gypsy8522

Janaki,

Thank you for your support. I do think my personality on the forum has remained constant as the topics vary. I find it interesting how SOME people get so upset and flame others after they get called out for their ignorant and insulting views.

Amber,

Thanks for the reputation.

And for that one person who reported me, chose me amongst all others for supposedly "cursing" and also sent me a note saying "your language is inappropriate" AND a negative rep.... thank you! I feel flattered that people are showing interest in my posts, be it -ve or +ve.

Chani,

A friend of mine got arrested once in Saudi Arabia because he was seen playing basketball in shorts, even though he was playing in a closed compound with his foreign friends, he was the only one arrested for 'acts of indecency' because he was Arab. The Saudi men don't have much choice either but to wear those white dashdasha/kandora/galabeya/dressses. It is not really acceptable in their culture for people to walk around showing skin, whether it is men or women..... especially showing Legs, it's a big No.


Moon,

Your question is spot on! I wish the media would focus more on these poor Saudi's who cannot afford the luxuries seen in this video and elsewhere. There is already this stereotype that exists, and that is Saudi Arabia is all about oil, cars and expensive houses, when reality is there are many people living in poverty. This is partly due to the great amount of injustices that are happening in that country and the unfair division of wealth among its citizens. Of course when I say 'injustice' I am not speaking about the veils and driving cars or any of the minor things that people like to focus on, as if fixing these issues would solve the problem of a nation!

The Saudi royal family depends on the United States to keep itself in power. I won't even call it a government since they don't have a constitution and the Saudi people have no say to who should rule them or any of these laws that are taking place. The fact is the United States government has been stealing the Saudi people's resources by purchasing "cheap oil" while the revenues are going mostly to the Saudi royal familly and the elite few. Meanwhile, the rest of the people are left hungry. The opression of women is only a part of the opression inherent in this society. It helps maintain a system where benefiting foreign interests and a small minority take control of the great majority, men and women alike.



I think Jane was refering to this incident: SUV: We do not support terrorism : Indybay

According to what is written, it doesn't look like these women were beheaded in a public square.


It was not until the 1990-91 Gulf crisis that sustained public political opposition burst onto the scene..........................That same month, a small group of mostly Western-educated Saudi women drove their own cars, with supporters as passengers, in a convoy in Riyadh to protest the ban on women driving vehicles. They were promptly stopped by police, taken into custody, and interrogated. The women were dismissed or suspended from their jobs, and not permitted to travel abroad until their passports were returned in October 1991.Male relatives were also summoned and questioned, and forced to sign pledges that the women would not drive again under penalty of imprisonment.


And speaking of foreign service women, does anyone here still remember what happened at the Abu Ghuraib? There's also the story about the 14 year old girl who got gang raped by American soldiers, after that her body was lit on fire to cover up the crime and her entire family shot to death. Of course this was not the first girl to be raped by American troops, not will she be the last. I find it really sad how the media has tried to conceal this truth, while people continue with their lives as though it never happened. I also know that many soldiers were not able to speak up against the abuse and atrocities commited by their fellow troops or their government because they fear punishment as well. Jane, I also object to the bad and immoral decisions people in power make!


A'isha,

About poor workers getting a death punishment while the rich ones get away with it, it only shows the idea of equal justice is a joke there. Did you hear about the Saudi girl in Cairo who killed a couple of students and a taxi driver with her hummer? It happened recently and somehow she was able to escape the country without trial with the help of the Saudi embassy. Not only did she kill these people and ruin the lives of their families, but she also had the nerve to go on TV and say she didn't do anything wrong! It turned out that she was drunk when she commited the crime. Unfortunately, there are many cases like this of foreigners, Americans and Europeans who drive under the influence of alcohol and they manage to escape with the help of their embassies. I have a personal experience with this, when I was around 7 or 8, I was in a car with my mom, sister, my aunt and my mom's cousin on our way home from a family wedding when a drunk British man hit us with his car. My aunt who was sitting in the back left seat got severely injured. It later turned out this person worked for the united nations! These are the people who should be protecting human rights? I can't remember if he even got arrested.



Mosaic,

In an ideal world you would see opressed people everywhere given the right to speak up without facing punishment, but unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world.


"Just curious. Also, the shopping excursion was interesting, trendy clothes, shoes but where would they purchase their abayas?"

Yasmine,

That is a good question. I was going to reply but in order to provide a better example, instead I decided to post pictures. I was able to find these on an arabic forum....

gypsy8522

By the way, Yasmine, Gulf women purchase their Abayas from the same stores they get their trendy outfits. Many stores specialize in abayas only, this is now a growing business in the Middle East. Some international designers like Elie Saab and Valentino have their special edition line of abayas. It is the latest trend amongst younger girls, too. The cost range is anywhere between 50 and 5,000 US dollars, It all depends on the amount of hand work, beading, and stones sewn onto the abaya. The fancier abayas are worn to weddings and special occasions (on top of the trendy clothes), plain ones are worn to more casual outings and at work.

gypsy8522

Aisha Azar

Dear Gypsy,
Wow!!! Some of those abayas are beyond beautiful!!! Mine are rather plain by comparison, though still quite pretty.

BTW, we had a member of the Al Jazeeri family kill a 15 year old girl in a car accident here in Spokane. He was SUCH a huge jerk. He ended up going to prison for a short while and his family just bought everything he wanted and sent it to him, or in the case of drugs, cigarettes and booze, his friends got $$ from his family and paid guards to smuggle stuff into him. he had a great time in prison here in the States; no work, square meals, drugs, booze, etc. I ended up sort of baby sitting his parents to some degree, when they came to visit him., I even went to to the airport with them here in Spokane when one of the Al-Sudiari from the embassy in Texas came up here to hold their wealthy little hands. It was pretty sickening, but I felt so sorry for his mother, who did not seem to realize what a monster her son was. He did not care AT ALL that he had killed an innocent child. I can sympathize with your feelings completely!!
Regards,
A'isha

Mosaic

My goodness Gypsy, those Abayas are so beautiful, I would happily wear those Some look to be quite fine fabric, not terribly opaque at all. I suppose the wealthy would step from home into air conditioned cars then out of the car into some aircon'ed building so their gorgeous abayas wouldn't get dirty, or be seen to be too revealing. Somehow I don't see that many women would actually walk the streets in many of those pictured, or would they?

Ranya

Beautiful abayas, but just a remark/or question maybe/ without any judging or such - on most of these pics, the hair is clearly visible.

maariku

Ooh, the abayas are gorgeous. I think these garments teach us all how important and influential accessorizing is - basically it is the same black dress, but oh how many variations with a bit (or lot ) of glitter, applications etc.

__________________
"[A good bellydancer] must express life, death, happiness, sorrow, love and anger, but above all she must have dignity." -Tahia Carioca,

janaki

They are gorgeous Gypsy. I love them all. I bought an abaya from an Indonesian shop last month. It has red embroidery. But these are too beautiful to compare with mine.

da Sage

Maybe it is like European fashion shows, where the models wear no bras, and aren't too particular about covering their breasts? High fashion is a little more risque than streetwear.

Ranya

Oh yeah I too spotted the missing-bra thing. But than, they usually do not need it, not like some of us (hmmmm, did I say my name?)
lol