A blogger in Saudi Arabia tells of a scam that takes us back to the fantasies of men in the Middle Ages — and in their middle ages — when the virginity of their women was one of their prized possessions.
Read Lori’s post in her blog, Sand Gets in My Eyes, where she reports:

According to Peaceful Muslimah, the soaps are indicative of a larger problem in the Middle East (and likely other parts of the world), where a woman’s virginity is her most important asset.” Unfortunately in many Muslim societies, as well as non-Muslim underdeveloped nations, there is an extreme pressure brought to bear on women’s chastity. As I recently discussed here, lack of chastity or even the perception of it can lead to fatal consequences. So is it any wonder that Muslim women are willing to go to extraordinary measures to maintain the appearance of the virginal bride on their honeymoon.”

[snip]
I did some checking, and the soaps are readily available throughout the world, thanks in large part to the internet. The idea is that the soap’s astringents “constrict and tighten” , creating that coveted “look and feel” of virginity.
One manufacturer boasts their product is….”Used and enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of women in the Middle East and Asia, it has brought back youthful passions, rekindled sensual yearnings, and completely intensified sexual experience.”
Ha! What a lot of bunk!

Her entire post includes more links and info. It would be great if others would post about this issue as well.n I have cross-posted it at Blog Sisters.

At various times in my life I have made the statement that I’d like to be either famous or infamous. I didn’t care which. I’ve always known that my cavalier attitude was part of my rebellion against the constant maternal caution not to embarrass her, not to call attention to myself in any negative way.
Of course, there were also times in my life when I’ve stifled myself — you know, the expectations of family, employers. The need to keep being paid a salary is a great motivator to behave.
The great thing about combining retirement and blogging is that I no longer have to worry about keeping a job, and I have a forum wherein I can risk becoming either famous or infamous. (Not that I’m either, or expect to be either. But I’m free to not care — unless I choose to — if someone doesn’t find me acceptable.)
I no longer have to worry about my “permanent record,” unlike the two bloggers who resigned from John Edward’s presidential campaign because of something they posted on their blogs.
Reid Stott over at photodude.com has a realistic post about the situation in which those bloggers found themselves, explaining:

It’s like the phenomenon of someone who was “fired for their blog.” No, they were fired for saying or doing something they shouldn’t have. It just happened to be in their blog. But a blog is not a buffer from the real world. Your words there count just as if you’d said them to someone’s face, with the difference that they are archived for a very very long time

Rafe Colburn, in his post on “your permanent record,” adds another dimension to the issue:

This certainly comes into play when I’m involved with hiring people. I can find out more about anyone from their blog archives than I can by interviewing them. In interviews, people usually tell the interviewer what they think they want to hear. In other contexts, they are usually less circumspect. When I find I may work with someone, I look for blog posts, messages to mailing lists, comments on blogs, Usenet rants from a decade ago, and anything else I can find. There’s more to anyone than their persona on the Internet, but more information is almost always better than less.

All true. All true.
But not for me because I’m retired, and I’m wearing purple.