DUBAI: At home in Dubai, Mariam wears shorts that end halfway down her thighs and a tank top. Sometimes she runs around the corner from her flat and grabs a few supplies for the house. She has never felt worried over stares or her clothes. Still, a new push to ban “immodest” dress could find Mariam breaking the law and this has her frustrated. “It's just a pair of shorts and a tank top, is that really that bad for people,” she told Bikyamasr.com. “I don't think a bikini would be appropriate, but come on, shorts shouldn't be considered immodest.” For her, the new campaign, ironically begun by two Emirati women targeting foreign women in the country, is an attack on a woman's right to choose what they want to wear. “Nobody should be telling us what we can and can't wear. Women are not going around naked so what is the problem. We are supposed to be a tolerant and understanding country, yet we are looking more and more conservative recently,” she added. The country's main public advisory body says it will push for stronger measures to discourage revealing clothing worn by tourists and others in the Gulf's most socially liberal country. Unfortunately, it has not stated exactly what attire would be deemed appropriate, which has left women like Mariam questioning the entire process. The Federal National Council backed the proposal Tuesday after the country's culture minister, Abdulrahman al-Owais, supported efforts to emphasis the conservative traditions of the UAE — which is now home to nearly all of the world's nationalities in cosmopolitan centers such as Dubai. Some council members have urged for airport fliers and other publicity campaigns to encourage less flesh-showing in public. The half-elected, half-appointed council has no law-making powers and any decision rests with the UAE's government. For Mariam, the UAE must begin to lead in the region, as a symbol that the Arab world can be tolerant and progressive towards women at a time when gender rights are being threatened. “From Tunisia to my native Egypt, there are a lot of campaigns that are really scary in terms of what it could mean for women, so it is sad that the Emirates is getting behind this,” she says, adding that she moved to Dubai three years ago to work as a marketing research consultant with a leading international firm.
