Can these people get real?

Today, I carried out my regular routine of getting up in the morning and getting ready for work, followed by checking twitter and the web for the latest news. I came across another article that has proven that things are just becoming a little too ridiculous in the Middle East. Below you will find the link to the article. Have a read before I share my thoughts on this matter.

http://bikyamasr.com/50403/islamic-cleric-bans-women-from-touching-bananas-cucumbers-for-sexual-resemblance/

Finished? Bet you're shocked. Laughing? Appalled? Is it possible to be all three at the same time? That was my immediate reaction! Then, as an impulse decided to circulate the article to my co-workers! Everyone had a good laugh until one of my superiors mentioned that in Iraq they actually banned women buying cucumbers and tomatoes. Wow. I am genuinely disturbed. Why does everything have to have some hidden sexual meaning? How perverse must you be to sit there and actually think to yourself women cannot touch a cucumber because it 'resembles a penis'. Disgusting is what comes to mind. God forbid a woman makes a salad without turning it into something sexual. Now a third party male has to be present and make the salad himself so the woman doesn't get turned on. They've just given a new meaning to salad tossing!

This sheikh who goes unnamed should be ashamed of himself. As a 'man of God' who must spread the good word and actually educate purity he's managed to turn something simplistic into something perverse. Ironically, he lives in Europe. Shouldn't he be educated enough? Why are these sheikhs, clerics, and religious figures coming up with insane new rules? Why must it all be related to sex?  If you haven't read the last post about lifting the driving ban, then you'll understand what I'm talking about. These new allegations that keep springing up are offensive. It seems as though they are trying to oppress women and not expose them to anything the world has to offer so it seems.