Modest seductiveness: Reconciling modesty and vanity by reverse assimilation and double resistance

Abstract

We study conflicting notions of modesty and vanity in the Arab Gulf region by focusing on contemporary female adornment practices and the tensions underlying them. The standard of modest traditional dress that women are expected to adhere to in Gulf countries is intended to conceal their sexuality and promote public virtue. Nevertheless, emerging bodily adornment practices in the region serve the contradictory purposes of emphasizing female sexuality and celebrating fashion. By using insights from observations and depth interviews with young Qatari and Emirati women, we explore the dynamics underlying the conflicting imperatives of modesty and vanity and examine how they reconcile these contradictions in constructing their identities as women, Muslims, Qataris, and Emiratis. We find that the concepts of reverse assimilation and double resistance are most useful in understanding responses to these conflicting imperatives among young Gulf women. 1 An abaya is a black cloak that most women in the Arab Gulf region are expected to wear for modesty purpose. 2 A shayla is a black hair cover that is usually worn with the abaya.

Islamic Arab hospitality and multiculturalism

“…Yet purity is an important principle in Islam (Freeman, 2005;Mohammad, 2005;Nagel, 2005). The way this affects spatial arrangements and clothing has been studied (Sobh and Belk, 2011a, 2011b, 2011cSobh et al, 2012), but as we see in the present study there is also a bulwark against racial and national impurity in the boundary-defining exclusionary practices of Arab hospitality rituals. Just as much as home hospitality rituals help reinforce notions of Arab, clan, and gender identity, inhospitality toward foreigners helps define the Other.…”

Where is “Islamic marketing” heading?

“…According to Sandikci and Jafari (2013, p. 414), Islamic marketing and its scholarship have two main approaches: one focusing on "managerial perspectives" in terms of Muslims as a consumer segment in business practice (e.g., El-Bassiouny, 2014; Esso & Dibb, 2004), and second taking more of a "critical cultural perspective" (e.g., Karababa & Ger, 2011;Sobh, Belk, & Gressel, 2012). While it may initially be unclear why the division is necessary (in that it creates polarity and holds the implicit assumption of "otherness"), both are important and together serve the development and explanation of the different faces and complexities of Islamic marketing and consumption.…”

Crescent marketing, Muslim geographies and brand Islam

“…More recently, there has been research on modesty versus vanity in covered women's appearance ( Jafari and Maclaran, 2013;Sobh et al, 2012Sobh et al, , 2010Sandikci and Ger, 2005); privacy and gendered spaces in Arab homes Sobh, 2008, 2010;Sobh and Belk, 2011b, c); consumption rituals associated with Ramadan in Muslim majority and minority contexts (Sandikci and Ö meraki, 2007;Hirschman et al, 2011); and Arab hospitality at personal, commercial, and national levels Sobh and Belk, 2011a). Much of this latter work has been visual and has involved both still photography and videography, which signals the breadth of research approaches and methods needed to help "lift the veil" on the mysteries of Islamic consumption as currently seen by the West.…”