Comments on: Drastic Plastic: emel Focuses on Women and Body Image

By: RCHOUDH

RCHOUDH — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:32:12 +0000

@ Umm Musa
Thank you for those links. I’ll be sure to check them out. I agree that dolls for girls nowadays are highly problematic which is why I have avoided buying any of them all this time.

@ Safiyyah

You’re right I didn’t realize until later that I was only talking about Middle Eastern/South Asian Muslims before. I forgot to mention about Western Muslims and the direct influence they face.

By: ayeshter

ayeshter — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:58:25 +0000

I think, ever since the rise of the internet, the lines between local culture and western influance are bluring very quickly. There is no questen that the modern beauty stadards desenating throght out the world (just look at the rise in eye lid surgeryes and the very White looking Bollywood and Arabic pop stars). But these standards are being re-apporpriated non-western cultures and subject to there values. I think alot of places have placed a primum of female beauty the world over, but now the consept of female beauty is changing. Since the western world is not known for it’s realistic veiws on this matter, I don’t think it’s a change for the better.

Fatema Mernassi called size 6 the Western womens harem. Sadly, our harem is spreading.

By: Safiyyah

Safiyyah — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:17:01 +0000

@RCHOUDH – i agree with you, Western culture has its fare share of influence on the way women think about body image – i just want readers to bear in mind though, that it alone is not the sole reason for these perceptions – and also that there are naturally alot of muslim women who are western – either born and brought up in the west, or reverts – to say they are “influenced by western culture” is like saying “indians are influenced by indian culture” or “iranians by persian culture” – rhetorical.

By: umm musa

umm musa — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:37:28 +0000

I find that these issues are being increasingly picked up my Muslimahs writing in both the media and on blogs. Kareema Hamdan has written a number of articles exploring the consequences of over-sexualisation of the media on children as well as a couple of good critical analyses of feminism.
InshAllah this will cause parents of daughters to think again before just going ahead and buying the next Bratz or barbie doll just because that is what ‘everyone else at school has’.
http://www.ummahpulse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=551:canary-in-the-mineshaft&catid=22:jumahpulses&Itemid=130
http://www.ummahpulse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=545:burqas-babes-balderdash&catid=22:jumahpulses&Itemid=71
http://www.ummahpulse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=504:barbie-girls-and-barmy-muslims&catid=22:jumahpulses&Itemid=71

By: RCHOUDH

RCHOUDH — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:35:39 +0000

I also wanted to mention that I’m ambivalent about Fulla. Like I haven’t gone out and bought my daughter a Fulla doll outright because I don’t want her to become fashion and beauty conscious from such a young age. On the other hand when we’re in the shop and she sees a Fulla coloring book I buy it for her (as well as other accessories sometimes like Fulla school supplies, backpacks, etc). Like I can tolerate her liking Fulla up to a certain extent. It’s nice that instead of the unobtainable blond blue eyed beauty standard espoused by Barbie, she can look at Fulla and find more realistic standards of beauty for herself.

By: RCHOUDH

RCHOUDH — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:25:20 +0000

Thanks for this I’ll be sure to check out those articles! I think both internal societal pressures and Western cultural influence have shaped how modern day Muslim women view their bodies, some more than others. But I think even internal societal pressures have been influenced by the West. Those Lebanese pop stars look and dress alot like Western ones. And Bollywood actresses are increasingly looking more Western than ever before in their looks, dress and behavior. So while it may be true that Muslims don’t always directly idolize Hollywood notions of blond blue-eyed beauty, we can’t say we’re completely free from Western standards of beauty in our own societies.