The Islam You Never See
This weekend kicks off the 2013 Formula 1 season so it seems an appropriate time for my annual Islamic Pit Babe Review.
Formula 1, the world's most popular auto racing extravaganza, tours the world with the fastest, most exotic, most expensive, most cutting-edge technology racing machines on the planet. It's a sport rooted in big money European entertainment where the drivers and car owners were often royalty and it attracts the rich and famous from throughout the world. Over the years the sport has expanded to a world-wide tour and the super-rich oil money has drawn it to places one would never have expected it to go in the past, ultra-conservative Islamic countries where the glitterati and outright debauchery of the F1 circus seems so out of place. But it is thriving there and accomplishing exactly what those countries' leaders had hoped for, to promote their country as a modern, attractive addition to the world community, one worthy of international investments and tourism.
But to me, the more interesting aspect is that the sport exposes a side of Islam that most Westerners never see. The moderate, modern, contemporary Islam the media seldom covers. So, what better subject to expose progressive Islam than the Pit Babes of Formula 1?
From the 2012 season, here they are (drum roll please):
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| Abu Dhabi |
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| Bahrain |
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| Bahrain |
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| Malaysia |
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| Malaysia |
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| Singapore |
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| Singapore |
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| Singapore |
Not exactly your grandmother's burka, eh?
My grandmother had no burka. She did have severe cases of burpa, however.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I have been told, this same malady effects her descendents. Of course, I must consider the source... Punch.
DeleteI hear Formula 1 is supposed to be coming to Austin, Texas too. Years and years ago, when I was still in high school, there was a lot of talk around Texas of seceding from the union and joining OPEC. It made sense at the time because of all the gas lines and things. I believe one of the bumper stickers popular in Houston back then said: Let the bastards freeze in the dark. The bastards were Yankees, you know. A lot has changed since the mid-1970's, especially since so many folks from around the country have moved to Texas as if it's the teabagging promised land. I'm betting OPEC won't take them, no matter how good their cars are.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, F1 has come to Texas, last year at a brand new facility called, of course, Circuit of the Americas. The race was a great success. Packed house, good racing. Sometimes I wonder if we might have been better off letting Texas succeed, but then I think of Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and ZZ Top and say, naw, I guess not.
DeleteGorgeous-looking pit babes! It would be interesting to find out if they are allowed behind the wheel. Not necessarily behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, but the ordinary Honda Civic or Volkswagen Passat.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree - what we see on TV is always the extremest form of everything. Not just here, everywhere. No wonder people come to the U.S. for a visit and want to know where the host keeps all the guns in the house.
Nope, not a burka in sight, but like Pixel said, I wonder how many of those women are allowed to drive any kind of car in their countries. "Progressive Islam." Sounds like an oxymoron of epic proportions. Not that I doubt that the moderates, or progressives, are actually the majority, but for the most part, they sit back, and allow the actions and words of the extremists to define and represent them all.
ReplyDeleteSit back and let others do the talking... you mean like the Tea Party? ;) As anal as Islam is, I suspect that most of them are just like most of us, just trying to get by with no control over anything.
Deletewell...that should be good for conversion you know...ha...they are definitely very beautiful ladies....
ReplyDeleteI met a lady from Iran once, and oh my God she was the most beautiful woman I had ever had the luck to stand next to.
ReplyDeleteAlmost makes me want to get on an airplane again. I think most people would be rather surprised that Arab countries have all the modern amenities as everywhere else. But we of the west always think of dirt floors and mud huts.
ReplyDeleteThe problem isn't Islam. The problem is the theocratic Islamic governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia, among others. I worked in Iran for a brief period in the 1970s. The Shah of Iran was still in power then; the country was a rightwing police state (i.e. an American ally). But the government was secular. There were some gorgeous women in Iran, and most of them wore Western style clothing.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to hope none of the countries mentioned above ever get overthrown by Islamic fanatics, or the women in those pictures will be wearing burkas (after being severely punished for defying Allah).
kind of like the Pius republicans that preach against homosexuals and then are found out to be gay..
ReplyDeleteeye candy for the rich and famous and over sixties.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Friko. I am sure the Missus just keeps me around for brawn and eye candy.
ReplyDelete... all these women probably live in the U.S.A...? And they are gorgeous!
ReplyDelete