I've written about the confusing nature of censorship in this country quite a bit, and it still continues to confound me after all these years. The problem is in the inconsistency with which the censorship is applied which I believe has to do with individuals in control of this applying their beliefs or interpretations. All the photos in today's post were taken in a "Female Only" section of a local department store in Jeddah.
Product packaging often shows the product that is inside the package, especially if the product cannot be seen through the packaging. The first photo is censored in such a way so that hardly any of the product inside the package is visible. All that can be seen is some of the model's skin and a small snippet of the product being sold. The female model's body is covered randomly with 4 stickers - most of which cover up the product and still leave plenty of her skin showing. I mistakenly thought the whole point of censorship was to cover up the woman's skin which would be considered forbidden to see in Islam...
This second photo has just on sticker that covers up a small keyhole area where cleavage might possibly have been visible, but the model's thighs, shoulders, and arms are left exposed. At least most of the product is viewable so the customer has an idea of what she is buying.
This 3rd photo pretty much totally covers up the product inside the package, while leaving what appears to be the almost nude model's body totally exposed. The censorship on this one is particularly puzzling to me - I don't understand why the censor doesn't try to cover her skin instead of the product itself.
This shows the same product packaging as the first photo but with the stickers completely covering up the product inside. But instead on this one, we can see that the model is wearing a necklace which wasn't visible in the first photo, and which ironically is not being sold. The below photo is a headless mannequin sporting a sexy lingerie item - and this all apparently is totally okay here...
Saudi Arabia - Land of Contrasts and Contradictions!
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3 comments:
And those constitute a really big contradiction.
I find the products interesting, particularly the third picture. Given the gender separation, I'm surprised that one wouldn't be embarrassed to purchase it. Didn't you say one time that clerks are male?
I don't see the point of censoring content in a female section of a store.
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