Getting Along

The NY Times covers Islamic swimwear and life-saver culture in Oz. None of that hyphenated stuff there, all to the good:

Like most Muslim immigrants here, Mr. Damouny, 20, a sportswriter at The Torch, a weekly newspaper, does not like to be referred to by ethnicity. His grandparents fled Palestine in 1948 and moved to Lebanon, then to the United Arab Emirates, where he lived until moving to Australia seven years ago. He considers himself Australian.

Mr. Damouny said his friends could not understand why he wanted to be a Life Saver, especially in Cronulla. And they did not think he could pass the rigorous eight-week course. “But I did,” he said proudly. Seventeen finished; one woman dropped out after making the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, and coming back in a full burqa.

And an Islamic designer holds her first fashion show in Chicago today and tomorrow:

Turkish designer Rabia Yalcin wears modest clothes that cover her completely, and she hides her hair with a scarf, in accordance with her Islamic beliefs. But her haute couture designs bare plenty of skin with plunging necklines and exposed backs.

She designs wraps and jackets to go along for more modest occasions. Tribune story and video interview here.

It's all about choices and getting along.

Related posts: Women Only Island, A Saudi Valentine?