Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Souk Make-up

Yes, girlfriend's cute. But isn't all the eye make-up negating the whole entire reason for wearing the veil in the first place?

Pictures like this are circulating through men's mobiles around the kingdom; snapshots taken of random women out shopping in all their ocular glory. This sister is on the mild end of the spectrum.

Many young ladies are spending inordinate amounts of time decorating their eyes with tools of the beauty trade before leaving their houses: mascara, eye-liners, colored contacts are combined with shades and combinations of eye-shadow that could make a peacock jealous. These perfectly painted provocative peepers are poised under painstakingly plucked puny eyebrows which punctuate their preposterousness.

22 comments:

أبو سنان said...

The hijab or even the niqab can make a woman attractive if she tries.

I remember seeing one Khaliji woman here that was wearing a colourful abaya, laods of face make-up, and perfume you could smell from 50 feet away. I thought that if her goal was modesty or not making herself a target for men, she sure missed the mark.

Ali said...

A man like me when see a lady in Souk with will done eyes makeup, it takes my attention immediately and start thinking why she is putting all this makeup. She is not in a wedding party. Ammmmm...She wants to bring men attention, no doubt about it...Men hunting.

s said...

That is nothing compared to what I saw! I think women/girls(some)would try to find *ways* just to *rebel*(I guess that's the closest word). I haven't been to saudia but I can imagine what they would be wearing underneath. Heard in other places, probably in bigger cities, they would wear really skimpy outfits beneath their abbayas. Some of these women are so well done that they look like they just stepped off a magazine or something ;) sf

Susan said...

Well, I suppose the reason that these women wear perfume, do up the eyes, and make themselves attractive is because they want to be attractive. They want to be noticed. I don't really look at the dress in the Gulf and think, "Now there's a modest woman" because I know that most of them don't choose it out of piety. While KSA leaves little choice, other khaleejis tend to wear the abaya because of the need to conform, societal expectations, family expectations...

Saudi Stepford Wife-Daisy said...

أبو سنان -we got those women by the dozens in any mall here now, LOL!

fxplayer- Bingo! And I like the term "men hunting", sums it up perfectly.


sf- this was the only pic I could find that came close. My hubby used to have a different pic on his phone that was passed to him but when I told him I wanted it for my blog today, he said he'd already deleted it. And for the skimpy clothes: one night when out with DD, he was talking on his mobile with a young man in Khobar when the guy got a call on the other line. He flipped back to my husband and exclaimed, "I gotta go! There's some girls in mini-skirts at the Starbuck's on the Corniche...I gotta go see it!". The girls were wearing face-veils and abayas which were blowing open, ever-so-casually to reveal the goodies below.

Cairogal- you summed it up better than I could.

Amy said...

AA -

I clicked on the link under the photograph and there is a poem about modesty and covering... and check out the responses... very few saying "so insightful" and contributed thoughts about the benefits of hijab, the liberation of it, the modesty of it...

all they did (for the most part) was just comment on the 'nice eyes.'

Because yeah, looking at that pic, you don't think oh here's a girl who is liberated, educated, modest, etc. You just think, 'nice eyes.'

Mich said...

The malls of Riyadh are full of women who look like this too. When I first moved here, I found myself staring at them. Some of them are beatiful. Can someone teach me how to do my eyeliner like that?

Susan said...

"Because yeah, looking at that pic, you don't think oh here's a girl who is liberated, educated, modest, etc. You just think, 'nice eyes.'"

Even w/o all the eye makeup, I would never come to the above-mentioned conclusions simply because I don't believe how a woman dresses decides those qualities.

Saudi Stepford Wife-Daisy said...

Amy- That poem made me think several times before choosing it because it is a nice sentiment. But your so right, "nice eyes" and "amazing eyes" are in almost every comment to a photo accompanying a dedication to modesty. Doesn't fit.

Michele- A lot of girls end up looking really harsh like prostitute or drag queen make-up once they take off the veil. But I agree, especially from a distance they can look stunning, like stage make-up.

Cairogal- It is too easy to fake modesty with clothes, your right on that. It has to be part of a package deal.

G said...

I think I'm more bothered with the people taking the pictures and posting them online than by the girls with the heavy eye makeup. Is there no decency anymore?!

Saudi Jawa said...

Ah. Takes me back to the days of cruising around malls in Jeddah :P

Seems the bachelor inside me isn't quite dead yet :D

Saudi Stepford Wife-Daisy said...

ge&b- at least it's still a step more decent than the pornos being passed around on mobiles in schools now. Bluetooth is a Muttawa's nightmare realized!

Saudi Jawa- don't worry my dear, you're transformation into a fully "whipped" married man will happen gradually, over time as your spirit is slowly crushed to death by the tender grasp of love:p

Mona Zenhom said...

Great post, I don't get it either. It's so ironic. I heard that there are salons that do only the eye area make up just for that purpose! Love the P alliteration!

Saudi Stepford Wife-Daisy said...

mona- OMG, I didn't know that. But of course I'm not a salon regular. I'm gonna check on that when I go, hopefully this week cuz my hair's all torn-up looking:P

Anonymous said...

Audu Bil Alalhe minas shaitan ar rajeem

Al_Qur'an (33:33)

""And abide in your houses and do not display yourselves as [was] the display of the former times of ignorance. And establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you with [extensive] purification.""

By the will of Allah may this serve as a reminder for some sisters. May Alalh guide us all.

Molly said...

THANK YOU! I got into a religious war with a sister I am friends with who decided to start wearing niqab but had about 50 sexy-eyed niqab photos on her myspace.
First I pointed out the inconsistency of wearing niqab but trying to look sexy while doing it. And then the preposterousness of having pictures up on myspace.
I also recall when I was with my husband in Cairo and we went to an amusement park that had a lot of khalidji women walking around in niqab but with tons of eye makeup and platform spiked heels that would make an exotic dancer jealous. I mentioned it to him and his response was, "they're khalidji."
Oh, and I eventually won the religious war. Alhumdulillah. And hopefully she receives the full blessing for taking niqab in its proper way. ameen.

Anonymous said...

It's really interesting to see the creative ways of "getting around the rules" that some of these ladies have in the Gulf. UAE, particularly Dubai, seems to have the most of this going on. It's sad when they just throw the shayla over the head with the perfectly coiffed bangs hanging out with the giant flower clip in their hair, making their head look enormous and their face tiny (like an alien..I might add :-P). Also, the girls here in Cairo seem to have removed their hijabs altogether this year, and you gotta love the creative dress over the jeans and the bodysuit underneath, WITH the hijab! I was even a witness to CAPRI pants with the Gladiator-style sandals wrapped up the calves with the bodysuit and hijab! Anyway, don't I look like the most non-American ever with my abaya and hijab and NO makeup or perfume?? Maybe that's why they always assume I'm Arab??? :-)

Riemer Brouwer said...

Interesting article and great picture. Crediting your blog, I've used the picture on my blog, see here.

freedomFORlove said...

I'm upset by the poem.
no one commented on the content of the poem, but they all felt compelled to comment on the photo. This girl just poured out her soul, and everyone confirmed that she is just another face, no matter what she has to say.
also, this girl may live a confined life, and this is her only way to express her own style...If she wants to bring men to her, that is her issue...everyone wants to feel desired.

Men can be stupid said...

Stupid discussion. There's nothing against makeup...since it's "what is apparent" ("cover all the beauty...except what is apparent" REMEMBER? that one quote is the basis for all hijabis...)

Second thing: Maybe she does it for her own joy? Us gals like feeling pretty. It's simple.

I've been to TONS of saudi (all ladies) parties. Guess what. We gals get dressed up to the nines--we do it for OURSELVES.

It's not men hunting. She might be married. She's doing it just like that. You guys are so..ugh... judgemental in a very bad way.....

Men can be stupid said...

P.S. I'm hijabi. I love my religion. I recite the Quran every day (trying to copy Abdul Basit style qirat). I give Zakat. I've done Hajj. I pray salah... AND GUESS WHAT. I wear makeup too.
Does that make me a man hunter, a rebel?

Keep in mind i don't talk to any non-mahrum men, even my boy cousins. Besides saying "salaam" (oooh flirty!!)

I have friends like this too. A couple of them are Saudi, a couple are Pakistani, and one of them is Bangladeshi. I can vouch that they are all good Muslims. i met them at quran school in Jeddah.

I'm telling you all this so you realize that the reality is different from what you believe. These comments are messed up.

Why don't you guys follow the Prophet (SAW)'s words and look to your own faults instead of looking to others?
Muslims should love one another, not judge like sly gossiping housewives.

mira said...

Aw, you're so judgemental. Sounds rather mean, you know?
I find what those men are doing is their business, and even more, what the ladies photographed are. Or would you have just about everyone wear a head abaya, just because you do?
Condescending and mean, you are.