Attitudes to sexuality reflect the state of a society and sexuality in the Arab world is often viewed as a taboo, rarely spoken of in public. In the academic sense this vital area is rather understudied but here are some of the more authorative works on the subject.

 

 

	Sexuality In The Arab World by Samir Khalaf and John Gagnon This book is a collection of papers which were presented at a three-day conference on Middle Eastern sexuality held in Beirut in December 2003. In a world where cultural discourse tends to ignore sexual behaviour in the Arab world, this book fills the gap exploring varied topics: Is Damascus the "chastity capital" of the Middle East? How do gay men cruise in Beirut? Are young women in Tunis pressured both to lose and gain weight? 'Sexuality remains a mystified, taboo and unexplored dimension of Arab culture,' Khalaf writes. Not anymore.
	Desiring Arabs by Joseph A. Massad This book by Joseph Massaad, Associate Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University and disciple of the late Edward Said, deals with the representations of sexual desire in the Arab world. It won Columbia University's 2008 Lionel Trilling Book Award and is a cultural and intellectual history of the Arab world and its equivalent western representations. Desiring Arabs has received critical praise from academics for its contributions both to the analysis of Arab culture and to the theory of sexuality.
	The Body in Twilight: Representation of the Human Body, Sexuality and Struggle in Contemporary Arab Art by Fassih Keiso Fassih Keiso is an artist and scholar who is Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Arts at the University of Kalamoon, Syria. This book is the dissertation which earned him his PhD. It analyses the work of six expat Arab artists whose main theme is the representation of the human body through various media while concentrating on the influence of classical erotic literature on Arab art.
	The Body In Islamic Culture by Fuad Khuri Islamic fundamentalism in recent years has distorted the industrialized West’s view of Islam. Many Stereotypes depict Islamic societies as patriarchal, fanatic and backward. Fuad Khuri’s book explores the meanings and images of the human body in environments that are strictly “male” or “female”, “pure” or “polluted”.
	Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature by J. W. Wright Little is known about same–sex sexual behaviours in the Middle East. Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature  breaks new ground by addressing the issue of the representation not only of eroticism but specifically of Homoeroticism in Arabic literature. It is an important study in gender role and provides a wealth of information that goes well beyond anything that has been published on the issue.
	Sexuality In Islam Abdelwahab Bouhdiba This book offers an interesting attempt at reconciling faith and sexuality in the Muslim religion. Abdelwahab Bouhdiba is Professor of Islamic Sociology at the University of Tunis. Basing his study on the Qur’an he discusses the gender roles in Muslim society, giving accounts of purification practices, and sexual taboos as se down by the Book itself.