From the August/September Reason, Charles Oliver, “Brickbats”:
The government of Saudi Arabia has banned men from selling women’s lingerie. The law also requires stores that sell such lingerie to conceal the section from the rest of their customers.
Which, of course, provides women additional job opportunities, so from a feminist’s standpoint, treating women’s underwear as an embarrassment and appending to its display and sale certain cultural taboos can be considered at least partially empowering.
—At least, compared to the certain other cultural taboos. I mean, just try asking for a nice corned beef sandwich on rye and a bowl of matzo ball soup in a Riyadh eatery sometime, see the kind of looks you get.
And don’t even think about asking where the synagogue is. Trust me on this.
Well, yes, Jeff, but aren’t black markets generally subversive of the fascistopatriarcholigarchy? It stands to reason that none of these things ought to be made generally available, because then they’d all be co-opted, don’t you think?
Maybe Madonna could write an album about the Qabbala and perform it there. To subvert the patriarchy, yo.
Eh… I think white is much more attractive. With pink bows and skirts… mabybe the occasional splash of emerald green for color…
TW: And they should be at least eight sheets to the wind.
Sorry OT but here is a little travel tip. When traveling to “patriarchal” countries pack your thongs on top of all your clothes. Those custom people slammed my suitcase shut very quickly when faced spectacular array of pastel panties. I could have smuggled a nuclear bomb under my packed lingerie.
I have only tried this in Latin America and Southeast Asia. I imagine I would be immediately deported for thong possession in most Middle East countries. And I am sure it wouldn’t work for men at all regardless of the country.
Forgive my newbie ignorance but what does “TW” mean?
Great travel tip Schoolmarm.
I would just add that a severed head works in a pinch in some of the same airports. You might even get a free drink coupon to boot.
I imagine I would be immediately deported for thong possession in most Middle East countries.
Or flogged.
So a Victoria’s Secret franchise in my retirement is out of the question? What if I wear dark glasses and pretend to be blind?
On second thought, the grin would give me away.
It is entirely possible that Saudi women are as hot as the Lebanese honeys that were in Instapundit a while back. Or not.
Turing Word. Helps cut down on bot spam in the comments.
TW = Turing Word = the spam block word we must key in to prove we’re human. You can get a slight style bonus for putting it in a sentence at the end of your post.
Turing word “ask”, as in “It never hurts to ask about these things.”
I think putting a thong on top of my lothes would only raise more questions. Maybe a few marital aids would help…
TW: Or just lower everyone’s expectations.
Actually, if I recall correctly, owning it is OK because, of course, women can’t own property (I mean, c’mon, how can property own property?).
You just can’t work there.
Actually, Jeff, this doesn’t seem to surprising. I’ve been forcibly removed from several Victoria Secrets stores, and never did I see any men working there, except as security gaurds.
On a slightly divergent note, didn’t they find a leopard print thong or nightie in Zarkie’s hideout? Assuming it was his wife’s, that would confirm a theory I’d proffered here previously, and for which I drew some rebuke: many women wearing Islamic garb have on something slutty underneath, or perhaps even nothing at all.
So I guess seeing that Black Rock is out of the question too?
I would be nice if someone from CAIR (or President Bush) could explain what that Rock has to do with the Qur’an and the “religion of peace”.
I have a Turkish friend who worked retail while attending high school in Istanbul. She told me all those “devout†Iranian and Saudi women would go to Turkey for shopping expeditions. My Turkish friend was amazed by the slutty clothes they bought and wore underneath those burkas.
Don’t you see that when you put it that way, you may inadvertently cause fewer women to wear their frillies on the outside?
Chairman,
Just seeing your post. It would seem I just vindicated your theory. You rest easy now.
A tip to all: put the marital aids in checked luggage. They tend to get hauled out of hand luggage and inspected, and the airport staff in your more modest countries will be clueless, and ask you to explain in front of all the other passengers what these things are.
A heard this from a, er, friend.
Robert Tumminello blows the lid off of American imperialist misconduct across the pond, in a series of incredible photographs:
http://expatyank.blogspot.com/2006/07/lulworth-friday.html
Much obliged, marm. We men love to find sluttiness where it’s least expected, for by such revealations we’re allowed to believe it’s actually everywhere. While Muslim men won’t want to here it put this way, we’re all pigs.
We are of course, outraged with the refusal of the Bush administration to bring our troops home.
Sincerely,
Code Pink
Well, sure, but not like every hour of every day.
There are times, some as long as a minute, when we’re not.
I usually agree to leave the store by myself. If you wait for the cops to arrive you’re not being subtle enough.
BTW, is there a rule at Vic’s that the clerks all must wear low-cut blouses? I mean, I enjoy the sexual objectification of women as much as the next patriarchial oppressor, but it is a bit distracting when you’re trying to sign a credit receipt while simultaneously admiring some well-formed 38 DD’s.
“Speak for yourself,” jdm.
Captain Holly,
Well-displayed cleavage does exert a remarkable gravitational pull.
– Why do I suddenly have the urge to scratch my ass and pop another beer…
“Wimmins…. yah can’t live with em, but you can definately live on top of them” – George Burns
Does anyone really know what is Victoria’s Secret?
Jeff, you go west about a mile past where the church used to be and then turn south at the old Cohen place. Then just follow the road to the end and you’ll be…….somewhere.
Captain Holly,
Funny, the laws of Physics say that the mass of even a pair of 38DDs shouldn’t be able to exert measurable gravitational pull on a pair of eyeballs, even from distances of a few inches.
I think Newton got gravity all wrong.
Which all fails to answer the most important question of all: are edible panties halal?
I have seen more than one red stilleto heel peeking out of the all covering sacks. At least in Kabul, Parwan and Kapisa provinces of Afghanistan…
So Saudi men can’t sell women’s lingerie anymore. They’re still wearing it, right?
My credit card signatures at VS always seem to come from some guy named Billy BoB BiBBle. I don’t know why.