Posted on 10/20/2011 8:11:31 AM PDT by NYer
That's me!
In Dubai last week to open a milkshake franchise, promote her signature fragrance, and pursue other opportunities to expand her business empire, uber-celebrity Kim Kardashian and mother Kris Jenner stopped by the Dubai Mall to shop for the latest Middle Eastern fashions including matching burqas.
That’s me! Kardashian later squealed on Twitter beneath a photo of herself with her famous face completely obscured except for a slit for the eyes (this is actually a niqab, , which covers everything; a burqa is becoming the popular catchall word to describe the covering in general). Considering that Kardashians fame is entirely the result of the relentless marketing of her curvy sexuality, beginning with a sex tape, a burqa the purpose of which is to obliterate female sexuality and to reduce a womans identity to a rumpled, repellent blob is a curious fashion choice.
And a disappointing one. One of the most famous women in the world and a style icon for countless millions of fans, Kim Kardashian may have just given the burqa her considerably influential fashion imprimatur.
Its easy to pick on celebrities like Kardashian. Reveling in the narcissistic bubble of her inexplicable fame, far removed from the harsh realities of countless Muslim women literally enshrouded in this enforced anonymity, she is, in all fairness, no doubt simply ignorant of the cultural ramifications of her flippant shopping selection.
Whats really disturbing here is that the media treated the whole incident so breezily. Kim Kardashian’s latest fashion statement? A burqa! was the typical headline. Kim Kardashian Rocks a Burqa in Dubai, read another. A third: Kim Kardashian can even make a burqa look hot. Ad nauseum.
Not a single news item about this paparazzi moment referenced the impropriety of these two wealthy Western women donning garments that have been designed to enslave women and punish them for the uncontrollable lust they inspire in men by a hint of skin or a glimpse of lips. Every media report I saw opted for innocuous phrasing like describing the burqa as traditional for Muslim women. BET went with the even more blandly neutral regional dress. The UKs DailyMail got slightly more specific by pointing out that it is the conservative dress preferred in the religious country. US Weekly edged slightly closer to the truth by giving the burqa the understated label, often controversial.
None of the mainstream media reports dared to storm the ramparts of multiculturalism or to provoke shrill accusations of the dreaded and mythical Islamophobia by pointing out why its controversial. None of the media outlets broached the ugly subject of the misogyny that underlies this regional dress, much less mentioned that women have been killed for not wearing the traditional garb that Kim Kardashian and her mom had so much fun modeling.
What, apart from oppressed women, underlies the wearing of the burqa? As Nonie Darwish writes in her must-read, Cruel and Usual Punishment,
Right.
Some dimbulb left a perfectly nice spotting scope and rifle out there in the weeds to get rained on ....
Didn’t his parents teach him to take proper care of his toys?
;’]
Or a bunch of Dhim(mi)wits!!!!
A what for who???
Who are the Kardashians? I’ve seen a few of the “Kardashian” women on tv as I channel surf. All I know is that they all look about the same; perfect tan - either sprayed on or natural, perfect makeup foundation and primer, perfect teeth, perfect hairdressers, etc.
I know Bruce Jenner is involved in all this “Kardashian” thing somehow; but I do not know who the Kardashian’s are.
(We live in a remote area, don’t have and can’t get cable tv, don’t get many channels . . so most of the current celebrity culture is lost on us.) Boo Hoo s/
You’re missing nothing. Your assessment of these individuals - emphasis on physical perfection - is a reflection of the shallow culture fed via hours of commercials and shopping networks on cable. Is it any wonder youth are fixated on sparkling white teeth, dieting, body art & jewelry, and fashion. And when the reflection in the mirror does not match the one on tv, they become depressed.
She’s known for her T & A...not her brain.
This idea of physical perfection in this “culture” is such a bondage. About 3% of the population of the world consists of people with bodies naturally shaped like skinny fashion models. They once were thought of as “poor” because they were skinny. The rest of us either make ourselves miserable because we don’t have “perfect” bodies or just accept ourselves and say to heck with it.
It occurred to me recently that the “style” is always whatever the ordinary poor person cannot afford to have or do. Back in the Middle Ages or somewhere thereabouts, regular people couldn’t afford FOOD. So, FAT was, naturally, in fashion. Now, poor people can afford bread, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, pizza, sugar, and stuff like that.
So, rich people now have to spend BILLIONS going to spas and having personal trainers so they don’t, heaven forbid, look OVERWEIGHT, like POOR PEOPLE. When POOR PEOPLE get to looking too good; the style will change so ONLY rich people can be in style.
Bottom line is IF YOU’RE OKAY WITH YOURSELF and reasonably happy, think about it and GET MISERABLE like you ought to be! s/
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