Boos Il wawa

I’ve never been a fan of Hayfa Wahbi’s voice but I’ve always given her credit for having that porn star appeal.
She’s the perfect inflatable Middle Eastern woman. The long black hair, the pouty lips, and a knack for dala3 in that I’ve got sex appeal and I’m going to use it to my advantage way. I’ve always taken her music at face value but something hit me yesterday while watching her latest boos il wawa video clip. Arabic music and the Arab female artist persona has drastically changed over the years. While Hayfa Wahbi swims in a bigger sea of drool than Nancy Agram, Nancy can definitely be accredited for the instigation of this slippery slope of sexier racier video clips.
This phenomenon had me facing two somewhat contradictory emotions. The first, a sense of empowerment and the second a sense of exploitation caused by the objectification of my entire gender.
The first thought left a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Finally women are realizing they’ve got this amazing untapped energy and ability to move mountains with just a little finesse. Why dance around the bush when they can just burn it down in a pyrotechnic blaze of glory? These women send a message that is loud and clear, ‘I am a sensual being and aware of it’. As expected, society has yielded and a sexually in-tune woman has slowly become more OPENLY desired. As a direct result of this shift in ideals, plastic surgery and tummy tucks are no longer only an obsession for Pamela Anderson and the likes. Women are wearing what they want and flaunting what they’ve got. A revolution of sorts has taken place and my generation has managed to experience it first hand.
The second emotion was a little harder to shake off. Though the realization of ones own autonomy is grand and empowering its abundance has a negative consequence. I suddenly became conscious of the age old feminist dilemma of freedom of sexual expression and its inevitable coupling with an increase in objectification. Artists were no longer accumulating a fan base solely on vocal competencies. Ritz, glamour and sexuality are now key players in the game of fame. It is show business after all and so with respect to Hayfa and Nancy it’s completely understandable. It is the ones that want to follow in their footsteps that have me a little concerned. Allowing yourself to become an object of desire in turn promotes an increase in being desired and left unchecked eventually increased objectification. While not every woman is comfortable with the I’ve got goods you want, the abundance of women who carry themselves like they’re on display gives way to a certain assumption or stereotype.
So with every mini revolution comes a mini counter revolution. In this shift towards a more open stance to sexuality I hope the plight will not be hindered by the counter revolution.