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How Gwen Stefani Sparked Christianist Sharia Envy
With a few exceptions, the right should not bother to defend American movies, music, and television. From the point of view of traditional values, they are indefensible…we must stop exporting the cultural left’s America. That means we should stop insisting on radical secularism, stop promoting the feminist corruption of the family, stop trying to promote abortion and ‘sex education,’ and we should try and halt the export of the vulgar and corrupting elements of our popular culture. When we cannot do these things, we should apologize to the rest of the world and make it clear that we too find a good deal in this culture to be embarrassing and disgusting."-Dinesh D’Souza, The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11 Pop singer and fashion icon Gwen Stefani was faced with an unenviable decision before performing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 21. Stefani would only be permitted to perform in Malaysia if she conformed to government guidelines on dressing modestly, meaning she was to cover her shoulders, chest, legs, and belly. For Stefani, whose quirky, revealing clothing and well-defined abs are arguably better known than any of her hit songs, this was "a major sacrifice." In order for the show to go on (which looked doubtful for a while), she also had to refrain from "jumping around, shouting, or hugging or kissing anyone", like all female artists performing in that country.
Stefani chose to comply with these regulations, and her Malaysian fans were able to enjoy a two-hour concert. This was, she said, the first time in her 20-year career that she’d ever faced opposition to her performing. (Those who are familiar with her work understand that she isn’t given to political controversies or obscenities.) In most news venues, this was depicted as a brief moment of culture clash. However, at Townhall.com, a website that disseminates the full range of conservative opinion from libertarian free-marketeer to frothy-mouthed Christianist, the feelings Stefani’s decision inspired were a bit…well…different. On August 24, Townhall.com columnist and blogger Lorie Byrd used the occasion of Stefani’s cover-up to express the worst case of Christianist sharia envy since Dinesh D’Sousa’s notorious book of ugly thoughts. After all,
"The revealing costumes worn by Stefani and other performers are not only found offensive by Muslims. There are many Jewish, Christian, and other religions and cultures that discourage immodest clothing, too. Some groups representing those religions have even complained in the past about the bad example being set for girls and young women by so many in the entertainment industry."
Byrd states that Malaysia is 60 percent Muslim, but "those in the United States who identify as Christian is over 75 percent." Byrd rather conveniently pretends that all people who identify as Christian share her ideas about clothing. This is, of course, untrue. Some actually like how Stefani dresses, some think there are much greater problems in the world than a celebrity’s stage attire, and some cover their heads, wear ankle-length skirts and would probably think Byrd is immodest. But like Byrd, we’ll set all that aside. Why, she wonders, does Stefani respect Muslim values in Malaysia, but not (her particular sort of) Christian values in America?
"Maybe it is an example of the squeaky wheel getting the oil and Christian and other groups have just not complained as loudly as some Muslim groups have. Perhaps no other groups have ever directed their pleas for decency in the entertainment industry specifically at Stefani….[M]aybe it is not a matter of Stefani respecting Muslims more than Christians, but rather a matter of fearing them more."
Byrd mentions that the "10,000-member National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students" protested the idea of Stefani coming to Malaysia, but does not mention that the government’s censors got involved as well. She also neglects to mention that there almost wasn’t a show at all. This was not a case of the Concerned Muslims for Malaysia writing her a polite letter asking her to please tone it down for Malaysia’s children. This was an entertainer (and the many people whose livelihoods depend at least in part on her performances) being required to bend over backwards and then forwards again in order to please her fans and avoid the financial risk of canceling a stop on her world tour.
Byrd uses her own experience while a student at an apparently rather strict college as an example for female entertainers, as if this is remotely relevant.
"For six years I attended a Christian school with a dress code that required girls to wear skirts no shorter than the top of the knee. Girls were allowed to wear slacks to after-school events, but were not allowed to wear shorts. Most visitors to the school honored the dress code as well. There is nothing wrong with voluntarily paying respect to another person or group’s idea of what is appropriate."
Yes, and perhaps we should expect pop singers, rock singers, and rappers to conform to the dress code at the corporation for which I work, too. After all, I voluntarily respect the company’s idea of what is appropriate and wear knee-length skirts and pantyhose, an article of clothing I cuss about whenever I put them on, every weekday. It sure wouldn’t do any harm to Stefani’s or Eve’s or Gretchen Wilson's or Amy Winehouse’s images if they took the stage looking like corporate drones or Christianist college students, right?
On a more serious note, it is that tricky word "voluntarily" that Byrd seems to be either confused or willfully ignorant about. Byrd could choose to avoid that college, as could visitors, and the visitors could choose to return to their normal way of dress after they left her former campus. She could choose to leave that campus, much more easily than a citizen of a Muslim-dominated theocracy can choose to leave their country. I choose to spend my weekends in jeans and T-shirts that my wife has re-tailored to flaunt parts of my body that she particularly likes. A female performer in America can choose to expose or not expose her midriff, cleavage, thighs, and/or scalp, to take the stage in a burqa or a thong and pasties or anything in between. In Malaysia, the government takes those choices away from female performers. They must cover certain body parts, they must avoid certain behaviors, or they don’t get to perform and their fans don’t get to see a concert. Their female citizens are even more tightly controlled.
Byrd doesn’t care for the means, mostly because it was foreign Muslims implementing them, but she sure does like the end:
"It does make me wonder, though, what it would take for performers in this country to start showing more respect for the beliefs and ideals of Christian, Jewish, and other religions. Leaving aside the religious or cultural aspect even, I wonder what it would take for some of today’s entertainers to listen to moms who don’t want their daughters emulating singers performing in what look like bedazzled undies."
Here I was thinking what it took was a parent saying, "That’s okay for that singer, but as long as you’re spending my money at the mall and living under my roof…" This is not sufficient for Byrd, however. She would, much like the Malaysian government officials, prefer to make the decisions for other people’s daughters, even the ones who are fully grown and buying their own clothing.
"Would a protest, or maybe even a boycott, do the trick, or are threats of violence the only thing that gets results?
"In the rare instance when individuals commit violence in the name of Christianity, as some of the abortion clinic bombers in the United States have done, you will hear most Christian groups loudly renounce that violence. Denunciations of violence committed in the name of Islam, whether it be bombings or beheadings of people who refuse to conform to sharia, are generally more scarce and less loud.
"I have no quarrel with Gwen Stefani, or anyone else, who makes the decision to dress more modestly out of respect for another’s culture or religion. In the case of an entertainer like Stefani who has many young female fans looking up to them, it can actually be a very good thing. I just wish that it did not take a protest from a Muslim group in a foreign country to make it happen. There are plenty of moms that I hear from on a regular basis right here in America who would like to see a whole lot less of the women their daughters idolize. "
That’s it. That’s what she has to say about methods. It was a short piece, but one point comes through loud and clear. Byrd seems to say, those Muslims may be violent, foreign, and scary, but dang, at least they can get a problem that plagues (some) good American Christian moms handled! Why can’t American Christians get female entertainers to cover up and stop giving their daughters ideas? Well, for one important thing, we are in America, not Malaysia. Gwen Stefani and other American performers can make the sacrifice (and for an image-conscious artist, it is a sacrifice) for one night because they know they won’t be in Malaysia forever. Most of the people in that Kuala Lumpur stadium, however, will likely be stuck with that society for the rest of their lives. Soon Stefani’s world tour will be over, and she can return home. She will be able to wear as much or as little as she desires. Her very body will not be seen as a threat. While we have self-appointed morality police such as Lorie Byrd, they do not yet lie in wait with weapons at the ready, their eyes searching for an inch too much exposed hair or leg. Most of us reading this understand just how valuable that is. No doubt (ha!) Stefani probably understands now, too.
I will take one page from Byrd’s book, however. I will end this post with a fervent wish. I just wish that those American women who are so willing to squander their own precious liberties for their idea of morality soon see reason and learn a little appreciation for their blessings.
How Gwen Stefani Sparked Christianist Sharia Envy | 0 comments ( topical, 0 hidden)
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