# Dumbest reason for lack of nookie I can think of **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001 "2006-01-14T21:56:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/1 "2006-01-14T21:56:50Z")
[Sheer idiocy](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060113/od_afp/iraqelectricitysocialsex_060113150803) Whine, whine, whine :smack: Lack of electricity so they can wash up after sex. So they don’t have sex. How ever did they manage to get laid for 5860 of the past 5930 years [given that the earth was created sometime in 4000BC according to that bishop, and figuring 1930 as a feasable date for electricity to trickle into a major city like Bagdad] without electricity? Did they ever think of heating water on a portable charcoal brazier on a balcony/streetside/patio equivalent/fireplace? Use bottled gas/spirit stoves? Sponge baths _count_ as does going to a public bath, which I am sure there are a few started up again…Heck, I have gone without power here chez Aru and sponge bathed for several days in cold water. Never stopped us from getting laid. Many years of the Pennsic War thousands of us suffered ice cold showers, or bathing in a seriously cold spring fed stream. Never seemed to stop anybody from doing anything. _sob_ such effete youngsters … ---
**Author:** ![TonyF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@TonyF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonyF)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/2 "2006-01-14T22:05:51Z")
> [@](#): > > “…I did not get married just to have conversation,” he said. 😃 My girlfriend would KILL me for saying that. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/3 "2006-01-14T22:15:33Z")
All I gotta say is that if the lack of hot water for a shower is enough to short circuit your reproductive drives then you deserve to be outta the gene pool! Buncha pansies… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/4 "2006-01-14T22:19:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Sponge baths _count_ No they don’t, at least not for what’s being described in the article, which is ghusl, or Islam’s version of the mikvah. The bare minimum required is that every exterior bit of the body be covered with water at least once during the bathing, and the standard version has a prescribed series of washing of various parts of the body. > [@](#): > > Never stopped us from getting laid. > [@](#): > > All I gotta say is that if the lack of hot water for a shower is enough to short circuit your reproductive drives then you deserve to be outta the gene pool! The problem is that prayer, recitation of Qur’an, entering a mosque, and many other things are forbidden when one is in a state of janaba, or the greater ritual impurity. If there is not enough water to perform ghusl, or if there is, but one fears not having enough water later to sustain life (such as when travelling in the desert), tayammum or the dry ablution may be performed, but if one is living in the city with running water, there’s no religiously viable excuse for missing prayer because one didn’t want to perform ghusl with cold water. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/5 "2006-01-14T22:20:48Z")
To be fair, the article implied that it was NECESSARY for them to wash after sex, since they couldn’t attend prayers if they haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/6 "2006-01-14T22:28:51Z")
Oh, come on. You’ve got a religion that places a _huge_ emphasis on the importance of thorough ablutions after sex. Sponge baths _do not_ count, if you’re going to have sex. The Qu’ran specifically requires a total immersion bath after sex. A muslim can make do with a whore-bath and still be in the clear, _unless_ they have sex, in which case that’s not going to cut it. You might think this is extreme, but early Christians had nearly identical rules surrounding pooping. You couldn’t just wash the spot and get on with your day, or God would look askance at you. So unless you’ve got an easy way to heat a tub full of water, sex is not an option for a devout muslim – unless they’re going to just knuckle down and do it in the icy water. (Which I’ll bet some of 'em do.) Just this year I had a hot water tank bust, and tried to have a bath with water heated on the electric stove. Even with four nice convenient elements and a bunch of big pots, it didn’t really work out, and took up about two hours of my day. A charcoal burner or an alcohol stove is not going to do the trick – and I’ll bet there are plenty of the same people laughing up their sleeves would choose to skip sex if it meant getting into a tub of cold water. Haw, haw, haw. “Stoopid religious observances!” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/7 "2006-01-14T22:37:34Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Many years of the Pennsic War thousands of us suffered ice cold showers, or bathing in a seriously cold spring fed stream. Never seemed to stop anybody from doing anything. > > _sob_ such effete youngsters … Hell, if Pennsic is anything like some of the other wars and such, it didn’t stop anybody, but likely encouraged them! 😃 As for the complaint…lack of hot water is a wuss’s excuse. You live in a bloody desert. Solar heat should do just fine. Stick a 5 gallon jug of water in the sun, tear off a piece or three, then bathe. I’m not seeing the problem here. If it was that big a problem, Islam would have died out centuries ago from lack of hot water. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/8 "2006-01-14T22:42:51Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Stick a 5 gallon jug of water in the sun, tear off a piece or three, then bathe. Again, _completely immersing yourself_ in five gallons of water presents some logistical difficulties. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/9 "2006-01-14T22:47:29Z")
Do showers count? If so, see previous comment about “wuss.” If they don’t, then 10 gallons. I’m just not seeing how a population of nomads managed to handle this for the 1000+ years or so before semi-modern plumbing arrived on the scene. Now, people living in Cordoba I could seehaving no problem, but the groups that weren’t in cities? ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/10 "2006-01-14T22:51:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Again, completely immersing yourself in five gallons of water presents some logistical difficulties. Immersion is not required, just washing. It’s acceptable to pour water on onself, and indeed that’s what Muhammad usually did. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/11 "2006-01-15T02:45:57Z")
People do extreme stuff to stay within their comfort zone. This isn’t about Muslims from the past, who probably had a different set of ideas about the world. This is about people in Baghdad today being put in a situation where they are unable to maintain their standards of cleanliness and religious purity. I’ve seen westerners give themselves infections because they refuse to use a squat toilet when travelling in Asia. I’ve seen people freak out abroad when given water to wash with instead of toilet paper. I’ve seen people who can scarely afford it spend fortunes on motel rooms with ensuite bathrooms in areas where that is not customary. I myself have skipped many a bath when only cold water was involved. I’ve seen people refuse to eat perfectly good food because it doesn’t fit their culture’s understanding of “acceptable” food to eat. We banned eating horses here in California- any good reason? No. It just offends our sensibilities. I’ve seen people scream when they find a hair- which represents almost no chance for infection or contamination- in their food. We’ve all got ideas about what is ‘clean’ and ‘unclean.’ Some of us ritualize it more than others. But it takes a hell of a lot to break those feelings, and for some people it may never happen. Some of us would never get used to using a squat toilet and washing with water and feeling “clean.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/12 "2006-01-15T02:54:47Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > Immersion is not required, just washing. It’s acceptable to pour water on onself, and indeed that’s what Muhammad usually did. Oh, scuse! Language difficulty – I read something that translated “ghusl” as “bath.” It’s more like washing “possible” instead of just “up as far as possible” and “down as far as possible,” as the old joke goes? ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/13 "2006-01-15T03:42:04Z")
It’s all a dastardly American plot to prevent them making more little potential Saddams: that’s why it’s taking them so long to restore the electricity. Bwahahahahooha! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/14 "2006-01-15T06:39:37Z")
I dunno, man. I got a real long list of stuff women have told me to avoid givin’ it up! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/15 "2006-01-15T06:52:13Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > Immersion is not required, just washing. It’s acceptable to pour water on onself, and indeed that’s what Muhammad usually did. Simple, you stand in a basin, and use a pitcher to pour water over oneself that has been heated over charcoal/gas/spirit/solar shower bag. Bloody hell, you can _stand_ in the fucking bathtub or shower stall and pour the water over yourself. FWIW, horse is actually pretty tasty, as is dog. Never been given cat to eat, though I will try it if offered. I will fully admit I draw the line at insects, and that is fully cultural conditioning which I admit to. I use regular toilets, toilet and bidet, squat toilet and roadside [with and without screening shrubery. I spent 6 months using a bedpan with assistance, Ill crap anywhere if I need to go. I have sod all false body modesty left :rolleyes:] ---
**Author:** ![grut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b77776/32.png) [@grut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grut)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/16 "2006-01-15T07:36:27Z")
> [@](#): > > I did not get married just to have conversation," he said. Well… at least they’re being honest. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/17 "2006-01-15T07:38:27Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Whine, whine, whine :smack: They have unreliable electrical power, and this is causing certain inconveniences in their lives. Seems like a legitimate complaint to me, something any American can relate to. Why would you call it a “whine”? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/18 "2006-01-15T08:37:13Z")
Having endured periods without running hot water myself, something else occurred to me. Do you suppose that some of the complaints are merely a genteel reversal? (ie; it’s more polite to say that proper washing _after_ sex is the main concern, rather than proper washing _before?_) “Make-do” ablutions, in my experience, never leave you as clean as you’d like to be before you jump between the sheets. You want a hot shower. “Hey, our intimate life is suffering because we’re concerned about prayer requirements” is a heck of a lot easier to say than “Hey, our intimate life is suffering because we’re starting to smell manky over here from a month of whore’s-baths!” ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/19 "2006-01-15T23:16:58Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Having endured periods without running hot water myself, something else occurred to me. > > Do you suppose that some of the complaints are merely a genteel reversal? (ie; it’s more polite to say that proper washing _after_ sex is the main concern, rather than proper washing _before?_) > > “Make-do” ablutions, in my experience, never leave you as clean as you’d like to be before you jump between the sheets. You want a hot shower. > > “Hey, our intimate life is suffering because we’re concerned about prayer requirements” is a heck of a lot easier to say than “Hey, our intimate life is suffering because we’re starting to smell manky over here from a month of whore’s-baths!” Perhaps, but mrAru pointed out that the complaints from the rural folk involve the cost of gas to run generators to pump water from deep wells… So, it seems the rural folk with almost no access to regular electricity on a daily normal [prewar] basis dont seem to have trouble getting laid. Though honestly, being fat and diabetic with kidney trouble, I dont have any problem keeping clean with sponge baths when the power goes out [nor with pouring more or less warmed water into a shower bag, though I would LOVE to have a [zodi shower buddy](http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20075&id=0019846515924a&navCount=1&podId=0019846&parentId=cat20097&navAction=push&catalogCode=IF&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20097&hasJS=true) for when the power dies in the winter … =) ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001/20 "2006-01-16T01:00:59Z")
I get the feeling details are missing from that article. You see, my family lived way the hell out in the desert, with our own well that wouldn’t work when the power went out (which was pretty darned often). We had a good sized water tank that we had set out in the sun. Even in winter the water would be warm by afternoon. The key was to keep it topped off for when the power went out. Why not something similar for these folks? Our neighbors used a couple of big plastic trash cans for their emergency water tanks, which weren’t too expensive. Placed anywhere you’d have the space and some sun, you could get the water where you wanted with some hosing and a good set of lungs by siphoning. Refill when the power is actually working. The cost of a generator to run the wells out in the countryside, isn’t so easily solved. How did they do it before electricity? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-for-lack-of-nookie-i-can-think-of/340001.md?page=2)