When we moved to the UAE I discovered a desire to wear a short skirt. I hadn't worn short skirts since my very early twenties so I was a bit surprised by this desire. I think it was a combinations of reasons - the very hot weather and the fact that we aren't supposed to wear such revealing clothes here.
So, I'm showing off my legs again, and they are now a lovely shade of brown. And when I have travelled out of the UAE I have taken my short skirts with me so that I can show off this lovely tan. And I have discovered something surprising.
In the UAE such clothes are disapproved of and discouraged. You may be asked to leave a conservative shopping centre, not be allowed into a mosque or even, in extreme cases, spat at by a lady covered entirely in black. Not that the last has happened to me yet, but I have heard tell...
In Western countries, where such clothes ARE allowed, you will get suggestive comments made, you will get groped and find hands trying to go where a strangers hands should not. The average western man seems to think that women wear short skirts as a kind of green light for bad behaviour. In fact, at times one can feel distinctly threatened and afraid. And thus, one stops wearing short skirts.
Isn't it a bit of an oxymoron that in a country known for it's repressive dress code, one actually has more freedom to dress as one likes than in a so-called free country?
1 comment:
At Kirsten's- just practising!
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