I was looking at Al Arabiya recently, when I came across an article on child prodigy turned sex-worker, Sufiah Yousof.
Now, I am well aware of the fact that prostitution is frowned upon in all major religions, but the wording of this story, and many of the comments following it, struck me as cheap and exploitative. Let’s weep crocodile tears for Sufiah Yousof while enjoying the furtive thrill of seeing a good girl from a Muslim family go bad! What could possibly be wrong with that?
It’s easy to reduce Ms. Yousof to a two-dimensional caricature, but I suspect that her story is as complicated as any story of lived experience. Of course, a nuanced portrayal most likely means that you do not get to make a buck and/or a self-righteous fuss over the matter at hand.
Allowing people to make choices means that, every once in a while, they will do things that go against one’s ideology, perhaps even against one’s spirit. This is why people everywhere (not just in the Muslim world) are so fond of making examples out of women who stray from the fold. Women have long been regarded as property in many societies, and, in many cases, have been taught to regard themselves, their daughters, and sisters as property as well. And who wants “damaged goods”? Right?
In many ways, Sufiah’s story reminds me of the story of Britney Spears, another “good girl” gone “bad.” I am old enough to remember the days when Britney’s much-publicized virginity was the stuff of hotly-traded soundbytes and teasing magazine spreads. We just love to watch those good girls come tumbling off their public pedestals, do we not? Read More »
August 31, 2005 – 11:38 am
“It’s good to be alive this morning,” my friend Firas wrote on MSN Messenger. It was the morning of July 23, 2005. The world had just woken up to news of the massive bombs in Sharm Al-Sheikh, a car bomb in the heart of the buzzing night life of Beirut, and various stories related to the hunt for the failed bombers in London. A month later, the news of death and destruction continue unabated, with the latest being a series of rocket attacks in Aqaba that killed a young Jordanian soldier, not to mention the sad monotony of the daily reports on the massacres in Iraq. The mad terrorists are on a roll this
summer, and they seem to be chasing every breath of life on planet earth. Read More »
In Amman, I’ve been glued to British satellite television since getting up; walking away briefly to change into actual clothes and to wash my hair. A friend of mine that works in central London was unaccounted for, and has only made contact a couple of minutes ago. I’m angry, upset, disgusted, breathing sighs of relief for my friend, and so on.
But I’m not scared.
Today’s explosions in central London have first and foremost convinced me of the futility of terrorist activities. They may hurt, maim, and kill, but they won’t cow civilized people from around the world into submission. If anything, they are slowly beginning to prove just how useless their violent attacks ultimately are.
Today, I am recalling the attacks on America that occurred on September 11th, 2001. Despite the magnitude of those horrific events, despite the blood and the tears shed, we, for all intents and purposes, carried on (our subsequent actions in Iraq and elsewhere, however, have illustrated political opportunism in all its glory). London will carry on as well. Read More »
