage
  3. patriarchy
  4. family
  5. expected
  6. honor
  7. concern
  8. resists

Original Text


It's a social citadel; it's an impregnable fortress which resists any assault, any alternative. And around the fortress is this vast field of taboo against premarital sex, against condoms, against abortion, against homosexuality, you name it.

Faiza was living proof of this. Her virginity statement was not a piece of wishful thinking. Although the major religions of the region extoll premarital chastity, in a patriarchy, boys will be boys. Men have sex before marriage, and people more or less turn a blind eye.

Not so for women, who are expected to be virgins on their wedding night — that is, to turn up with your hymen intact. This is not a question of individual concern, this is a matter of family honor, and in particular, men's honor.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
arab region 7
arab world 2
sexuality education 2


Important Words


  1. abortion
  2. alternative
  3. assault
  4. blind
  5. boys
  6. chastity
  7. concern
  8. condoms
  9. expected
  10. extoll
  11. eye
  12. faiza
  13. family
  14. field
  15. fortress
  16. homosexuality
  17. honor
  18. hymen
  19. impregnable
  20. individual
  21. intact
  22. living
  23. major
  24. marriage
  25. matter
  26. men
  27. night
  28. patriarchy
  29. people
  30. piece
  31. premarital
  32. proof
  33. question
  34. region
  35. religions
  36. resists
  37. sex
  38. social
  39. statement
  40. taboo
  41. thinking
  42. turn
  43. vast
  44. virginity
  45. virgins
  46. wedding
  47. wishful
  48. women