An Open Letter To SL's Clothing Makers and Event Planners

[Samiirah Sorciere]

This entire letter could be summed up in three words - "STOP FETISHIZING ME" - but I'm gonna break it down, because that seems necessary. I'm gonna TRY not to rant. Much. 

 

I am so utterly sick and disgusted at the "Arabian" club events and clothing I see everywhere in SL, I barely know where to start. Maybe the word itself.

 

I am not "Arabian." I am an Arab. I speak Arabic (but not very much, I was raised in the West). Why does the word bother me? Because it jams me into a box shaped by Western stereotypes of 1,001 Nights and Scheherazade (who wasn't even Arab, she was Persian), nymphomaniacs in see-through harem pants undulating through clouds of hashish smoke for the pleasure of men, exotic treasures from the mysterious and dangerous East. Spare me.

 

Apparently my only other choice is to be a faceless oppressed zombie who's probably carrying a suicide bomb under her abaya. It's like the Madonna/Whore dichotomy, on steroids with a side of hummus and tabouleh.

 

I recently went to a gorgeous sim - credit where credit is due - that bills itself as an "Arabian Treasure Company." You'd think I'd know better from the name, but Ms. Sorcière is a slow learner sometimes.

 

And what kind of clothes did I see? Walls of harem pants and silks. SILKS. Look, no one I know owns a pair of those gauzy harem pants, with the exception of one woman who is a professional teacher of raqs sharqi, an Egyptian style of bellydance. I own something similar, Punjabi-style shalwar, but those are (a) worn with a knee-length tunic instead of a minimal bra and (b) opaque. And no Arab woman I've ever even heard of owns, or would wear, a set of silks. Quite aside from the naked (!) glorification of slavery, there's the weather. Temperatures in Cairo at this time of year are in the low to mid 70s Celsius (that's mid to high 90s for you in the USA) with no rain and no cloud cover. The temperatures in Riyadh are hotter than that. Any idiot wearing silks out of doors, most especially someone with pale European skin, is going to fry like bacon in about 10 minutes.

 

Silks are GOREAN, they are not and have never been even remotely connected to Arabic culture, which values privacy - modesty in dress being an expression of that. Did I see thobes? Abayas? Jilbabs? Hijabs? I did not. Arab embroidery is gorgeous, I wish I could see more of it.

 

What I saw were the same dreary stereotypes of slavery and sexuality, served up for white girls with a taste for brownface and the men who like them that way - just like in those "Arabian" "Harem Hottie" club events. <gag> Club owners, let me ask you this: how many actual Arab people (and there are a LOT of Arabs in SL) do you find coming to your events? I'm guessing roughly… none, except for the occasional guy who likes dumb white girls. No Arab woman I know would be caught dead anywhere near there. Arabic music? Nope. "Too Arab," I was actually told by a club owner. Oh, sorry, too much reality interrupting your appropriative fantasy? My bad, habibi.

 

I am tired of being a sexual fetish, a cardboard cutout mockery, an inspiration for degrading merchandise that ignores me as a human being and relegates my culture to a medieval fantasy that never existed. You want to wear silks? Fine, wear them. Just don't call them "Arabian." Don't involve me and mine in your quest to decorate your BDSM with ignorant ideas about items you've strip-mined from other people. 

 

And before someone says they're "honouring" Arab culture, let me state for the record that perpetuating stupid, sexist, racist, anachronistic stereotypes that are deeply offensive to members of the culture in question IS NOT HONOURING it. Seriously. Knock it the f*** off.

[Samiirah Sorciere]

This entire letter could be summed up in three words - "STOP FETISHIZING ME" - but I'm gonna break it down, because that seems necessary. I'm gonna TRY not to rant. Much. 

 

I am so utterly sick and disgusted at the "Arabian" club events and clothing I see everywhere in SL, I barely know where to start. Maybe the word itself.

 

I am not "Arabian." I am an Arab. I speak Arabic (but not very much, I was raised in the West). Why does the word bother me? Because it jams me into a box shaped by Western stereotypes of 1,001 Nights and Scheherazade (who wasn't even Arab, she was Persian), nymphomaniacs in see-through harem pants undulating through clouds of hashish smoke for the pleasure of men, exotic treasures from the mysterious and dangerous East. Spare me.

 

Apparently my only other choice is to be a faceless oppressed zombie who's probably carrying a suicide bomb under her abaya. It's like the Madonna/Whore dichotomy, on steroids with a side of hummus and tabouleh.

 

I recently went to a gorgeous sim - credit where credit is due - that bills itself as an "Arabian Treasure Company." You'd think I'd know better from the name, but Ms. Sorcière is a slow learner sometimes.

 

And what kind of clothes did I see? Walls of harem pants and silks. SILKS. Look, no one I know owns a pair of those gauzy harem pants, with the exception of one woman who is a professional teacher of raqs sharqi, an Egyptian style of bellydance. I own something similar, Punjabi-style shalwar, but those are (a) worn with a knee-length tunic instead of a minimal bra and (b) opaque. And no Arab woman I've ever even heard of owns, or would wear, a set of silks. Quite aside from the naked (!) glorification of slavery, there's the weather. Temperatures in Cairo at this time of year are in the low to mid 70s Celsius (that's mid to high 90s for you in the USA) with no rain and no cloud cover. The temperatures in Riyadh are hotter than that. Any idiot wearing silks out of doors, most especially someone with pale European skin, is going to fry like bacon in about 10 minutes.

 

Silks are GOREAN, they are not and have never been even remotely connected to Arabic culture, which values privacy - modesty in dress being an expression of that. Did I see thobes? Abayas? Jilbabs? Hijabs? I did not. Arab embroidery is gorgeous, I wish I could see more of it.

 

What I saw were the same dreary stereotypes of slavery and sexuality, served up for white girls with a taste for brownface and the men who like them that way - just like in those "Arabian" "Harem Hottie" club events. <gag> Club owners, let me ask you this: how many actual Arab people (and there are a LOT of Arabs in SL) do you find coming to your events? I'm guessing roughly… none, except for the occasional guy who likes dumb white girls. No Arab woman I know would be caught dead anywhere near there. Arabic music? Nope. "Too Arab," I was actually told by a club owner. Oh, sorry, too much reality interrupting your appropriative fantasy? My bad, habibi.

 

I am tired of being a sexual fetish, a cardboard cutout mockery, an inspiration for degrading merchandise that ignores me as a human being and relegates my culture to a medieval fantasy that never existed. You want to wear silks? Fine, wear them. Just don't call them "Arabian." Don't involve me and mine in your quest to decorate your BDSM with ignorant ideas about items you've strip-mined from other people. 

 

And before someone says they're "honouring" Arab culture, let me state for the record that perpetuating stupid, sexist, racist, anachronistic stereotypes that are deeply offensive to members of the culture in question IS NOT HONOURING it. Seriously. Knock it the f*** off.

[Melita Magic]

You say others should not fetishize you or get you wrong.

Yet more than once  you talk about 'white girls' in a derogatory way (such as 'stupid white girls.')

How are you able to see through your computer screen to who is behind the 'harem avatars?'

No way to tell if they are white or female.

 

P.S. 90 F is about 32 C.

70 C would be 158 F.

I'm very tempted to call shenanigans.

 

---

Samiirah Sorciere wrote:

This entire letter could be summed up in three words - "STOP FETISHIZING ME" - but I'm gonna break it down, because that seems necessary. I'm gonna TRY not to rant. Much. 

 

I am so utterly sick and disgusted at the "Arabian" club events and clothing I see everywhere in SL, I barely know where to start. Maybe the word itself.

 

I am not "Arabian." I am an Arab. I speak Arabic (but not very much, I was raised in the West). Why does the word bother me? Because it jams me into a box shaped by Western stereotypes of 1,001 Nights and Scheherazade (who wasn't even Arab, she was Persian), nymphomaniacs in see-through harem pants undulating through clouds of hashish smoke for the pleasure of men, exotic treasures from the mysterious and dangerous East. Spare me.

 

Apparently my only other choice is to be a faceless oppressed zombie who's probably carrying a suicide bomb under her abaya. It's like the Madonna/Whore dichotomy, on steroids with a side of hummus and tabouleh.

 

I recently went to a gorgeous sim - credit where credit is due - that bills itself as an "Arabian Treasure Company." You'd think I'd know better from the name, but Ms. Sorcière is a slow learner sometimes.

 

And what kind of clothes did I see? Walls of harem pants and silks. SILKS. Look, no one I know owns a pair of those gauzy harem pants, with the exception of one woman who is a professional teacher of raqs sharqi, an Egyptian style of bellydance. I own something similar, Punjabi-style shalwar, but those are (a) worn with a knee-length tunic instead of a minimal bra and (b) opaque. And no Arab woman I've ever even heard of owns, or would wear, a set of silks. Quite aside from the naked (!) glorification of slavery, there's the weather. Temperatures in Cairo at this time of year are in the low to mid 70s Celsius (that's mid to high 90s for you in the USA) with no rain and no cloud cover. The temperatures in Riyadh are hotter than that. Any idiot wearing silks out of doors, most especially someone with pale European skin, is going to fry like bacon in about 10 minutes.

 

Silks are GOREAN, they are not and have never been even remotely connected to Arabic culture, which values privacy - modesty in dress being an expression of that. Did I see thobes? Abayas? Jilbabs? Hijabs? I did not. Arab embroidery is gorgeous, I wish I could see more of it.

 

What I saw were the same dreary stereotypes of slavery and sexuality, served up for white girls with a taste for brownface and the men who like them that way - just like in those "Arabian" "Harem Hottie" club events. <gag> Club owners, let me ask you this: how many actual Arab people (and there are a LOT of Arabs in SL) do you find coming to your events? I'm guessing roughly… none, except for the occasional guy who likes dumb white girls. No Arab woman I know would be caught dead anywhere near there. Arabic music? Nope. "Too Arab," I was actually told by a club owner. Oh, sorry, too much reality interrupting your appropriative fantasy? My bad, habibi.

 

I am tired of being a sexual fetish, a cardboard cutout mockery, an inspiration for degrading merchandise that ignores me as a human being and relegates my culture to a medieval fantasy that never existed. You want to wear silks? Fine, wear them. Just don't call them "Arabian." Don't involve me and mine in your quest to decorate your BDSM with ignorant ideas about items you've strip-mined from other people. 

 

And before someone says they're "honouring" Arab culture, let me state for the record that perpetuating stupid, sexist, racist, anachronistic stereotypes that are deeply offensive to members of the culture in question IS NOT HONOURING it. Seriously. Knock it the f*** off.

---

[Dillon Levenque]

I think I can understand (at least a little) your offense at styles/lifestyles/behaviors being called 'Arabian' when in fact they are mostly sexual fantasies dreamed up in other cultures.

You are hardly alone in that category. Look around SL for geishas. You'll find geishas behaving as no real geisha ever did and wearing the most outlandish outfits. Just the same, there are plenty of people in SL who are geishas in the original sense (I'm somewhat familiar with that particular lifestyle because one of my three mentors from back when I started was a very well established oiran). I'm sure the same sort of misconstruction is true for other cultures and nations. I can give you a good example from RL, actually:

In the USA we have what are called 'Renaissance Faires'. The name itself is idiotic, since the 'faires' purport to celebrate Elizabethan England, which had no naissance to re. Reformation Faire would be a more apt name. In the UK, from what I"ve read, they're called 'Tudor-Bethan' which is at least an accurate description of the time period.

My point is that the clothing style for females in these events is designed to expose the breasts. Cleavage is KING. Busoms wave at you from all directions. Read a book on clothing in Elizabethan times and you'll find that women were typically covered to the neck.

I just remembered something I read from an experienced RenFaire participant who also knew a little history: the usual mix in a modern RenFaire looks like a visit by an 18th century Scottish regiment to a 15th century Flemish brothel on 'Nights of the Round Table Fantasy Night'.

Anyway....

Just dress as you wish and be who you wish. Ignore the dummies—they are never going to go away.

[Carl Thibodeaux]

One woman's silk's are trash.

But another woman will treasure them.

Your entitled to your own opinion on anything produced in SL. Doesn't mean you have to wear them.

[Dillon Levenque]

You might be right, Melita. I was a little bothered by the racism in the comments as well, but I was concentrating more on the main objection. Having gone back and read the OP again I'm thinking maybe I was being a bit too gentle. My initial reaction was 'get over it', since SL sexualization is possible if not probable of every single culture/class/point of national origin/religion/lifestyle there is. I just tried to word it in a non-offensive way.

Well, on that sexualization: maybe excepting the Martian. I've never seen a Martian sex club.

[Samiirah Sorciere]

You're right, I got the temperature conversions wrong, I don't think in Fahrenheit, so I'm sorry for that. I mistook the highs and lows for Celsius and Fahrenheit, and the page opened in Fahrenheit. 99F = 37C, Cairo noon temperature; Riyadh noon temperature 106F = 41C.

When I say "white girls" I mean white female avatars. I don't really care who the players are, I just want the racism to stop. And I wasn't calling all white people stupid, just the ones who wear those and play dress-up hooker with stereotypes. Better?

[Samiirah Sorciere]

I didn't say don't wear silks, I actually said, "Fine, wear them." I just don't like them presented as something belonging to my culture when they aren't. That's the offensive part, not the existence of silks or people wearing them.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

---

Samiirah Sorciere wrote:

I just want the racism to stop.

---

Sooooo... wearing "unauthentic" "Arabian" costumes somehow equals racism?

You should join forces with the arbiter of all things Native American. *eyeroll*

---

And I wasn't calling all white people stupid, just the ones who wear those and play dress-up hooker with stereotypes. Better?

---

Oh, much. *cough*

[Amethyst Jetaime]

I very much understand the feelings you posted about.  However, SL is a world where imagination rules.  I see plenty of stuff in SL that offends me.  I also see people living out their dreams and fantasies that are very loosely based on stereotypes of someone's culture, even perversions of it.  Dreams and fantasies can be like that.  It isn't just he Arab Culture, and it isn't just 'white girls' either.

Long ago there used to be a club in SL that was an Arab themed club owned and run by RL Arabs.  They had an Arabian palace nightclub, played a mix of Arab and western music with Arab and western dances.  Their clientele and staff was a mixture of both  Their hosts dressed in silks.

I like to travel around SL and visit sims representing other cultures.  More than once in my travels I've been to places that cater to mideasterners and been hit on hard by RL mideastern men and subject to their comments fetishizing American women as fast and loose nymphomaniacs. So it cuts both ways.

When I read your OP, I too was offended by 'dumb white girls' and "served up for white girls with a taste for brownface' etc.  Yeah you back pedaled and said you meant white girl avatars, but I don't think that is what you really meant when you posted because it was so full of vitriol.  Even so  it still shows prejudice and stereotyping on your part.  Again it cuts both ways.

Your world - your imagination.  A place to live out a dream or a fantasy.  I don't think very many, if any, think that "Arabia" in SL has any bearing on reality or that silks exist outside of virtual worlds except as , costumes and in a bunch of badly written fantasy novels written by a known misogynist..  Even so, no one forces you to go where you feel uncomfortable or participate in what offends you.  Avoid places like that, just as I avoid places and events that offend me.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

Just to add: You might want to take your campaign to the publisher of probably every dictionary on the planet. Would seem to me to be somewhat more important than what happens in virtual cartoon land.

A•ra•bi•an (əˈreɪ bi ən)

adj.

1. of or pertaining to Arabia or its inhabitants.

n.

2. a native or inhabitant of Arabia.

[Syo Emerald]

Just stop it, you are racist and even more ignorant on various levels.

 

We all know what you MEAN when you talk about "white girls", stop lying and pretending, cause its obvious you tiny racist! Want to know why? Cause a lot avatars don't even fit the apperance you use here as a stereotype. Most of them have far to dark skin colours....and damn, you will see ALL kinds of avatars wearing silks.

None of them has racist intentions doing so, its just you who makes this innocent fun into something racist.

Also you are ignorant. Silks are NOT gorean!!!!!

Stop throwing every fantasy costume (because thats what it is basicaly, 1001 night like you already mentioned) in one bucket with Gor is ignorant. I for myself wouldn't want to be assoicated with this roleplay setting, just because some of my avatars would dress up in silks.

[PeterCanessa Oh]

I found your letter very interesting and I sympathise to the extent that so much of SL is US-centric and their (mis)representations of others, including everything supported by LL itself.  LL, however, is a company mindful of getting sued so they at least try not to cause offence.  Unfortunately US citizens are still the largest group in SL.

While I realise it doesn't address your point, don't forget you have the tools you need to (help) correct the situation: "Did I see thobes? Abayas? Jilbabs? Hijabs? I did not." - make some, sell them.  Do right, profit from it and enjoy all at the same time ;-0

[Dillon Levenque]

---

PeterCanessa Oh wrote:

I found your letter very interesting and I sympathise to the extent that so much of SL is US-centric and their (mis)representations of others, including everything supported by LL itself.  LL, however, is a company mindful of getting sued so they at least try not to cause offence.  Unfortunately US citizens are still the largest group in SL.

While I realise it doesn't address your point, don't forget you have the tools you need to (help) correct the situation:

"

Did I see thobes? Abayas? Jilbabs? Hijabs? I did not."

- make some, sell them.  Do right, profit from it and enjoy all at the same time ;-0

---

 

All of those items are available on the MP. I found only one thobe and only one jilbab (but it looked beautiful and was listed as having '1000's of colors'), but there was a wide selection of hijabs. Since this IS Second Life a number of them were lascivious take-offs, but a greater number appeared to my untrained eye to be perfectly acceptable garments, some very beautiful.

The OP did not say she couldn't find what she wanted. Her objection was to the sexualization and mis-categorization of some things as 'Arabian'.

[PeterCanessa Oh]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

...

The OP did not say she couldn't find what she wanted. Her objection was to the sexualization and mis-categorization of some things as 'Arabian'.

---

Which is why I said I realised it didn't address her main point.  My first paragraph dealt with that.  The rest was just general encouragement to create things :-) 

[Dillon Levenque]

Oh, well then. You were sympathizing with her. We US-centrics are so fond of mis-representing other countries and cultures. Fortunately that sort of thing never happens in the rest of the world. Or does it....http://www.eventa.co.uk/summer-parties/london-arabian-nights-package

[Griffin Ceawlin]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

Fortunately that sort of thing never happens in the rest of the world. Or does it...

---

Nope. Never.

http://www.yobserver.com/opinions/10012122.html

[PeterCanessa Oh]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

Oh, well then. You were sympathizing with her. We US-centrics are so fond of mis-representing other countries and cultures. Fortunately that sort of thing never happens in the rest of the world. Or does it....

http://www.eventa.co.uk/summer-parties/london-arabian-nights-package

---

I beg your pardon.  Telegramese caught me out.  While I wanted to say that since the largest group of residents were from the US your/their views are predominant I did not wish to imply that you/they were any different in misrepresenting, or forgetting about, others.  Nevertheless, I sympathise with those who are misrepresented, whomever is doing the misrepresenting.

[PeterCanessa Oh]

I particularly liked "...but are terribly influenced by the movie industry" in that article, Griffin.  Hollywood misrepresents just about everyone, including itself and the rest of the USA, almost all the time *sigh*.  Simply because it is so strong the US 'blockbuster' movie industry is terrible for the country's international relations.

[Jenni Darkwatch]

Generally speaking, humans of all cultures tend to generalize and "pervert" other cultures.

Germans get reduced to Nazis, Lederhosen and Oktoberfest.

Americans get reduced to shallow, dumb, giggling women that scream at every opportunity and men in cowboy gear with a whole arsenal of firearms in every corner of their home, car and even on their body.

Chinese (and most Asians in general) get reduced to martial arts.

Arabs get reduced to 1001 night and more recently to fanatic suicide bombers and misogynism.

Even within one culture those generalizations exist. "Oh yes the people from city/state/religion X are..."

Get over it and forget it. People (of all cultures, all education levels and all genders) are in the majority flat out ignorant, that's all there is to it. Feel free to try and go on a mission to correct those perceptions or campaign against it if you like. Or shrug it off and ignore people who you find offensive.

[Perrie Juran]

---

Jenni Darkwatch wrote:

Generally speaking, humans of all cultures tend to generalize and "pervert" other cultures.

---

The Martian peaks into the thread and dips his toe in the water.

People regularly assume that I am French, misreading and mispelling my name "Pierre."

I used to reply, my name is "Perrie," not "Pierre."  I may make love like a French man but I am not French."

One day one of the French ladies here responded lamenting, "Oh how I wish French men's reputation was real."

 

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

 

Well, on that sexualization: maybe excepting the Martian. I've never seen a Martian sex club.

---

 On Mars we have a saying, "What happens in de Vaucouleurs stays in de Vaucouleurs. 

[Dillon Levenque]

---

Jenni Darkwatch wrote:

Generally speaking, humans of all cultures tend to generalize and "pervert" other cultures.

Germans get reduced to Nazis, Lederhosen and Oktoberfest.

Americans get reduced to shallow, dumb, giggling women that scream at every opportunity and men in cowboy gear with a whole arsenal of firearms in every corner of their home, car and even on their body.

Chinese (and most Asians in general) get reduced to martial arts.

Arabs get reduced to 1001 night and more recently to fanatic suicide bombers and misogynism.

Even within one culture those generalizations exist. "Oh yes the people from city/state/religion X are..."

Get over it and forget it.

People (of all cultures, all education levels and all genders) are in the majority flat out ignorant

, that's all there is to it. Feel free to try and go on a mission to correct those perceptions or campaign against it if you like. Or shrug it off and ignore people who you find offensive.

---

 

I agree with your point about people from all cultures. I might replace 'ignorant' with 'uninformed and seemingly content to stay that way', but I suppose both mean the same thing.

It probably does little good to campaign against that, but it is still something to think about. If we know that happens we can hopefully at least prevent ourselves from being part of the problem.

[Melita Magic]

---

Samiirah Sorciere wrote:

You're right, I got the temperature conversions wrong, I don't think in Fahrenheit, so I'm sorry for that. I mistook the highs and lows for Celsius and Fahrenheit, and the page opened in Fahrenheit. 99F = 37C, Cairo noon temperature; Riyadh noon temperature 106F = 41C.

When I say "white girls" I mean white female avatars. I don't really care who the players are, I just want the racism to stop. And I wasn't calling all white people stupid, just the ones who wear those and play dress-up hooker with stereotypes. Better?

---

Better for whom?

The reason I said something is that you should presumably know Celsius and you said temperatures there are now 70 C...which would translate to 158 F in actuality. It reads more ilke someone who is used to thinking in Fahrenheit who thought C would be about 20 degrees different. (Someone from the Western world who uses Fahrenheit normally, would think, hmm it's about 90 F here and isn't that about 70 C?) That's why I said what I did about shenanigans. I used to think much the same. You'd have been better off just claiming it was a typo.

It doesn't really matter to me - people troll the froums for drama all the time.

It also sounds more like things someone grabbed from a google search, I'm not sure why, but it just strikes me that way.

I liked these two sites. http://www2.brandonu.ca/hillman/century/expo1893/1280.html  and  http://www.mysteriesoftheharem.webs.com

It seems you have two objections: One, with flesh showing and two, with people saying "Arabia" instead of "Arab." I don't much care for people shopping with their hang outs showing in public either, and many who wear silks shopping don't bother with the modesty panel(s) so I can appreciate that irk more. But Arab/Arabia seems like Scots/Scotch - a language quibble. I'm not sure it's something in life to be majorly upset about. I dont mind if someone calls me a Yank, and I don't even think Arabia is meant as a pejorative. But, to each their own.

I dont know that everyone wearing silks thinks silks are from "Arabia." I would've thought they were Turkish, for instance. And they don't exist in today's culture anywhere except for maybe real life Goreans or some belly dancers. But when people wear them in SL I think they are trying to role play ancient cultures. Note I said "trying."

We can probably all find things to be upset with in real life and in Second Life, but the key is, is it worth the time? We all have our hot button issues and maybe for whatever reason and wherever you are, silks in Second Life is one of yours. It isn't one of mine, but I wish you well.

[Melita Magic]

---

Dillon Levenque wrote:

You might be right, Melita. I was a little bothered by the racism in the comments as well, but I was concentrating more on the main objection. Having gone back and read the OP again I'm thinking maybe I was being a bit too gentle. My initial reaction was 'get over it', since SL sexualization is possible if not probable of every single culture/class/point of national origin/religion/lifestyle there is. I just tried to word it in a non-offensive way.

Well, on that sexualization: maybe excepting the Martian. I've never seen a Martian sex club.

---

That's true, it's best to stick to G rated land if one is bothered by sexualization. Pretty much is a core part of Second Life, and one is apt to run into it anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of silks personally but I think everyone in SL has gone through their 'silks phase' as a newbie (if only because it's not something one see in RL), and I personally don't see silks associated with Arabic culture in SL very often - in fact I can't think of once. So I had trouble aligning myself with the OP's outrage, especially due to some of the lashing out at groups that had nothing to do with that event.

[Dillon Levenque]

Hmm. I was not really a newbie when I went through the 'silks phase', but I was still fairly new. The set I bought was based on a pair of metal (gold, of course) frames, and it took a great deal of time to get the frames edited to the point they'd actually almost fit me. They were expecting someone much curvier than I.

Once I'd edited the outfit to more or less fit, it was obvious to me that nobody could look upon me in silks without instantly becoming my slave, and that was a responsibility I could not accept.

I've never worn them outside the fitting room.

 

 

My world, my imagination :smileyhappy: