A bit more about who I am and what I belive

I wish I had more guilt-free spare time to blog and gather info from the world at large. Unfortunately I don't. I've discovered a few blogs created by people who have similar interests as me and have done all the hard work of skimming through tons of articles and forums for me. One of these blogs is Saudi Jeans (check out my favorites in the right column). I've enjoyed reading what he has to offer and admire his boldness (not to mention he's from Al-Hassa).

The other day when on Saudi Jeans blog, I left a comment on "The War of Hearts and Minds" . Seeing as how I have a busy life I wasn't able to go back to the computer for a few days, I was kinda surprised by the war of words found in the comment section. The discussion had gone from commenting about US propaganda in Iraq, to a all out war of words about who hates whom in the world and why.
I commented that if people were to watch Fox News on free view satellite instead of all the video channels which pollute our minds and morals, the US would lose its bid to win our hearts immediately.
Then, someone named Kafir made about my comment:
"If anyone has a question about the motives of Saudi stepford wife, the phrase "music videos designed to pollute our minds and morals" should clear things up. Fox news is also not the Muslim hating organization she paints, either"
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hmmmmmmmmmmm...MY MOTIVES??
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Let me clear some things up for all of you Mes Amis. I'll start with my background:
Grew up in America, American mother, father a political dissident, and I KNOW AMERICA, LUV politics and American media, and I hold a Saudi passport .

Is that it in a nutshell?

Oh yeah... and I'm not some extremist nutjob looking to make jihad all over the world.

Now, when I was growing up in the States (and by the way you'll notice me use that phrase a lot in my blog) I remember religious groups that ran the spectrum. There was one kid in 4th grade whose parents didn't let him stand for the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at the start of the school day because it contained the phrase "One nation under God", which I think isn't said anymore. His parents were atheists. I remember another girl who wasn't allowed to wear pants to school, only skirts and dresses, because her christian group didn't allow it. Another was taken out of school at 15 to be homeschooled because her parents were worried about the negative and immoral influences at school (whoa buddy were they ever right!). There was a group of kids who gathered around the flagpole every morning holding hands for prayer before school. This was in juxtaposition to burnouts across the street getting their last drags off their cigarettes before the bell rang. The first girl to get pregnant at school was 14, she was pregnant the second time and living with her boyfriend when we graduated.
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Where am I leading with this you may be asking? None of these people came from Muslim homes nor were extremists of any kind, but it's different when it comes out of christian mouths. If I were to say to you that I don't allow my children to watch music videos, you may assume it's because I have an extremist husband with a bushy beard standing over me holding a whip telling me not to.
WRONG.
Most of the reasons don't have to do with religion at all, even though I don't listen to music for religious reasons. Here are some of the reasons I don't want my children to watch music videos:

#1 mindless, inane, unproductive use of time and the grey matter that resides between our ears which was graciously bestowed upon us and separates us from the beasts (aka our brains).

#2promotes an unrealistic body/beauty image of women. Wouldn't all of us look great if we had a hairdresser and makeup artist touching us up after every take and if we were only viewed at the best angles through special fuzzy lenses which blurred our cellulite and fine wrinkles? I don't want my daughters to feel less than adequate because they don't look like demi-goddesses nor do I want my boys to grow up thinking this is what a woman should be.

#3 unrealistic view of sexuality- music video vixens pine away, writhe suggestively, wiggle and shake around one man, and are valued for their sex-appeal. They are eye-candy and all barely legal age (these are references to the background dancers in any music video). The female singers are allowed to be older and are usually jaded by a lover or flirting with a potential one. This isn't reality folks. I want my children to learn that they are supposed to be viewed at as sexy by their spouse, who should value them for who they are as a whole person, sexuality included in the complete package.

#4 distorts moral values- the other reasons I mentioned before are enough. Morality, Muslim or just decent family values ( there's not much distinction) is important. Is it enough that we should teach our kids not to steal or to be nice to others. How about, "don't sleep around", or "save yourself for marriage". I don't just mean girls, boys too. There's no double standards in my book. My husband was a Saudi virgin when I married him (and No, he wasn't just bullsh**ing me) and I want my sons to be also. Any gulf Arab man can get laid if he wants, if not by a domestic slut, there are prostitutes in Bahrain or the Emirates. The bottom line is, when deciding what is moral one must ask oneself, "would I want my son/daughter to act like this?" If the answer is no, you know it's probably wrong.

I could go on about this but it's time for me to pray Fajr (pre-dawn prayer for those readers who are not Muslims.) I'll elaborate more about my life through other posts. Next one on Monday God willing.