The Beauty of Muslim Women, Revealed

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This blog is dedicated to the beauty and intelligence and talent of Jewish girls. But I've always found Middle Eastern women very attractive as well, and this makes sense given that Israel is in the Middle East too, as is Armenia from which emerged a famous clan of beautiful women of whom you may have heard of.  The Israeli-Arab conflict has always bothered me because I see the two sides as sisters who were separated for a long time, and reunited, but are having trouble with each other given the changes to both that took place in the meanwhile.

When Israel was established, the Jewish people brought back many pieces of European culture that were unfamiliar to the Muslim world, but worse yet, these nations from which the Jewish people took those traditions had been oppressing the Muslim world with their Crusades for the Catholic Church and for oil.  Because the Israeli government resembles a Western government, and the Israeli people returned with lighter eyes and skin than they had when they were driven out, it is natural to understand why the Muslim world was hostile.  So it is like a friend who you have not seen in a long time, who returns bearing traits of an enemy.  But yet, I still see great similarity between the two cultures.

For me, and for many Westerners, the most glaring difference may be a big part of the reason for the conflict: the APPEARANCE that the Muslim world treats women in an unacceptable way, contrasted with the APPEARANCE that the Jewish world treats its women in the best way.  And anyone who knows me knows that I will take the side of women in such an alternative.  But I have not traveled to the Muslim world, so all of my information about this is second- or third- or fourth- or tenth-hand.  But what makes most Americans feel this way, more than anything else, is the burqa, along with the now thankfully repealed Saudi ban on female drivers.

I want to talk about the burqa for a moment.  First of all, it is important for Westerners to remember that not all of the Muslim world practices this tradition.  I do not know the exact figures, but anecdotally from memory it seems that countries that require the burqa are in the minority.  But our cultures being different, I don't think Muslims understand how we in the West perceive it when we see crowds of women all dressed in identical black uniforms that completely cover their faces.  The image itself frightens us, and it would if it were Japan, Australia, England, or anywhere. 

America is a very dangerous country in some respects, and a very safe country in others.  You have seen our many public shootings on television, and so as Americans, when we see people whose identity is hidden, we get scared.  In America, people come into stores and homes wearing masks and rob and assault people.  So a concealed identity gives us an instant fear reaction.  Also in America, because abuse of women is so rampant, when we see a society's women hidden, we assume the worst is being done to them behind closed doors.  It is hard for us to accept that they follow this tradition by choice when we cannot see their faces to assess their well-being. 

This is a big part of why so many Westerners--including me if some changes are not made--feel that Islam is a religion that is incompatible with the modern world.  But because our culture is different, we often don't see the purpose or the advantages.

For many reasons, Saudi Arabia, and much of the Muslim world, has massive inequality, as we do here in America.  Like we Americans do with uniforms for children in private schools, the burqa prevents women from asserting higher status over other women through expensive clothes.  It also forces people to interact with one another to know who the other person is.  So it keeps the community closer, even thought the opposite would appear to be true from the outside, because people can't make assumptions based on sight.  It protects women from body-shaming, though it also estranges them from genuine appreciation of their beauty.

And there is one more advantage to the burqa.  It gives Muslim women a much greater level of awareness in moving through the world because they cannot see as clearly.  But I think this is something that translates to women from non-burqa wearing backgrounds as well.  Why do I say this?  There are a great many Muslim women in America.  I have a photographic memory and can easily search for images of things.  I can query my brain just like a computer and get back results.  When I check, I can't find a single image of a Muslim woman bumping into someone or something.  Not one.

So we see only the downsides of the burqa, and don't even consider that it might have some advantages.  This leaves many Muslims feeling like we are at war with them.  But I have recently noticed a promising change.  I was walking on the beach here in San Diego a few days ago, and I saw two Muslim women sitting, wearing burqas.  But instead of being all black, they were made of brightly colored, beautiful fabrics with sequins and colorful patterns.  The burqas were beautiful and the women were beautiful. The face opening was just a little larger, so that I could see enough of their faces to see that they were smiling and happy. 

The other good thing about the burqa is that, like Jewish men who wear the kippah, it declares your faith to the world.  This is good and sometimes bad as well.  Yes, it identifies you for bigots, but it always identifies you for people who may have questions about the faith, or may want to find a mosque to attend.  It is an invitation of sorts by saying, "This is my belief."  But when we see a woman in all Black, we are putoff and feel like she is rejecting our culture.  But if she has on a brightly colored, beautiful burqa, and we can see her face to know if she is in the mood to talk, a connection is made and we can begin to bring our cultures together, without our seeking to dominate you.  This is a middle ground between burqa or no burqa.

I would propose that the Muslim countries that require the burqa consider allowing women to wear whatever color or pattern, and enlarging the face opening slightly so that they can engage with the world.  This will have a great advantage for the Muslim world.  As you know, many American women are slaves to fashion, and a positive interest in the Middle East would be cultivated.  I recently become aware of a Muslim singer who wears such beautiful clothes.  I have noticed that Muslim women have a beautiful sense of style, like the late Benazir Bhutto and Queen Noor who dress so stylishly.  This gave me an idea...

American entertainer Nick Cannon has recently been wearing turbans.  I saw him wearing a knit cap styled like a turban, and I liked it.  I would wear a hat like that on occasion, and I normally do not wear hats.  If the Muslim world allows women to begin wearing burqas in fashionable colors and stylish patterns, American women will certainly notice that.  The Muslim world has a problem with large number of unemployed young men, some of whom (fewer than Americans think) turn to terrorism because of the socioeconomic and political pressures they are facing.  Another thing Americans don't consider when trying to impose Western-style women's rights in the Middle East: in a society that already has so much trouble putting its men to work, what would happen if women entered the workforce?

I propose a new industry for the Muslim world: fashion.  Designing and manufacturing clothes for the West, indeed, the globe, and let your women be walking ad campaigns by allowing them to wear beautiful burqas and then, here in America, sell Western-style fashions but in the same fabrics and colors of the most popular burqas.  The textile industry is perfect for your countries because the climate there favors indoor activities.  It is also good because it will reduce your over-reliance on oil as an industry, and American women will be much more likely to oppose military action in your nations if it will prevent the arrival of their latest fall fashions.  And American men will be much less likely to want military action in your part of the world if there are products being exported that need more than to just be pumped out of the earth.

This will begin to create a bond between your women and ours, between your culture and ours.  I hope that you will consider this my brothers.  I am not a Muslim, but unlike many Americans, I do not hate your faith.  I would like to call myself a friend of Allah, if He would permit me.  I just feel some changes need to be made, as some changes need to be made to the the Jewish faith, as changes need to be made to the Christian faith and the Hindu and the Buddhist, and as changes need to be made by those individuals who practice no faith.  We ALL need to improve, and I think this acknowledgment has too often been absent in our criticisms of your society, a society most of us have never actually visited.

I believe that this idea would help your nations, and build stronger economies, and begin to heal the schism that has developed between the Muslim world and the West.  I hope that you will consider it.

As a final note, I would like to add one more thing.  A change such as this might go a long way to easing some of the tensions that exist in your part of the world.  I know that a great many Americans are hesitant to visit the Muslim world because they are afraid.  This may sound strange to you because you look at our country, and it looks like a nonstop bloodbath.  But understand that the reason we have so much violence in America is that we have so many social factions that hate each other, that we assume we will be hated when we go into the company of people who are different.  This is what we expect from others as Americans because this is the way we are.

So a Muslim world that Americans perceive as safe, welcoming and friendly would bring massive tourist dollars to the Middle East, because our main religious tradition emerged from Abraham just as yours did and Americans are interested in seeing the historical sites.  I would love to tour the Muslim world.  I wanted very much to come stay at the Burj Al-Arab when I saw it awarded as the finest hotel in the world several years ago, but I did not because when I read the travel guides saying that women are required to dress modestly and alcohol cannot be consumed, it didn't sound like enough fun to justify a $10,000 trip.  Frankly, I'd rather go to the South of France.  I have very much wanted to visit Israel, but the conflict surrounding that region, and also my concerns that Israel often did not treat the Palestinians fairly, deterred me from that trip.

So by having such strenuous social restrictions, and so much of a different kind of violence than we have (bombs rarely go off in America), it makes the Muslim world a place Americans don't want to go, and as I'm sure you know, Americans tourists leave a lot of money behind around the globe.  But because so few Americans who are not soldiers have been there, we don't know you.

I have been privileged to meet many people from the Muslim world here in America, and it has been my experience that Muslims are the most gracious and welcoming to strangers, and are superior in this respect, I think to any culture.  I am told that there is a Muslim desert tribe that when seeing someone approach will say, "A stranger! How wonderful!".  In America we say, "A stranger? I'm afraid."  We could learn from you in this regard, as I'm sure there are things that you could learn from us.  And then we can both be improved, and be friends, rather than enemies.  And I believe Allah would be pleased.

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