From Bellydance to Burqa

As a bellydancer from the west, I was invited to teach bellydance in Kuwait. I was honored! While there, I decided that I wanted to appreciate the daily life of the Muslim women in Kuwait, so I wore a burqa for a day.

This webisode shows me shopping for a burqa and the experience of wearing it for a day. What I actually felt was so unexpected it completely surprised me and everyone around me.

Please watch, enjoy and let me know what you think!
Dolphina

Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 by Ms. Dolphina

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9 comments (Add your own)

1. Dawm wrote:: I think Dolphina was right on the mark. The abaya is a way to make muslim women feel like less of a person, to make them invisible to all, not just men. I think that is sad, because the Koran tells women to be modest, not invisible.
October 1, 2008 @ 2:51 PM
2. Christine wrote:: I wanted Dolphina to know that the webisodes were such a great idea. Its so nice to get to see daily life through someone you look up to, and getting to see them traveling all over the world gives you a more clear awareness on how other people live.
I would love to see the surf/goddess workshop you had recently,or the hawaii workshops, how fun!
Thanks for sharing!
October 1, 2008 @ 8:23 PM
3. Mari wrote:: Wow, other cultures truly facinate me. And this one has always had my curiosity on how ladies live and how well they are respected. In my opinion, the men are insecure with themselves that they have to hide their women and give them a set of rules to follow. Its sad, because women of Kuwait are so beautiful, I'm sure. You can see it in their eyes, their beauty that is. Thanks Dolphina, for sharing your video with us, very interesting. PS: I love your dvd's (belly dancing and all your new variety dancing).
October 2, 2008 @ 12:03 AM
5. Shelia wrote:: I truly love these webisodes...I love seeing what the woman I most look up to does with her life, and the more I see, the more you become an inspiration to me. You have blessed my life and given me so much. And what you give to others is amazing. You will forever be the woman that I most look up to. Thanks so much for sharing these intimate parts of your life with us.
October 13, 2008 @ 8:25 PM
6. Dolphina wrote:: Thank-you Sheila! I am so happy that you enjoy the webisodes...just you wait!!
October 13, 2008 @ 9:00 PM
8. Lisa Dixon wrote:: Thanks Dolphina for sharing this video, I really enjoyed it. PS: I love your all your bellydancing DVDs.
November 3, 2008 @ 11:18 AM
9. Carol Donnan wrote:: I found it rather interesting that your feelings, Dolphina, changed as time passed wearing the abaya. Novel at first then the weight of the abaya came. I can't even imagine how the women who live like this everyday feel, even if they are "used to it". If these women are to be less a person, or have to make themselves invisible then why even bother to have women there at all. A modest woman is not invisible, she is a goddess locked under those cloaks.
I am greatful and have so much admiration for you to go over there and help these women feel like a goddess. They truly need it! What you can give to these women will last a lifetime!
December 17, 2008 @ 10:33 PM
11. Jessica wrote:: When you first posted this webisode I couldn't watch all of it because my internet connection was not great. I found it again when I logged on to your blog from facebook and I remembered our shopping trip to get you that abaya! It was so much fun and I still tell the story about our conversation with the man who was selling the cards and the questionable tea. As well as the guy who may or may not have wanted you to be his fourth wife!! Also, you could totally hear me laughing in all of those clips since I was the camera woman. Sorry, next time I'll try to be more steady. Remember how we freaked out the security guards? Such good memories. I still plan on coming to your studio and getting certified as soon as we can get out to California!! Thanks again for a fantastic workshop, we loved it and we love you!
May 29, 2009 @ 7:01 PM
12. Jeannie wrote:: Thank you for this little Vid.. it was very good to see and hear your experiences with the abaya. I have friend who is in hiding in the US, because while on a trip here, she ran away from that life. A life where after she had a child, she was locked in a room alone while the older woman of he house took care of the child. Even in the locked room she had to wear the abaya, and was allowed out when they saw fit for her to go out.
Thank God she is safe and happy, but her and her son are in hiding, and that is sad. For if she is found she will be stoned to death. And this dynamic I pray will change for the woman in certain countries who are treated less than the animals the own.
Thanks again for this vid.
June 5, 2009 @ 4:06 PM

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