
© Beawiharta/ReutersPairing the veil with parading and cat-walking is, at its foremost, the reduction of female form to an aesthetic object, writes Zakaria.
Two weeks ago it was running shoes. Nike, the shoe manufacturer whose logo is a fixture in the global consumer imagination, released an online advertisement that features a woman in a headscarf running through the old neighborhoods of Dubai. Sweaty female boxers and fencers follow until the adrenaline-infused montage wraps up with the hopeful - if cliched - image of a little girl.
Where advertisers lead, magazines follow, and a week after the Nike commercial, the soon-to-be-launched
Vogue Arabia released its cover image. Featuring the model Gigi Hadid, made-up face partially obscured by a heavily embroidered face veil, it was touted by the editor-in-chief as communicating "a thousand words to a region that's been waiting far too long for its
Vogue voice." Hadid's bare arm lurks in the shadows.
Today marks the commemoration of International Women's Day, celebrated around the world for more than 100 years, every March 8.
For those Muslim women who have not been waiting for their "vogue voice" or Nike shoes to speak or run, it is also a good time to ask some pointed questions.
Is the reduction of empowerment to a marketing strategy a welcome development? What stance should Muslim feminists take to such representations of Muslim women?
Comment: Jordan Peterson's response pretty much sums it up: