Tuesday, January 07, 2003

Easily Upset Alert!
My sheltered existence had left me previously unaware of Lil Kim, who is apparently a female rap star. However, her cover photo for One World magazine has left the usual suspects with their burnooses in a twist:
Muslims have been outraged by the cover photo of the popular U.S. urban culture magazine One World, which features female rapper Lil Kim wearing the head covering of a burqa and a revealing lingerie set.
...
For those sensitive to issues of female modesty, viewing the cover photo at the publication’s website is probably not advisable. It features female rap artist Lil Kim posed seductively.

Her head, with the exception of her eyes, is draped with the top portion of what can only be described as a burqa, the now infamous full-body covering worn by many Afghan women.

Unfortunately, Lil Kim’s burqa does not obscure her body in the least. The rest of the garment is tossed over her left shoulder, leaving her body fully exposed with the exception of a skimpy lingerie set.
...
Whatever Simmons and the One World staff intended with this photo is irrelevant, because for Muslims, both the 7 million in the United States and the 1.2 billion spread across the rest of the world, it is a clear and unambiguous jab at the religion of Islam.
And more:
"That this magazine ran with Lil Kim on the cover like this is totally unacceptable. They need to apologize immediately, as there is no justification for this whatsoever," said Najee Ali, Nat'l Dir. of Project Islamic H.O.P.E.
I wonder if they ever heard the one about Muhammed and the ... no, probably not.