Barack and Michelle Obama are all the rage these days. What with their recent trip to India that sure had some noteworthy bits and the apparent ‘friendship’ fast brewing between the US President and our own Prime Minister, things sure are okey dokey between India and the West. However, the President and First Lady’s subsequent trip to Riyadh seems to be in focus for all the wrong reasons.
Barack and Michelle Obama were in Riyadh on Tuesday for the funeral of King Abdullah. A quick unplanned trip that probably had more political agenda than we can imagine did not lead to the all izz well scenario that the Obamas envisioned. The focus seems to have shifted from the funeral to fashion, all in a matter of hours.
Michelle Obama opted to wear loose black pants, a loose, high-cut blue shirt and a loose manteau. Her hands were the only ‘uncovered’ bit and she respected the reception she got with the Saudi men ignoring her or giving her a quick nod (as seen in pictures) while going ahead and hugging her husband, who was clad in a suit.
It all looked okay to us until the Saudi men noticed that the First Lady came sans a headscarf. Not donning one in Saudi Arabia seemed a bit odd but then it wasn’t all that unusual. If you look at the archives of foreign visitors in Saudi Arabia, you’ll find many of them without one. In fact, while Saudi law makes it compulsory for women to cover their heads, and often their faces too when they step out, foreign visitors don’t have to follow the same rules.
Most people though (and you always have these people around) chose to ignore this little piece of logic and within hours managed to send out over 1500 tweets with the hashtag #Michelle_Obama_unveiled (roughly translated) criticising the First Lady. Of course the widely shared picture of Michelle Obama in a headscarf on an Indonesian visit in 2010 added fuel to the fire. Why then and not now many asked?
The fact that that particular picture was clicked during her visit to the mosque and she didn’t don a headscarf for any other occasion during the visit was quickly swept under the male-dominated carpet of Saudi Arabia.
Because at the end of the day, Saudi men didn’t really care all that much about Michelle Obama or her uncovered head. The hidden agenda was probably to remind Saudi women (especially the few who have started protesting against these regressive rules) that they were still the Kings.
For a system that doesn’t give a woman the right to decide if she wants to drive or not, nothing could boost the Saudi male ego more than sort of forcing the wife of who you can easily call one of the most powerful men in the world to cover her head. After all, they have been dictating to women since forever and if the first Lady listens to them who are their wives, daughters and sisters not to, right?
While Saudi men continue to dictate fashion and call Michelle Obama’s clothing everything from ‘outrageous’ to ‘a bold political statement’ (in fact we almost wish she had donned a tight knee-length dress and someone had captured the Saudi men’s expressions), her decision to not give in to the pressure was a good kick to the Saudi male ego that refuses to accept the fact that women do have a mind of their own.
We root for you, dear First Lady.
Image courtesy: BCCL
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