Kate Moss Topless Infuriates Muslims. Or not.

by HijabMan :: posted 23 August 06

It’s official. According to several newspapers mammary glands infuriate Muslims. And they don’t even have to be present! Just the thought of mammary glands is enough to raise the hackles of Muslims!

The Huffington Post just blasted a bunch of papers for a big mess of sloppy journalism that reaches as far as the Hindustan Times.

According to them, it all began with New York’s ANIMAL blog, when they “noticed that a giant Calvin Klein ad featuring a tastefully-topless Kate Moss was located directly across the street from the Madina Masjid Mosque on East 11th. ANIMAL speculated as follows:

‘This surely must not be a favorite for devout East Village Muslims especially since their rigorous prayer routine requires at least 5 viewings of the wide eyed infidel daily. It’s only a matter of time before some action is taken, and we’re dying to see what a hastily spray painted burka looks like on the young coke sniffing crusader.’”

What followed was a series of “borrowings” (which I imagine happens quite frequently) in which various papers around the world described Muslims as ““infuriated,”:http://toronto.fashion-monitor.com/news.php/fashion_models/2006081713kate-moss” or that the image of Kate Moss ““raised the hackles”:http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=316488&ssid=101&sid=ENT” of Muslims.

After playfully poking at the guilty papers, the people over at Huffington remind us that, “As far as has been reported, NO MUSLIMS HAVE ACTUALLY COMPLAINED. In fact, it doesn’t look like anyone has asked them. You know, the mosque is in the East Village. I’d wager they’re actually pretty chill. But then again “Muslims Are Actually Pretty Chill About Topless-But-You-Can’t-See-Her-Front Kate Moss Poster” isn’t quite as good a story.”

It all reminds me of the time when Mona Eltahawy’s article was copied/stolen by Zakiyuddin Baidhawy, and his “copy” was found in several newspapers, including one in Indonesia, Malaysia. The Wall Street journal also quoted the plagiarized article

And you wonder why I distrust journalists, and find speaking to them absolutely horrific. I know, now I’m being a drama-mama, but it’s that look in their eye. They want sensational. They want exciting! They want MUSLIMS. INFURIATED. KATE MOSS’ BOOBS!
What. A. Headline!

Now go read things like and link to Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting because they rock. Send an e-mail to Seth Ackerman. while you are at it and tell him he rocks.

Yes. Write letters to the offending papers, and write happy letters to journalists who get it right. Then get your Ph.Ds in Media Literacy and or Criticism, go make some documentaries with the Media Education Foundation, and chale chelo! like Aamir Khan!

Alternatively, you could get on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart like Reza Aslan, or Aasif Mandvi. and make people laugh AND get your point across. Ahhh, a nice happy medium!

| share on delicious | digg | reddit | facebook | stumbleupon |

Related Articles
Christopher Walken Gives Good Khutbas. So Does Muhammad Asad.
Solo Trip: Mecca III
Walk to Morning Prayer
Muslims Well Integrated or Approving of Suicide Strikes?
Women in Mosques

  1. Leena at 23 August 06 :: #

    Very nice post. I love FAIR, too…

  2. HijabMan at 23 August 06 :: #

    Dude,

    Seth Ackerman is my hero

  3. deeba at 23 August 06 :: #

    reza aslan is nowhere near as amusing in real life

  4. aisha at 25 August 06 :: #

    Wonderful post. And great website. I loev it everytime I stop by, I really need to go ahead and bookmark it! :)

  5. Shaykhspeara at 29 August 06 :: #

    Something that has been discussed among Muslims here in Sweden is the fact that little encouragement and support is given to those journalist or papers that do, as you put it, “get it right”. I think that is a much more pro-active way than to constantly nag about things that really are not relevant or high on our priority list. Who flashes what body part and where.

    I think we have other things to worry about.

    At the same time, our past behavour has been that of being sensationalist ourselves often, and reactionary. The reactions to the Danish Cartoons is one example. Although I am pleased with the way Muslims in general dealt with it in the west…it was still dealt with in a way that just added on to our image as intolerant and incapable of verbally eloquently expressing a view or point.

    Hmm… I seem to be rambling away…anyhoo, just wanted to say Salam, just discovered the Hijabman and I’ll see you around.

  6. Mujahideen Ryder at 30 August 06 :: #

    LOL

Welcome! This site serves two main purposes: to entertain and educate the Believing and curious community, and to generate a bit of cash—God willing. But there’s a lot more about HijabMan.

Recent Articles

Featured Articles

Regular Guests

Photographs

Worthy Matter

Search