The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Whatever You Do, Don’t Tell Canada: Muslim Women Have Boobies!

Posted on | April 14, 2012 | 23 Comments

Before blogging about this, I first checked Five Feet of Fury to see if the One Good Canadian, Kathy Shaidle, had weighed in. Because she obviously should, and if she had, I would have been obliged to link and quote her. How she could have missed this one, I don’t know.

Canadians are in an uproar — one might even say they’ve gotten their panties in a wad — because of the photo above, taken by a 24-year-old university student in British Columbia:

Sooraya Graham produced the image and presented it earlier this year for a class assignment as part of her fine arts degree at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. . . .

Some politically correct student busybodies were offended by the photo and removed it from display without securing anyone’s permission.

“I have a lot to express,” Graham said in an interview Thursday, explaining she wanted to remind people that Muslim women wear undergarments too.
“Even though some people want to silence those thoughts or make them go away, we live in Canada where as long as we’re not hurting another individual we have that right to express ourselves.”

Ah, but some Canadians are more equal than others, Sooraya, and one must always keep in mind the tender sensitivities of the easily offended bien-pensants. OK, now readers should brace themselves for the classic Paul Harvey now-you-know-the-rest-of-the-story plot twist:

Graham said her intention had been to “humanize” women who wear the niqab, which covers a woman’s entire head except for her eyes, by showing one doing a simple act that many women can relate to. . . .
Graham said her own decision to wear Islamic dress is aimed at being modest and garnering respect for her voice over her looks. Her friend, who is pictured in the photo, wears different variations to reflect her own feelings.

Whoa! The photographer is herself a Muslim who wears traditional garb and the woman pictured in the photo is her friend!

Canadians need a Jeff Goldstein discourse on “intentionalism.” But the story would not be complete without this hint of “creeping sharia”:

Since the incident was made public, an education centre in Kamloops funded by the Saudi Arabian Embassy has gone public with its opposition as well, Graham said.

Thus we have Saudi-funded organizations attempting to regulate the portrayal of Islamic culture in Canadian society: Perfect.

(Hat-tip: The Daily Beast.)

UPDATE: Because I’m an information omnivore, I sometimes forget where I get stuff. Checking my e-mail just now, I realized the Daily Beast item was sent to me — with the note, “How’d you miss this one?” — by a contributor to National Review, who shall remain anonymous, lest he get the Derbyshire treatment merely for being my acquaintance, much less for taking notice of this exemplary failure of multiculturalism.

By the way, in case you missed it: National Review “Derbed” another contributor, University of Illinois professor emeritus Robert Weissberg, for his unauthorized association with Thought Criminals.

The floggings will increase until morale improves!

UPDATE II: CBC has more on the Saudi angle:

But the Saudi Education Centre in Kamloops, which is funded by the Saudi Arabian government and provides support to Saudi students and their families, is taking issue with the photo.
“The artist didn’t approach the artwork let’s say in a very professional way that can state and can clarify the information and clarify the idea behind the picture,” said centre president Trad Bahabri.
Bahabri said he thinks text explaining the photo’s meaning is needed.
“I’m pretty sure many people misinterpret and many people misunderstand it. I can guarantee that,” he said.

Here’s Ezra Levant’s video commentary:

(Hat-tip: Lloyd S. on Twitter.)

Category: Canada, Feminism, Islam, Saudi Arabia, Sex

Comments

23 Responses to “Whatever You Do, Don’t Tell Canada: Muslim Women Have Boobies!”

  1. ThomasD
    April 14th, 2012 @ 12:54 pm

    Dying to hear from the PC busybodies directly…  Maybe someone can ask them how it feels to find their actions so in line with the sensibilities of the Saudi embassy?

  2. Adobe_Walls
    April 14th, 2012 @ 1:05 pm

    Wow muslim women wear undergarments other than chastity belts.

  3. dwduck
    April 14th, 2012 @ 1:33 pm

    Do you think it comes in camel hair?

  4. dwduck
    April 14th, 2012 @ 1:34 pm

    Well, they’re already in sync on ethical oil, Keystone XL, etc., so I doubt they’d be surprised. Whether they’d admit it is an entirely different kettle of fish.

  5. robertstacymccain
    April 14th, 2012 @ 1:57 pm

    Oh, must you go there?

  6. Pathfinder's wife
    April 14th, 2012 @ 2:02 pm

    Guess Nesbitt finally managed to get Weissburg…they’ve been throwing charges of “self-hating Jew”, closet white supremacist, and racist at him for a while now (which is rather ironic when you consider his family’s history).

  7. Adobe_Walls
    April 14th, 2012 @ 2:12 pm

    Had to be done.

  8. ThomasD
    April 14th, 2012 @ 2:46 pm

    I wonder if the censors were put off by the femininity of the pictured garment?  Perhaps they were confused by the apparent discord between the bra and the uber chaste exterior garment.

    Are they so shallow minded and unnuanced as to be unable to distinguish beauty from sexuality?

    Would they have responded  differently if the woman had been holding something slightly more dour and unappealing?  

  9. The Witch Burnings Continue | Daily Pundit
    April 14th, 2012 @ 3:05 pm

    […] (Hat tip: Stacy McCain). […]

  10. The Other McCain has your headline of the day: Whatever You Do, Don’t Tell Canada: Muslim Women Have Boobies! « The Daley Gator
    April 14th, 2012 @ 3:25 pm

    […] Leave it to Stacy McCain to, ah, BUST the BIG stories, MILK them, and keep us all ABREAST of the key issues facing us […]

  11. TR
    April 14th, 2012 @ 3:46 pm

    Glad to hear of the five-foot-of-fury check-in!
    As suggested, you two should most certainly collaborate on the upcoming or downgoing(?) offend a feminst week.

    Make it an international affair as I’m sure Aussies have had their fill of the Red-Headed PM. 

    More serious issues (SION <= SIOA and SIOE) have already gone international.  Its the globalization, (stupid)!

  12. Anamika
    April 14th, 2012 @ 4:31 pm

    There is a supposedly true story of a European man offering the gift of a dress to an African king’s daughter. The king refused to allow it. Wisely, he told the other man that if his daughter wore a dress that covered her breast, then all the women would want dresses like that. If the other women all wore dresses covering their breast, then the breast would become strange to men and always after that, women would be ashamed to show their breasts in public because men would stare.

    I would suppose than enlightenment or spiritual awakening might include seeing clearly. Seeing clearly, I would suppose, would include seeing what harm the imagination of mankind has done to his ability to live freely, without imagination induced shames, hatreds, prejudices.

    Not directing this to you in particular, but there has been a lot of talk here by people who seem to think they know themselves pretty well. I like the subject of breasts for this reason. Most of the men (who think they know themselves pretty well) can’t even bring themselves to use the word “breast”. They prefer the sexual conditioned words they’re more familiar with… mostly derogatory to women’s anatomy. And here we have an indication…really more than that because any educated child can tell you that possibly the bulk of the world’s human population do not automatically get turned on or fixated at the sight of a bare breast, even a big young one…that they might be so deluded that they may as well want to masturbate to a photo of faceless lips.

    This reminded me about how sexuality is so often societal. Did you know that when Islamic men make a betrothal (and I am speaking of today… not an ancient custom) they are allowed, with the female members of the betrothed families present to have a bit of the burka removed and see a section of their betrothed’s body. In this way, by seeing a bit of the body of their intended, a pact is made that cannot be broken.

    If you had to guess what they wanted to see… I bet you would be wrong! They could ask to view a breast, the vagina, a carefully turned ankle… but the most requested body part Muslim men want to view is (feels like there should be a drum roll….) the upper arm!

    They judge a great deal about the quality of a woman by her upper arm, the delineation of muscles, the blue traces of veins, the skin texture tone and color. They are arm men!

    And just in passing, I wanted to add, Muslim women always use this arm thing to their advantage. Notice in pictures that however thoroughly they are covered, the sleeves of the burkas Muslim women are wearing are nearly always tight. While entirely covered up, they still manage to be a bit alluring.

    **happy to be female** ~~ Anamika

  13. Anamika
    April 14th, 2012 @ 4:39 pm

     For orthodox Muslims, women are more attractive when dressed in a burka and just a little toe occasionally shows. 😀

  14. Abc
    April 14th, 2012 @ 4:43 pm

    First of all, this is Canada, not Saudi Arabia. They don’t have authority here, and they won’t. They won’t cancel our freedom of expression in order to favor their values, which don’t support freedom of expression to the favor of their religious vision. Secondly, no face veil in Islam or any other religion. Face veil is a lie.

  15. Anamika
    April 14th, 2012 @ 5:05 pm

     I enjoy being a woman very, very much, and have never felt limited because of my sex. Although it is kind of a drag in India from time to time. Sometimes I envied women wearing, burkas (the dress that covers you up completely.) What freedom, I would think. (Sad comment on that culture.)

    Once, I was walking somewhere on a path by myself when I saw that woman. She was a Muslim; only Muslim women wore that dress. It covered you from the top of your head to your toes, with a little grate to look out of. She was herding goats. For a moment, I really did envy her her anonymity.

    I thought about wearing a burka, but I realized that it probably wasn’t a good idea culturally.

  16. dwduck
    April 14th, 2012 @ 7:20 pm

    tl;dc (s/didn’t read/don’t care/)

  17. ThePaganTemple
    April 14th, 2012 @ 8:22 pm

     Just like the acid some Muslims throw in women’s faces if they show too much face isn’t really acid, that’s fake acid, and the scars from it are make believe scars.

  18. ThePaganTemple
    April 14th, 2012 @ 8:23 pm

    Muslim men must not be turned on by female breasts, you seldom hear of them cutting them off.

  19. dwduck
    April 14th, 2012 @ 10:47 pm

    Your freedom of expression doesn’t need to be “canceled” — you guys freely hand it over at the first sign of Muslim disquiet. Now, if these were Catholics complaining, one of your human rights commissions would be rounding up bishops as we speak.

    Incentives work, even perverse ones.

  20. andycanuck
    April 14th, 2012 @ 11:45 pm

    The Saudis are also funding anti-Alberta-oil-sands environmental groups here too. You can probably find alot more about that at Ezra Levant’s blog or SUN-TV archives.

  21. Ncain
    April 15th, 2012 @ 12:52 am

    So a woman who voluntarily wears a burkha and makes a cogent and intelligent photo expressing her feminity(in an Islamic conservative) manner is preyed upon. Form your own conclusions.

  22. SDN
    April 15th, 2012 @ 8:52 am

     Which is why there are so many Muslim poets who compose love poems to pre-pubescent boys since women aren’t suitable for pleasure…

  23. Kyle Kiernan
    April 15th, 2012 @ 10:07 am

    Odd to see the Saudi’s getting hinky about women’s underwear.  There are plenty of lingerie shops in kingdom, quite racy ones too.  There was one named “Ooh-La-La” just off the main highway service road which I tried to find a picture of from Google Earth but they don’t have street view for Riyadh.  It was always a hoot watching the customs guys on the Saudi-Bahrain causeway find a bra in the luggage when we would come back across from a weekend’s partying.  Looked like they’d never seen one and might never and might as well get a good feel of one while they had the chance.  Mind you the bra was the red herring to keep them away from the smuggled booze hidden in the dirty laundry bags.