ModernTraditional.com News

Eid Mubarak!

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:00:19 -0700

Here's wishing a happy Eid al-Fitr to our Muslim readers! If you have Muslim friends and family, and would like to buy them a gift, this is a good time to give them religious items or fruit, or some other nice indulgence such as halal candy, to mark the end of Ramadan. Eid Mubarak! :-)

New Scarves and Cardigans at HijabShop.com

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:10:24 -0700

The Hijab Shop has some beautiful new scarves and cardigans for the fall season.

Ramadan Mubarak!

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:07:38 -0700

The auto post ran out, so this wish didn\'t make it out on the day it began, but anyway, I\'d like to wish all Muslim readers a thoughtfully happy Ramadan. This year, it started on the evening of the 21st of August, and will continue until the evening of the 21st of September.

You don\'t have to be officially Muslim to get something good from Ramadan though. All those of Abrahamic faiths would do well to recognize the lesson that God created all mankind as His children. Ramadan is a time during which it is said that all of the sacred texts of Abrahamic faiths were revealed, the Torah, the New Testament, and the Quran.

All About Ramadan

Modesty Trend Continues in France

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:29:18 -0700

Earlier this year, Time.comreported that topless sunbathing was falling out of fashion in France. This sent a ripple across the blogosphere of people commenting on whatseemed like a sudden shift. Turns out that on further exploration,this wasn\'t really news at all. It\'s just that non French peopleonly recently noticed a change that has been in the works for a long time.

Since the 70\'s there was campaigning from feminists, who take most ofthe credit for the sexual revolution, to allow topless sunbathing on publicbeaches in France. They won partly because they were promoting theidea of nudity being disconnected from sexual invitation or availability. It was overly idealistic to expect men to become indifferent to nudityjust because they could be culturally influenced to accept it and takeit in stride though. Even in cultures where nudity is normal, peopleare not indifferent to the visible condition of the body. So if you\'renot being viewed as available, you are still being rated for your beauty. In cultures that are very looks critical, allowing nudity only makes iteasier for people to devalue you for your looks.

This lesson was clear in French culture well over a decade ago, andyoung French women are opting to cover up. The ones who are stillbathing topless and dressing immodestly are considered low class, tourists,or old ladies. Yes, it is the sight of saggy boobs that has donewhat moralist protesters and gawking male immigrants could not. YoungFrench women, horrified at the sight of their mothers\' pendulous, pancakelike, or incongruent surgically enhanced breasts do not want to grow upto be \"that woman\" who parades her old titties around the beach.

Nudism/naturism isn\'t suffering because the modesty trend. Privateand semi public areas that are nudism friendly don\'t lack for freedom lovingindividuals who sincerely don\'t bother about clothing. These areconsidered the proper context in which anyone should feel free to be undressed. Similar to places in Germany, Finland, and other European countries wherethere is \"locals only\" tourism, the idea is to have safe places. The only people in them would be people who actually come from the homeculture, or are connected by kinship or friendship.

The modesty trend in France isn\'t about religion as much as it is aboutcontext. The general public sphere is not one in which women feelsafe to be nude. Living near one of the fashion capitals of the worldalso lends to much thought and discussion of clothing and what styles communicate. So it\'s shouldn\'t be surprising that women there would decide to dressfor the role they wish to play in life.

More opinions and posts about the modesty trend:

SecularModesty Rages in France
OnlyOldies Go Topless On French Beaches

Professional Scarf and Head Wrap Styling

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:40:57 -0700

Gelee, khimar, and other scarves and headwraps are usually doneby the wearer for themselves, but if you know an expert, you can have yourwrap done professionally. Head scarf artists in Africa, the middleeast, and other parts of the world provide their services for weddings,formal occasions, and those who prefer a precise wrap that looks good fromevery angle. Aisha Bilal,NaneesSelim, and others use beautiful fabrics, pins, and decorative materialsto create unique and fabulous designs. A trip through YouTubewill reveal many willing to teach others their head wrapping methods andstyles.If you're a hair stylist, especially a natural or African hair culturist,becoming an expert in scarves will be good for your business. Wrappingis good for times when the hair needs to rest from styling tension andto protect the hair from the harsh elements. It will also enhanceyour services to the modest dresser, since you'll be able to finish themwith a beautiful wrap, not just shoo them away when you're done with theirhair and let them fend for themselves.

Adding wrapping to your repertoire is inexpensive, but you will needto know where to get the right supplies, and be aware of safety and sanitation. If you'll only be doing wraps, you don't need a hair styling license, butyou will still need to study proper disposal, contagious diseases, andproper handling of hazardous materials, as well as proper cleaning andstorage of fabrics. You don't want to cause any allergic reactions becauseyou didn't use a green detergent or spread pediculosis because you puta used scarf back in your box.

You can get swatches and remnants for cheap from just about any fabricstore. It's nice to keep a supply of these handy aside of a collectionof full sized scarves, so that you can have things on hand that will matchthe patrons' clothing more closely. The smaller pieces can be madeinto flowers or used to cover hair sticks or for other nice accents. Be creative with it.

Good pins are also important. Though some are okay with straightpins, I prefer safety pins and hair pins. They're not as easy toconceal, but they are more secure. I recommend getting a collectionof hair matching and colorful hair pins, many small safety pins, and sittingdown to make a nice collection of hijab/scarf pins. You can alsobuy pretty pins already pre made for this purpose.

Practice makes perfect in this art. Seek as many opportunitiesas you can to style scarves for your friends and family. If you like,sendus some photos of your work.

We Have Not Forgotten: Hijab Bans

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:09:41 -0700

Someyears ago, I announced with shock and horror, that some French governmentofficials had begun aggressively attempting to ban "religious expressions"in schools, including but not limited to Islamic, Jewish, and Sikh headcoverings. The racist and hypocritical laws somehow passed, despitethe protests from religious and secular people who believed that the bansshould not include clothing worn specifically for the purpose of modestyand/or self defense. A person who wishes to cover themselves forspiritual/psychological reasons is doing so for the same reasons that someoneundergoing chemotherapy may cover their head due to hair loss. Wearingmodest clothing is not an exclusively religious act, and is in fact, separatefrom one's religion. Taking off someone's clothes doesn't changetheir belief system. To force someone to expose their body whomay have smooth skin is as much a violation of privacy and right to selfdefense as to force someone photosensitive or with another skin disease,to expose themselves.

Not to mention, it is impossible, sans actual religious symbols, todefinitively say what a person's religion is by how they are dressed. On a hot day, even an atheist may don a scarf. So how in the worldwill someone decide who can wear what? If a Rastafarian wears a flowinghead scarf, is it then okay because she is not Muslim? If a womanis wearing a bonnet, will someone check her to see if she is a Quaker orAmish? If she is, will they decide that she may not wear a bonnet,and her Muslim friend can, since the bonnet isn't viewed as stereotypicallyIslamic? Since when does racism, and ethnic sterotyping become partand parcel with being secular? Aren't we, as people in western nations,supposed to be getting away from that irrational mentality?

Would I be banned from working in the public sector in Europe becausemy chest has my Catawba style snake signature and a Sankofa symbol?

No, I wouldn't. In fact, I might even be encouraged to show offmy cleavage as much as possible, even outside of spirituality focussedevents. I would be applauded for my pride in my cultures, and perhapseven invited to talk to children in public schools about my spiritualityand my cultures.

This is exactly why it is not fair. Faith, spirituality, and philosophyare all part of the human experience. To attempt to extract themfrom it, and pretend like it doesn't exist in an educational setting istrying to rewrite history and anthropology. What's worse is thatthis is not truly being done to protect children or to give them a morebalanced view. It is done to "whitewash" education, leaving a gapthat can be filled with whatever propaganda is profitable and convenientto the powers in government at the moment. At the moment, that propagandais decidedly anti Muslim, and less intensely, but certainly anti Jewish. It's being done with the same viciousness as its predecessor, anti Black..orlet's just cut to the chase: It's flat out racism.

One of the sad facts about the "religious expression" bans is that theprimary target is the Arab/Islamic head scarf commonly called "hijab",though the different styles of scarf have different names. Racismis exactly how the laws got passed. The governments are exploitingthe fear and division between ethnic and religious minorities to keep theprotests outside the Islamic community to a minimum. Most Jewsdress fairly secular, and at the school age, religious Jewish girls arewearing long sleeves and skirts. None of them fears that the doorsof their school will close to them because their skirts aren't above theknees, to prove that they are adequately secular.

No one of African faith fears that they will be banned from their jobat a French or German company because they happen to be wearing conch shells. The prime candidates for the discrimination at the moment are Muslim, andwell, according to the news, they're all ticking suicide time bombs, right? The problem is that once these kinds of things become law, the targetedgroups could be anyone. The police could decide tomorrow thatNative Americans are secretly trying to take over the world, and a Germanguy whose dad was an American soldier who was part Cherokee, could be firedfor having a wolf tattoo.

African and Native American faith and Hinduism aren't currently viewedas threats, but from the resurgence of bhakti type movements being brandedas cults, Native American casino scandals getting more media attention,and Voudun priests being blamed for modern slavery and human sacrificesin Africa, we can see that this is coming. All people who believethat people should be judged based on their individual behavior, and notby superficial things like their color or how much of their bodies theycover or not, should beware. When the bell tolls, it's tolling foryou...and if you tolerate racist idiocy in the law when someone else isthe target, it won't be long before you are the target too.

So to everyone who is now basically being forced to disrobe just togo to work or school, know that some of us out here know what you are feeling. We have also been arrested for braiding hair due to laws that were passedwithout a popular vote. We've been shut out of jobs for not wantingto put harmful chemicals in our hair. Some have had people attemptto make us embarassed about our ancestry if we could "pass". Somehave been pressured to paint our faces and wear shoes that damage our feet,or diet in order to "project the proper professional image".

There are many of us out here who have been touched by the demons ofpoliticizing looks in one way or another, and we have not forgotten. We want to live in a world where even if we can't walk about naked withoutlustful stares, we can at least cover what we want, without family or thegovernment pressuring one way or another.

So those of you out there who are still fighting the good fight, I amwith you, and I thank you. Part of this site's mission is to promotefreedom to dress according to our personal tastes, and not the harmfultrends. I hope that this site has helped to push forward positivetrends...people wearing beautiful garments, and living more productivelifestyles, and not abandoning the wisdom of our own and even other cultures'elders when we see that incorporating a "foreign" custom can improve usas humans.

ModernTraditional.com remembers the hijab bans. Let's keepstriving for the day when they will be abolished...and look forwardto the time when we even laugh in gratefulness that mankind evolved beyondsuch silly policies.

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TheForgotten Hijab Bans
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Melamine Milk Gets Even Scarier

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:44:23 -0700

In case you haven't heard, melamine, a toxic industrial compoundused to make adhesives, has been found in milk from China. Much ofthe contaminated milk has been exported, so many children have died fromkidney problems. 50,000-60,000 children have become ill from this,though most suspect that these numbers are smaller than the actual number. Some of the symptomsof contamination could be mistaken for normal childhood illnessesor a urinary tract infection. Even someAmerican children living in Asia are known to have been poisoned.

What many don't realize though, is that some people outside of Asiahave also been poisoned. Ahigh proportion of food all over the world, was produced in China orby Chinese companies.

Though the media spotlight is on China at the moment, I'd like to remindreaders that many companies from many different countries use unethicalproduction methods. The situation with the melamine milk is but thetip of the iceberg, and people should be very careful about any kind ofprocessed foods, or any basic foods that are generally made or grow inlarge industrial farms or factories.

At the moment, there is no way of really knowing how far the melamineproblem spread before the public was made aware of it. What we doknow is that it was going on for months before the first news story brokeout about it. So you might have melamine contaminated foods in yourcabinet right now, and be unaware of it.

If you have any products that contain milk or milk derivatives, andyou aren't absolutely sure of the source, throw it out now. Don'teven feed it to animals. Melamine needs to be disposedof a certain way in order not to pollute the environment. Basically, it should be burned or buried. If you have friendswho also have questionable milk products to get rid of, you can make ita group effort. Don't pour it down the sink because it can be harmfuleven after the sewage water is processed into sludge.

Something is obviously risky if it was made in China within the pastyear, but just because the product doesn't say "made in China" doesn'tmean that it's safe. Even if it was made in the UK, the milkmight have come from China. So if you're not sure, call the company,but be aware that you might not get the whole truth or a straight answer. Any company that currently engages in unethical behavior such as usingpalm oil that was produced by wiping out large areas of rainforest, orraising chickens in small cages all their lives, might not be concernedabout small amounts of melamine in chocolate, custard, or pastry fillings.

In the future, just be very careful. If you start having strangesymptoms, go to your doctor, and do whatever tests are necessary to findout what's really wrong with you. The problem with some of the casesof death and severe kidney problems this time around was that kids wereimproperly diagnosed at first.

Also, avoid processed foods as much as you can. This is just healthierfor you. If you must use any processed food, at least know wherethe ingredients came from. Try to find locally produced foods ifpossible, where you can actually go to the place and see how things aremade there.

I wish you and your families health and happiness. Feel free tocomment or share any information you think will be helpful in protectingand healing people during this crisis.

Return of the Grippa

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Brace Yourselves for the Return of the Grippa

School has started, and fall will turn to winter in just a couple ofmonths. Along with it comes cold and flu season. Most of ussurvive colds and flu well, but there are more viruses out there that yourkids can bring home. Some of them won't harm your kids much, butcan leave you with permanent respiratory damage.

What's even worse is that many of them don't even have a name. Some have swept through, leaving thousands of people deathly ill, and thedoctors can't even tell people what they're suffering for except a descriptivePolish term: grippa.

Grippa basically means the flu, but it has come to mean flu like virusesthat aren't actually influenza. Sometimes this is adenovirus,which is usually something like a flu for children, but can leave adultswith severe pneumonia. A good bit of the time though, it's not theflu, not adenovirus, and nothing bacterial...you've just got something,and nobody knows what.

Until last year, nothing like this had ever happened to me. SinceI'm an attachment parent, during winter, my daughter, who was 14, sleptin my bed. When she got sick, it didn't seem like the end of theworld, so it was worth the sacrifice to be there to comfort her. Then I got sick. I was so sick that I had to make four stops to makeit the 6 meters to the bathroom, and I usually got there crawling, fora week. I was so tired, and it was so difficult to breathe, thatI prepared my family for the possibility that I would die in my sleep.

I believe that the only reason I survived was decisive action from myfamily to get me the drugs and give me the encouragement I needed. There were many things I'd do differently though, if I had to do it overagain. This year, the grippa won't catch me unawares.

Chances are that you might not actually catch something that bad, butit can happen. Thousands of people in my area did catch this though,and some died. So I'm sharing this information of simple things youcan do that will carry you fairly easily through the flu, and help increaseyour chances of surviving an unclassified grippa. Some of this willalso help with aggressive bacteria.

Prevention

Promote good hygiene.

Colds and flu are airborne, and so are some unknown grippa, but thelater are often transmitted by body fluids. Kids who are inschool need to be more than merely instructed in good hygiene. Makeit an issue on the level that they will express disgust with a friend orschoolmate who doesn't wash their hands after using the restroom, or whodoes not cover their mouth when coughing and such. There's no needto be obsessive, just to have strict rules about cleanliness, andexplain them thoroughly.

If your child's school restrooms are as horrible as my daughter's, thenpressure the school to fix this. If the other kids aren't trainedwell at home, there isn't a whole lot you can do about this, but you canencourage the school to do something. If this doesn't work, thenteach your kids how to navigate a filthy bathroom without touchingmuch, and provide them with hygienic wipes and hand soap.

You can make regular wipes somewhat more effective in germ killing withoutmaking them more toxic, by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to them. You can also make them a quick clean-up spray with vinegar, water, anda bit of lavender oil to make it smell less brutal. If you live inItaly or another country with no alcohol restrictions, you can use a 1:1solution of distilled water and white wine as a mild hygienic spray aswell.

The spray or wipes can be used to wipe down a desk or other surfacesthe child isn't so sure about, and to wipe their hands before touchingtheir face or food.

Boost your family's immune system.

If they aren't very dedicated to healthy eating, get everyone inyour family to take a multivitamin daily. During the winter,this should be one that is made for "performance". Feeding them morehoney and less or no white sugar is a good thing if they're more than 3years old. Molasses is also a healthier alternative to sugar.

For me, the jury's still out on stevia. It works very well tosweeten just about anything that doesn't need to be browned, and has afairly strong flavor. I like the taste of stevia, so I even likeit in milder vanilla smoothies and such...but it doesn't do the same thingthat sugars do. So I use it as a sugar booster rather than a replacement. One thing sugars help to do that stevia or other low calorie sweetenersdon't, is kill bacteria on tissues (as in flesh). So during thewinter, if you've been using stevia in the summer, put back in some honeyor molasses.

Vitamin C is also helpful in staving off sickness, or making it lessintense. It's just good for you, and you need to be sure you're gettingenough of it. If it's hard to find citrus fruits, be aware that peppersare also a rich source of vitamin C. Peppers, in fact, have manytimes more vitamin C by weight than citrus fruits.

Fall is a good time of year to start stocking up on dried fruitsthat will last through the winter. Dried seaweed is also a good thingto have around, when you can't easily get ahold of fresh green vegetables. This is the time to start stocking up on things that you may have troublefinding when it's cold, and especially when you can't get out of bed.

Preparation

Buy cold and flu medicine now. Make sure you have enoughin your medicine cabinet that everyone could be sick at once, and you'llstill make it through. Check expiration dates to make sureyou don't buy something that's going to expire before spring. Makesure to throw away any medicines that have expired, so that you knowwhat you have and what you don't. It might be helpful to even writethe expiration date with a big marker on the front of the package,so that anyone who opens the cabinet will see to throw it away.

Aside of drugs, have things handy for in case people can't get outof bed, like bedpans, portable urinals, and adult diapers. Iwished I had those when I was ill. Also have clean bottles orcanteens around so that you can keep water near the bed.

Buy lots of facial tissues, and the economy jar of face creamfor chafed skin. Definitely have some vapo-rub handy.

Get many cans of chicken soup, or powdered real chicken soup. If you're vegan, try an Italian tomato soup.

Make a plan for who will perform what household duties whileanyone is sick. If both parents are ill, the kids may have to feedthemselves, so there needs to be instructions so they don't live on candyfor two weeks.

Gentle Quarantine

People who are sick need love more than ever, but you can do that easilywith minimal risk. Keep the room the sick person is in very wellventilated, let in plenty of sunlight, and don't exchangebody fluids even if you're dying to kiss their poor fevered cheeks. Give extra hugs instead.

If you have a balcony or porch, then for at least a few minutes everyday, get them wrapped in a blanket and outdoors, breathing somefresh air.

Do not handle their soiled tissues or any elimination with bare hands. Use rubber gloves, and try not to inhale any of the particles or dropletsfloating around. Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

Don't make the sick person have to prepare food while they're sick either. It's cruel and could end in everyone else getting sick as well. Don'teven make them prepare their own food. They shouldn't be in thekitchen until they're at least not coughing or sneezing anymore.

The flu or other grippa can be really horrible, but you and your familycan endure it with preparation and love. I hope these tips make yourwinter a happy and healthy one.

About ModernTraditional.com

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:05:00 -0700

ModernTraditional.comis a website dedicated to ethnic, traditional, and tribal styles from acrossthe globe. We aim to raise awareness of the variety of styles andlifestyles that make up the human experience.

Though many of our articles focus on modest clothing, because most ofour readers live in the west, we also like to report on natural beauty,body art and modification, and food and drinking customs. One ofthe things we hope to accomplish is to reinforce cultural identity, whileexpanding the idea of cultural identity to include what makes a person'sheart and soul feel at home, not just their genes.

So some of our readers are English women who've converted to Islam,and are wondering how to wear hijab, while others are African women who'vegrown tired of trying to conform to a European standard of beauty, andare wondering how to wear a headwrap. Some readers may even be wonderinghow to wear a culturally accurate set of waist beads to an African holidayor nudist/naturist event.

Though this site may seem, on the surface, a bit conservative, it ishardly that. What we do here is show respect for the rights of peopleto dress as they feel, whether that is in a full niqaab or nothing at all. Fashion is an art, and clothing and other body ornamentations, are meansof expression.

ModernTraditional.com's Webmatron, Rev. Nicole T. LasherD.M.

Ibelieve that modest clothing is important, and that learning to view thebody as a vehicle for the mind/soul rather than a tool to exploit is alsoimportant. Showing skin or not showing skin isn't the issue. Privacy and the right to self defense is the issue. I started ModernTraditional.comaround 2003, as a way to preserve and publish information that would beuseful to people with a similar perspective.

Modesty is relative to the situation, and for me, isn't about a religiousdogma, even though I am a spiritual person. It's about my right toconceal whatever parts of my body from the eyes of others because my bodybelongs to me and my God...no one else. There is so much that I couldsay on that subject, but this article would then turn into a book. Some of you out there are probably surprised that a person who doesn'tfit any of the classic definitions of any of the major religions wouldbe concerned about modest clothing, but there's more to this thing thanmodesty. This site is about bringing sanity into many areas of life...balancingthe old with the new.

In modern times, we have thrown away so much of the good sense of ourancestors. I'd just like to bring some of that back. Just becausesomething is new doesn't make it better. Humans have been aroundquite alot longer than large industrial machines, factories, and television. Technology should work for us, not against us. Much of the time,when we update, we throw out the baby with the bathwater, and it costsus in both our physical health and our emotional wellbeing.

So if you're tired of being judged solely on your figure and want toreally be beautiful, you feel your child is starting to suffer from beingdumped in a stroller instead of carriedon your body, and you want to know how to lighten your financial burdensbefore things get really bad instead of after, then keep reading this site. You'll find lots of good stuff here. You might even learn some things,and share them.

Welcome to ModernTraditional.com!

Last Chance to See Takalid in Dubai

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:40:04 -0700

Eid Mubarak to our Muslim readers! To those of you in Dubai, tonight at 21:45, 22:45, and 23:30 is your last chance to see the special performance of Abdelkader Saadoun's band Takalid, performing at the Mall of the Emirates. They'll be in the galleria playing unique Algerian based melodies to celebrate Ramadan and Eid. For details of this and other events at the Mall, write to citytime@emirates.net.ae. If you have seen this event, please post a comment. Readers who couldn't be there would like to know how it was. Feel free to send photos to webmatron@moderntraditional.com, if you like.