To Enas Taleb, the headline felt just like a punch that is spiteful.
“Why women are fatter than men in the world that is arab” it read in bold, above an image associated with the Iraqi actress waving onstage at an arts festival.
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The Economist article ran through possible explanations of the* that is( gap of 10 percentage points between men and women in the Middle East, then cited Iraqis who see Taleb’s curves as the ideal of beauty.
“Fat,” a word now considered taboo in much of Western media, was repeated six times.
The article triggered criticism that is torrid social media marketing. Twitter users blasted it as misogynistic. Local rights groups issued denunciations. Some writers were appalled with what they described as demeaning stereotypes about Arab women.
Taleb, 42, said she’s suing the magazine that is london-based defamation.
While analysts acknowledge an epidemic of obesity in the world that is arab its link with poverty and gender discrimination, Taleb’s case plus the ensuing uproar have thrown a light from the problem of body-shaming this is certainly deeply rooted yet rarely discussed in your community.
“If there’s a student who would go to school and hears comments that are mean students bullying her for being fat, how would she feel?” Taleb told The Associated Press from Baghdad. “This article is an insult not only to me but a violation of the rights of all Iraqi and women that are arab”
The Economist failed to react to multiple requests for comment.
Fat-shaming is offensive enough in the usa that after two sports commentators called some female athletes overweight on air earlier in 2010, these were swiftly fired.
In the Middle East, the report argued, the desirability of fleshy women can help explain why the spot has experienced an explosion of obesity.
But the backlash that is angry the article — and Taleb’s horror that her photo was used to illustrate growing waistlines of Arab women — contradicts the oft-repeated belief that being heavy is widely seen as sign of affluence and fertility in the region.
The globalization of Western beauty ideals through branding, TV and social media has long given rise to* that is( that skew women’s expectations of themselves as well as others when you look at the Arab world, research shows.
In A study that is forthcoming Egypt, Joan Costa-Font at the London School of Economics said he found that although some older women in rural areas still view rounder women as affluent, “it’s not true in Egypt that being overweight is a sign of beauty. … Western standards are more relevant* that are.”(
Taleb whose photo was used to illustrate how Arab women can be prone to putting on weight wants a apology that is public begun legal action from the magazine. (Ammar Albadri/Photo supplied by Enas Taleb via AP)
Demand for cosmetic surgery has boomed in Lebanon. Some 75% of female Emirati students reported dissatisfaction using their bodies, and 25% are susceptible to disorders that are eating according to a 2010 study at Dubai’s Zayed University.
And yet, many say, fat-shaming remains widespread and acceptable in the region, compared to the U.S. and Europe, where self-esteem movements have gained momentum and galvanized public discussions around inclusivity.
“Our politicians in Lebanon keep making these horrible, sexist comments about women’s bodies. A lebanese author and human rights activist.
Haddad if they come under fire that doesn’t necessarily lead to rising awareness,” said Joumana Haddad noted that new forays into female empowerment have provoked “reactionary discourse and anger” from lebanon’s society that is patriarchal. Even cavalier public comments about weight can be deeply painful to young women who struggle with insecurity and a will that is pathological alter their health looking for beauty, she added.
“I’m a 51-year-old harsh, angry feminist and I still weigh myself each and every morning,” Haddad said. “You can see right now how hard it really is for those who have been less privileged.”plus-sized modelAmeni Esseibi, a woman that is tunisian-born overcame social stigma to become the Arab world’s first
, said body positivity remains taboo in the Middle East even as populations have become more overweight.
“Kuwaitis are plus-sized, Saudis are plus-sized. But people are ashamed. They weren’t taught to be confident in this society that is judgmental” Esseibi said. “We always desire to be skinny, to appear good, to have married into the most guy that is powerful”vulgar comments about women’s bodiesBut, she said, there are signs of growing awareness. After years of ignoring
, Arabs are increasingly turning to media that are social vent their anger.
The Economist article’s depiction of males women that are“shutting at home” to keep them “Rubenesque” touched a nerve.
The Baghdad-based Heya, or “She,” Foundation, which advocates for women in media, denounced the report as “bullying” and demanded the magazine apologize to Taleb.
The Malaysia-based Musawah Foundation, which promotes equality in the world that is muslim said the backlash implies that “women in your community are creating a collective discourse that rejects and calls out sexist, racist, and fat-phobic acts and their colonial legacies.”
Taleb, a talk show host and star in blockbuster Iraqi TV dramas, said she had no choice but to speak up.
“They used my photo in this context inside a hurtful, negative way,” she said. “I am against using body that is one’s to determine the value of a human being.”
Her lawyer, Samantha Kane, said she has begun action that is legal first sending a letter to your Economist demanding an apology for “serious harm caused to (Taleb) and her career.”
Kane Declined comment that is further the magazine’s response.
Taleb said she hopes her defamation case serves as “a message” for women “to say, I love myself… to be strong, to confront those difficulties.”
It’s a message that resonates in a region where women see the odds as stacked against them. Traditional attitudes, discriminatory legislation and pay disparities, on top of rigid beauty standards, hinder women’s advancement.
“Women don’t get salaries that are equal. They don’t get positions that are high-level. They are forced to keep silent when they are harassed. And in media, they have to be beautiful and thin,” said Zeina Tareq, Heya Foundation’s director.
In Taleb’s home country of Iraq, where safety is scarce after many years of conflict, outspoken women also face the risk of targeted killings.
Iraqi Journalist Manar al-Zubaidi said the fat-shaming of Arab women comes as no surprise in a global world where “most media outlets commodify women and make them into objects of ridicule or temptation.”
“There is nothing to deter them,” she added, except ever-louder “campaigns and challenges on social media.”Instagram 📣 For more news that is lifestyle follow us on Twitter | Facebook|
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