Mumbai Bans Lingerie-clad Mannequins to Save Men from 'Impure Thoughts'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mumbai, home of India's increasingly raunchy Bollywood film industry, is to ban mannequins modeling lingerie from its shop windows to stop the city's men having "impure thoughts".

Representatives on the city's local authority have voted to ban the models in a move they believe may reduce the number of rapes and sexual assaults.

Local councillors, known as corporators, said mannequins dressed in lacey underwear, stockings and suspenders, had led to a "pollution of minds" among men in the city, which has India's second highest number of rapes after Delhi.

Opponents said the mannequins were not as suggestive as erotic sculptures and carvings at celebrated temples like Khajuraho, which feature scenes of group sex and bestiality. » | Dean Nelson in New Delhi | Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Saudi Arabia to Apply Law for Women Only to Sell Lingerie
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia said on Monday it will begin enforcing a law that allows only females to work in women's lingerie and apparel stores, despite disapproval from the country's top cleric.

The 2006 law banning men from working in female apparel and cosmetic stores has never been put into effect, partly because of view of hard-liners in the religious establishment, who oppose the whole idea of women working where men and women congregate together, like malls.

Saudi women - tired of having to deal with men when buying undergarments - have boycotted lingerie stores to pressure them to employ women. The government's decision to enforce the law requiring that goes into effect Thursday. » | Monday, January 02, 2012

Saudi Arabian Lingerie Law Ends

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A campaign to end an anomaly under which only men could sell lingerie to women in Saudi Arabia has been won after direct intervention by the king.

Rules against "mingling" of the sexes at work in the kingdom, whose laws are based on a strict interpretation of Muslim Sharia, mean that most shops have male assistants only.

Until now that included lingerie shops, leading to complaints that assistants who tried to be helpful often tried to guess customers' bra sizes by staring hard at their abayas, the long all-enveloping gowns worn by Saudi women in public. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Related »

Saudi Arabia Orders Men Out of Women’s Clothing
THE MEDIA LINE: New rules say only females can sell women’s apparel

For Fatma Qaroub, a 28-year-old personal trainer from the Saudi commercial capital of Jedda, buying lingerie has been an embarrassing affair. Every time she went shopping, she would encounter male vendors who would ask her about her measurements, her preferred style and whether she was married or single.

Qaroub was fed-up. So she started a Facebook page titled "Enough embarrassment," which quickly garnered 11,000 supporters. Other women initiated campaigns to boycott Saudi women’s clothing shops that employed men only.

It seems that the pressure has finally borne fruit. King Abdullah issued a list of decrees pertaining to employment in the kingdom a week ago. Among them, an order to "feminize" women's clothing shops in Saudi Arabia within the month. Males employees are out and, because the sexes are forbidden to mix at the workplace, they will be replaced by women.

"This is a very important decision for women," Qaroub told The Media Line. "Female unemployment was the main reason for my campaign, but also the unnecessary shame women face."

An-ultra conservative kingdom governed by the orthodox Wahhabi stream of Sunni Islam, Saudi Arabia imposes strict gender segregation in the public sphere. But the kingdom is also under pressure to create jobs for Saudis, especially for women who are increasingly educated and demanding opportunities outside their traditional place in the home. » | David E. Miller | Sunday, June 12, 2011

Naughty Lingerie in Conservative Syria

Gaza-Streifen: Hamas verbannt Damenunterwäsche aus Schaufenstern
ZEIT ONLINE: Die islamistische Hamas hat ein neues Verbot verhängt, um die öffentliche Moral wieder herzustellen: Damenunterwäsche darf nicht mehr in Schaufenstern ausgestellt werden.

Eine muslimische Frau steht vor einem Schaufenster, in dem Unterwäsche ausgestellt wird. Bild: Zeit Online
Die im Gaza-Streifen herrschende Hamas-Organisation hat Damenunterwäsche in Schaufenstern verboten. Damit solle die öffentliche Moral in der palästinensischen Gesellschaft wieder hergestellt werden, sagte Polizeisprecher Aiman Batnidschi in Gaza.

Unter das Verbot fallen auch Schaufensterpuppen. Darüber hinaus müssen Ladenbesitzer künftig Sicherheitskameras abschalten und die Türen zu ihren Geschäften offen halten. Polizisten würden Ausschau halten, ob es zwischen Verkäufern und Kundinnen zu einem "verdächtigen Verhalten" komme, sagte der Sprecher. Er wies zugleich Vorwürfe zurück, die Hamas wolle die Gesellschaft weiter islamisieren. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Zeit Online, dpa | Donnerstag, 29. Juli 2010

Saudi Women Trained to Sell Bras for First Time
THE TELEGRAPH: Using colourful bras donated by employees at Victoria's Secret, a group of 26 mostly Saudi women completed the first course of its kind to be offered in the kingdom – how to fit, stock and sell underwear.

The training organisers hope will help boost a campaign to lift the ban on women selling underwear in the kingdom.

The graduates held a small ceremony at a college in the western seaport of Jiddah this week, capping 40 hours of instruction during which they learned to overcome their embarrassment at doing bra fittings, deal with customer complaints and display the stock in an appealing manner.

"It was a beautiful experience," said Faten Abdo, a 32-year-old coordinator in the offices of a lingerie company.

"The most shocking thing for me was the bra sizes," she added. "We didn't know how to get proper measurements before."

The 10-day course comes three months after a group of Saudi women launched a campaign to boycott lingerie stores until they employ women. Almost all the stores in the kingdom are staffed by men. The only exceptions are a few women-only boutiques, some of them inside popular shopping centres. >>> | Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Princess’ Knickers ’n’ Things
THE TELEGRAPH: One of the most senior members of Saudi Arabia's royal family, Princess Maha al-Sudairi, is claiming diplomatic immunity in France after running up unpaid shopping bills of more than £15 million including £60,000 on designer lingerie.

Maha al-Sudairi is ignoring her furious debtors and has locked herself in her £2,500-a-night suite at the George V Hotel in Paris. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
She has ignored her furious debtors and locked herself in her £2,500-a-night suite at the George V Hotel in Paris.

When a royal aide was approached about settling the underwear bill he replied: "I'm afraid we can't go around settling bills for the Princess's knickers."

Princess Maha, whose husband, Prince Nayef, is interior minister and second-in-line to the Saudi throne, is said to have spent millions on designer clothes, jewels and other luxury products in the French capital over the past year. Her weekly dry cleaning bill alone was said to be £30,000.

Every time the Princess and her entourage visited a shop a representative would offer staff an embossed document stating "Payment to Follow".

Jamila Boushaba, who runs the O Caprices De Lili lingerie store in Paris, confirmed that she was still waiting for £60,000 spent on a range of hugely expensive undergarments. Saudi princess runs up £15 million shopping bill >>> By Peter Allen in Paris | Friday, June 12, 2009

Saudi Lingerie Trade in a Twist
Photo courtesy of Google Images
BBC: It would be bizarre in any country to find that its lingerie shops are staffed entirely by men.

But in Saudi Arabia - an ultra-conservative nation where unmarried men and women cannot even be alone in a room together if they are not related - it is strange in the extreme.

Women, forced to negotiate their most intimate of purchases with male strangers, call the situation appalling and are demanding the system be changed.

"The way that underwear is being sold in Saudi Arabia is simply not acceptable to any population living anywhere in the modern world," says Reem Asaad, a finance lecturer at Dar al-Hikma Women's College in Jeddah, who is leading a campaign to get women working in lingerie shops rather than men.

"This is a sensitive part of women's bodies," adds Ms Asaad. "You need to have some discussions regarding size, colour and attractive choices and you definitely don't want to get into such a discussion with a stranger, let alone a male stranger. I mean this is something I wouldn't even talk to my friends about."

In theory, it should be easy enough to get women to staff lingerie shops, but parts of Saudi society are still very traditional and don't like the idea of women working - even if it's just to sell underwear to each other. >>> By Stephanie Hancock, BBC News, Jeddah | Wednesday, February 25, 2009

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