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Blending cultures - the Burqini

By: Santosh :+: Under: Culture, Desi Please
On: ⋅ February 5, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
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Baywatch - the Middle East Remix
(image: via The Daily Telegraph)

Location: Cronulla Beach, Sydney, Australia
Timeline: December 2005
Incident: Race riots broke out as a group of 5000 whites gathered to “reclaim the beach” from people of Middle Eastern descent.
Fast forward to February 2007. SURF Life Saving Australia introduced its latest uniform, the burquini - a unique blend of the burqa and the bikini.

Until now, Muslim women who wanted to go for a swim often had to step into the water wearing the same kind of clothes that they would wear when they go shopping, keeping their bodies completely covered.Now the world’s first two-piece burqini, made of lycra and with a hijab-style head covering, has changed the way Muslim women go to the beach.

The burqini aims at integrating people of middle eastern descent with white Australians by allowing them to partake in activities hitherto restricted to them because of social norms.

Miss Mecca Laalaa, 22, is one of 24 young Australians of Arab heritage who has signed up for a 10-week training course aimed at widening the racial mix on beaches - and she’s doing her training in her brand new burqini.

While these swimsuits will be available in a range of colors and designs, they are not likely to see the Sports Illustrated cover anytime soon and just as well. While this seems to be a step in the right direction in the integration of two cultures, the question is after the Cronulla race riots, is this step too little too late?

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