The 24-year-old Arab-American Rima Fakih was crowned Miss USA on Sunday, Rima Fakih is believed to be the first Muslim to ever win the coveted crown. A sigh of reliefs for lots of Arab/Muslim Americans, Muslim woman body again captured Americans imagination, but this time by uncover it and not cover it. “For once, we’re talking about beauty and not terror,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab-American News, in Dearborn, Michigan, who knows Fakih and her family.” The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) released a statement congratulating Ms. Fakih- (religious scholar in Arabic) for her pageant victory. Here is Sara Najjar-Wilson, the president of the group telling us: “We are very proud of Rima Fakih. She is a very intelligent as well as a very beautiful young woman”. How did an Arab/Muslim American reach that social status in American pop mainstream culture; she is young, beautiful and willing to strip for a prize. The west has been always interested in the cloth articles that Muslim women wear, having a firm believe that covering Muslim woman body with hijjab, Burqa or Niqab is a symbol of oppression, which bring us to believe that uncovering woman body is a symbol of freedom. How did Miss Fakih’s beauty win the hearts and souls of Millions of Americans in a time where lots of Americans see only the ugly side of Muslims and Islam. Was the folks at the US beauty pageant following the steps of those folks at Noble peace pageant; sending another Obama like make –a- love not war Message to the Muslim world. Was Miss Fakih the most beautiful young woman in America, or she was the most beautiful young Muslim who is willing to show her clad body to the world on prime time TV. Some right wing jihadists ranted their own reasons; from pandering to Muslims, and being politically correct or as Conservative author Daniel Pipes, who was briefly appointed by former President George W. Bush to the U.S. Institute of Peace, huffed that “this surprising frequency of Muslims winning beauty pageants makes me suspect an odd form of affirmative action.” as if Muslim women beauty had been unjustly mistreated for so long and needed a special legal attention to level the playing field. Did Miss Fakih win because of her ideas and political views, would she had kept the crown if she as all winners did before her, thanked her Allah and wished to use her prize money to build a mosque or go to Mecca instead of Disney World. Conservative radio host Debbie Schlussel labeled Miss Fakih as a “Lebanese Muslim Hezbollah supporter with relatives who are top terrorists”. Miss Fakih won the crown jowl of American pop culture, not because she showed her ability to think or voice any opinion or a new vision of world conflict, Miss Fakih won American beauty pageant, because she show here ability to buy into the American Beauty mystique culture, what she had to go through to bring her body to the pageant judges measurements, her life from now on, how she walks, how she talks, and how she behaves is scripted according to Taliban beauty who control miss american pageant, for me this could be as as oppressive as the Burqa!
Burkini Show
