The New Faces of islam

When 20-year-old Hind Sahli, a brown-skinned young woman with dark shoulder-length hair, was growing up in Casablanca, she used to watch television shows like America’s Next Top Model and daydream about being on a fashion runway. Sahli was appropriately tall and thin, but in Morocco, the beauty ideal is a voluptuous figure. She was mercilessly teased for her spare frame and would soothe her hurt feelings by sashaying around her living room.

Sahli, who is both Arab and Muslim, was also growing up in a culture where modeling bumps up against significant cultural taboos. As a matter of religion and tradition, female modesty is expected—not the kind of provocative and exhibitionist behavior the mainstream fashion industry rewards.

As Sahli strutted around the room, her mother—a deeply religious homemaker who wears the hijab—was amused by these preoccupations. Sahli’s father, a policeman, was not. Still, neither of them had much to say. It was just make-believe, after all.

About that same time, in the tourist town of Nabeul, Tunisia, a young woman with the gamine features of Audrey Hepburn was having similarly fanciful thoughts. Hanaa Ben Abdesslem had always drawn lingering glances because of her soaring height and impossibly thin frame. The stares made her self-conscious and shy. But when she flipped through fashion magazines, she’d gaze at those “tall, thin, beautiful women, and I thought perhaps someday I could feel at ease.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/09/18/the-new-faces-of-islam.html

I can't abide fashion but this article casts light on some interesting aspects of cultutre and religion.

In Egypt, lots of hotel bars/lounges (the only place to get a drink) kept the Fashion Channel running 24/7. So the patrons could enjoy all those video clips of models wearing two pieces of dental floss.

But during the month of Ramadan, Egyptian cable just blacked out the Fashion Channel completely. Tune in during Ramadan, and you got a blank screen with the message TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE.

The article is right about the preferred physical types, too, AFAIK. One insult for a skinny Egyptian woman is "rusty nail."

I'd guess Mai Hariri is a good example of the physical ideal. She's one of the umpteen Lebanese pop-tarts on the Arab equivalent of MTV. Hariri grew up in a Lebanese Shi'ite family but has been divorced...which must make for some interesting conversation during Ramadan. (During Ramadan, some Muslims get a lot more holier-than-thou than usual. They won't hesitate to criticize perfect strangers in public for "un-Islamic behavior." Like talking to a woman.)

Mai Hariri: