Thanks to The Gulf News, we residents of the UAE now have a handy pictorial guide to being decent in the desert -- in other words, dressing and behaving in an 'acceptable' manner in terms of cultural stupidities sensibilities.
One of the captions (about that bastion of cultural freedom, Sharjah -- you know, the Emirate that has recently put a ban on the lungi) states:
'People are advised not to wear very short shorts or skirts above the knee.'
Another image from Mall of the Emirates in Dubai advises mallgoers to 'Please wear respectful clothing':
Whew! All I can say is 'thank you, Gulf News!' Now I know how to be a good UAE resident.
Except for this one tiny little problem...
A few days before this guide to non-offensiveness was published, the very same newspaper ran a series of photos from Dubai Fashion Week (whenever that was -- I happened to be conspicuously absent). My favourite is this:
Holy bodacious tatas, Batman! Do you see those puppies? I dare this gal (or anyone else) to walk into Mall of the Emirates wearing this thing. I think Julia Roberts had more on in the first scene of Pretty Woman.
I just returned from a trip to India and was slapped with the same type of warnings in public places. And then to see the Bollywood actresses on the front page of the papers wearing pop princess outfits? Frustrating to say the least...
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