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Egyptian talk show host under fire for discussing masturbation on
November 2, 2002 8:48am
BC-Egypt-TV Sex Scandal,0619
Egyptian talk show host under fire for discussing masturbation on TV
By SARAH EL DEEB=
Associated Press Writer=
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) _ An Egyptian talk show host who brags she was the first woman to break the taboo of discussing sex on Arab television is under fire for tackling an especially delicate issue, masturbation, on a live satellite broadcast.
Hala Sarhan, vice president and a star of the private channel Dream TV, has been excoriated by Egyptian newspapers, and a government board has scheduled a meeting next week about the station and is expected to warn the broadcaster it could lose its license.
Sarhan says the program _ first aired Oct. 13 and replayed since _ was about divorce among young Egyptians, and the issue of masturbation came up as a cause of sexual problems for couples. The press instantly lit into "The Hala Show" for daring to discuss the issue.
"The lewd program that transformed all of Egypt's girls and boys into addicts of perversion," read a headline in the independent daily Al-Nabaa.
The opposition Al-Ahrar called it "a scandal that distressed peaceful families."
In Egypt, a majority Muslim nation, most of the broadcast media remain under state control and sex is discussed only in the most delicate terms. In Islam, masturbation is considered "haram," or forbidden.
Sarhan told The Associated Press that the attack on her program was "sensationalism."
"I think it is starting to look like McCarthyism," she said. "I reject that there is a scandal."
Her show does not handle sexual subjects in "a cheap way," she said. "We handle it with scientists, doctors and religious people."
A Muslim cleric appeared on the program and discussed ways to "cure" masturbation, and a female activist said women masturbate, just like men. Part of the discussion was about whether masturbation is a disease, a sin or simply human nature.
On Thursday, Mohammed el-Ghamrawi, director of the General Authority for Free Zones and Investment, told Egypt's official news agency that he ordered the program investigated because of the wide debate. The agency said the station would be warned that further programs that ignore Egyptians' sensitivities could cost its license.
Dream TV falls under el-Ghamrawi's authority because the station is located in Media City, a "free zone" where private TV stations were invited to set up with tax breaks.
Sarhan introduced frank discussion of personal problems as host of the Arab world's first American-style talk show 10 years ago.
She and an Egyptian businessman set up Dream TV last year. It has aired several controversial programs, and Sarhan said Egyptian media had used the masturbation issue to try to curb the station's programming.
"They took the word out of context ... to shake the image of the new channel," she said.
Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif, in an interview this week with the daily Al-Wafd, repeated a government pledge not to censor private stations, but added it may be necessary to "correct their path" so they follow society's ethics.
Sarhan said that the government recently presented a media code _ including sections on violence and sexual content _ to the three private Egyptian stations in Media City. She called the rules arbitrary but promised to obey them.
"We will respect their rules," she said. "If they don't want us to discuss that, that is fine. We will never run out of good subjects to discuss. We (the Egyptians) have many problems."
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