Fabulous Darling!

A post written back in 2009 - and finally published at this lady's request.

Just before I moved to the Gulf, a colleague here already told me that it was really difficult to remember the girls' names, because they were all dressed in black and their heads - as well as their faces in some cases - were covered.

This turned out to be the biggest load of shit I had ever heard.

Not that they were covered. They are. But to argue that they are faceless, nameless, and personality-deficient?

Arab woman? Are you kidding?

Okay, so your beautifully brought up young Qatari lady, may look like this when she walks into the room:

The Well Brought Up Young Arab Lady

But no-one in their right mind could mistake one gorgeous woman for anyone else - and not even niqab can hide a smile. (Have a closer look.) Even if, and this is rare with female teachers, she keeps her niqab on during the lesson.

And when it comes to the expression of identity, Qatar University is clearly losing. Or winning? Hard to say when this is their stated, printed dress policy...


...placed, I should add, next to Starbucks, where the Bad Girls hang out and which the Good Girls (Simone amongst them) boycott. Starbucks funds Israel.

So who are these Bad Girls?

That was what I asked when the Good Girls first told me about them. 'Simone' they said, 'You were talking to them!'

'I was?'

[Duh! noises from Good Girls, a sound with which I have become very familiar.]

'Yeeeeeaaaaaaah' [Think teenager derision. The intonation is universal.]

You know. The HAIR! The SUN-GLASSES!

0h.

Now I have it. The Bad Girls are wealthy Qatari ladies, whose BIG hair is covered, if at all, by the most token of beautifully embroidered, sequinned and beaded scarves which match their nails, handbags, sun-glasses and 3 inch stilletos or mega-priced trainers, and THE most fabulous, fabulous, FABULOUS robes.

Which I would totally love to show you, except that, in the same way in which they pay lip service to cultural strictures with their carefully positioned headscarfs, they cannot allow a photo of their face to be taken. Especially when it's going public on the Internet.

But here they are in all their glory:















But Bad Girl is not the only Look around campus. There is also the I-Am-A-Superior-Pharmacy-Student Look [long white lab coats], the Fairy Princess Look [puffed sleeves ruched with ribbon], the Butch Look [no abayat, straightened hair, dyke jeans, shirt and thin tie with no handbag], the I'm-Egyptian-Not-Qatari Look [tight sexy brightly coloured skirts and tops teamed with matching headscarves], the Proudly Palestinian Look [black & white version of the Yasser Arafat tea-towel worn as a scarf around the neck] and the I-Am-Going-To-My-Sister's-Wedding Look, mainly evidenced in elaborately hennaed hands.

Wedding-Ready Hennaed Hands: Useful for identification because sometimes it's not their sister's wedding, but their own. And given that this means their first night away from their family, the first time anyone has seen them naked, and the first night they have to answer to their husbands and mother-in-laws rather than brothers and fathers, it's something that I, as a teacher, would prefer to know about. This level of stress is not conducive to learning. Neither is pregnancy when it arrives shortly after.

In fact, I have been photographing abayats around campus for a while, and certainly there are some gorgeous ones in my classroom. But this blog post's motivation comes from the fabulous Tasneem, who is still arriving every day in the most perfectly coordinated outfits and accessories after 10 weeks of class.

The Fully Accessorized and Totally Fabulous Tasneem:

Check out the pink, 3-inch spiked heels on either side of Tasneem worn by one of my gorgeous Bad Girls and one of my fabulous Good Girls:

Palestinian & Proud:

Qatar supports Gaza: Tasneem's friend Aisha teams the colours of the Qatari flag with those of Palestine.

So you can see that there's no lack of identity or personality at Qatar University, and you can probably also see the kind of work that goes into one's outfit each day. As one of the world's greatest slobs, I can only admire from afar, and take the occasional advice on make-up which doesn't address the problem. Fat, middle-aged teacher cannot become gorgeous young Arab lady. Elegance, it would seem is born, not made.

Much love to all my gorgeous girls, and to you too.

Simone the Slob