Thought this was a pretty cool article and fits under the 'new norm'.
http://www.reuters.com/article/world...rpc=22&sp=true
Quote:
Khatab returned a year ago and the couple has been venturing out to places where they can spend time alone -- in green areas by the Tigris or along the shores of a nearby a lake.
Even there they must fend off or bribe police who hassle them for being too close or for holding hands.
Like other Iraqis, they are caught between a desire for greater freedom and romantic expression, and a conservative Islamic culture brought to the fore in six years of war.
When religious militias and insurgents controlled swathes of Baghdad, men found with women before marriage were whipped, and the woman taken to her parents, Abbas Jawad said.
"My son is spending Valentine's Day with his girlfriend. He's 16. I would never have allowed that before," he said.
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