Cat suits prowl the streets of Male’ and around Maldives.

i agree. most maldivians need to understand that we dont have to wear figure clutching clothes with the burgaa to look fashionable! The pics here offer alternative looks to dress trendy and still luk respectable 🙂 its nice! has that modern n arabian look! now thts one “burkaa” look to go for!

First of all I would like to clarify that I have nothing against those wearing burka, those who don’t wear burka, and even those who wear burka with so-called cat suits. I believe a person can wear the burka based on a religious belief or as a fashion statement, or even choose not to wear it for various reasons. I believe even Christians, Jews and Hindus, and even men, have the right to wear the burka, if they desire so. Having said that, I don’t believe the majority of women in Maldives who wear burka with the tightly clad clothing do so because they are ignorant of the availability of more loose clothes like the ones worn by Arabs or Malaysians. Indeed, at a time when interaction between Maldivians and Malaysians are at an all-time high, and at this age of Internet and Satellite TV, Maldivian women can’t be ignorant of the existence of loose clothes that cover their curves. Burka is not a part of Maldivian attire, despite the country practicing Islam since 1153 AD. The flood of Burka is a recent phenomenon. Many women who wear the burka do so because of pressure from their husbands, parents, boyfriends, and friends. Peer pressure from office-mates and friends isolate those who do not wear Burka. It is such pressure that makes them wear Burka; not a deep religious belief. Thus they wear the cat suits as a compromise, to cater to their need to appear sexy. It is paradoxical as you say, but these women seems to have learned a fine art of bowing to social pressure and still keeping the type of clothes they like to wear. I will not make a moral judgment of whether it is right or wrong. Rather, I find the irony in the fact that the husbands, boyfriends, parents and friends of those women find it quite comfortable with them wearing Burka with the catsuits. This further reinforces my belief that these men put pressure on the women, not based on any religious beliefs, but because of peer pressure on them as well. A man puts pressure on his wife to wear Burka, because the society puts pressure on him and sidelines him. Hence, I sincerely doubt if your blog post and the ‘decent Burka styles’ you have presented here, will serve any purpose. If they are for the people who wear Burka in an earnest belief to cover themselves and wear ‘modest clothing’, then these styles can be of help. But such people are already wearing such clothes.

If the purpose of your blog post is to offer a criticism of those wearing the cat suits, then it is fine. But wouldn’t it be rather difficult for a fashion blog covering designers such as Coco Chanel (designers who design clothes that are at times revealing) to make moral judgments about the ‘cat suit styles’, or any other styles for that matter?

To quote you, Chanel was “a mademoiselle who kicked away the word ‘suppressed’ and brought ‘liberation’ to women in the 1920’s: her flapper dress was the symbol of liberation for women encouraging them to throw away their claustrophobic corsets and swing their hips to jazz and ride automobiles with their new ‘bob’ cut.”

In the eyes of another group of people, lets say the Taleban, the designs of Coco Chanel would be immoral.

Ramadan Mubarak and peace, Sister.

twinkles bee. If you have an issue with f@ liking girls wearing ‘catsuits’ then be assured that f@ likes girls wearing modest clothes too. I don’t judge people so easily by the clothes they wear, whether they are wearing modest clothes, catsuits or even the abaya. I can see that you are totally missing my point. I said in plain English that I did not want to make a moral judgment of whether wearing of catsuits with burka is right or wrong. I never said it was right and never tried to defend them. What I explored was the reasons why they choose to wear such a paradoxical clothing; the reason being the immense social pressure on them. While they do not really want to wear burka, the peer pressure and pressure from home forces them to do so. However, they continue to wear body-hugging catsuits, because there is no social pressure on them not to do so. They make a compromise by bowing to pressure and wearing the burka, while at the same time wearing the catsuits which are actually closer to the type of clothes they want to wear. The fact that their relatives and friends tolerate this shows that the initial pressure also originated not from any firm religious belief. I agree that these women are totally aware of what they are doing. That is one reason why I questioned the content of the blog post. The blog post implies that they are ignorant of more ‘modest’ clothing styles, and the blogger tried to present them with some decent styles of clothing that go along with burka. What I said was these women are not ignorant of the ‘decent styles’ and the blog post could have served a better purpose if it was directed at women wearing decent clothing with the burka, to inform them of the various styles of decent clothing available.

Everybody has the right to free expression, and expressing one’s views on a blog is not a problem. In my previous comment I said “if the purpose of your blog post is to offer a criticism of those wearing the cat suits, then it is fine.” I acknowledged the blogger’s right to criticize and express her opinion on the blog. However, I found it a bit paradoxical that a blog covering various types of fashion styles can take a moral stand on a particular type of clothing style. What one person wears as a trendy fashion style could be viewed by another as a highly immoral type of clothing. For example, the denim styles that have been covered, including girls wearing torn jeans, will be viewed by some groups in the society as highly immoral. That is why it will be difficult for a fashion blog to make moral judgments against any style of clothing. However, I don’t question the blogger’s right to criticize or the right to free expression.

What is perceived by society as decent and modest clothing will also differ in different cultures and countries. What many people in Maldives believe as decent clothing without burka will not be tolerated by the Taleban in Afghanistan. Similarly, there are people in Maldives who believe that there is no modest clothing for women except the Abaya.

Well put, f@. Hav to agree with u totally.