PCD vs. Muslim Culture One thing America prides itself on is the freedom it allows its citizens, men and women; the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of choice—the freedom to live. As we have learned through media and even through school, there are cultures that don’t allow the same freedom and opportunity. In my project, I want to discuss gender roles, sexuality and the ways it could affect an individual’s life. In this specific video that I chose, these women are overtly sexy, they appear confident and their words are not words that an oppressive man would approve of, I’m sure. I don’t believe that these ladies are in full control of their actions on stage or their look; I want to see what affects the performance could have on not only American viewers, but Muslim viewers, as well as the performers, themselves. The Pussycat Dolls famous record “Don’t Cha” includes words that could be considered all kinds of things; they could definitely be considered unladylike if put in the wrong hands. In today’s society, women have a different kind of power that some cultures- -and simply some men- -are not accustomed to. “Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me? Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me? Don't cha? Don't cha? Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me? Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me? Don't cha? Don't cha?” (Pussycat Dolls) How many guys really like a woman that is that direct and forward? I am fully aware that this a research project, but to answer this question, in my own personal experience, not many! This specific video could raise eyebrows for many different reasons, in many different countries, in many different cultures and backgrounds. My question: how would it affect the American viewer, Muslim viewer and the performer? Let’s see; first thing first- -the American. As an American, I know that we have the freedom to wear what we want, to say what we want, and do and go where we please at really any given moment; a lot of nations don’t have that. So, when I look at this, do I think that it could be giving off any kind of negative connotation to the 13-year-old girl in San Francisco, California who is singing the song in her mirror? Or to the 23-year-old front row at this live concert? For the girl in San Francisco, if she even understands what she is singing about, her parents, especially her father would see this as a bad path to follow- the words, the clothes, the moves- - but for a woman, sometimes you have to be this way to get your point across. It’s not always about being “risqué” it’s about having confidence, but that can be misconstrued. That’s the “misunderstanding” as a woman that makes me wonder, “What’s the point of saying the word ‘equality’ if my every move is being judged?” This isn’t the only song the PCD have that caused problems for them in their “free world.” The Muslim culture is a different story. I am in no way a racist of any sort, but I do pride myself on being an American, because of the freedom I do have, even if I don’t always agree in all the ways the country is being governed. I chose this culture to compare to my own westernized culture, because it was one of the main ones that has the opposite belief system and ways of doing things. I believe in my heart that the way these ladies are dressed during their performance alone, would be enough to send a Muslim daughters father into cardiac arrest. Oppression is the first word that comes to mind when I think of this congregation of people. Garments like the hijab, the headscarf worn by some Muslim cultures, are used to cover the faces and bodies of the women this society. “The dominant worldview, particularly the Western one, of women in abayas, shailas, and niqabs is that these garments are symbols of oppression. This idea is explored, along with other cultural notes from the country of Qatar.” (Sloan) If a young girl in a country such as Saudi Arabia were to watch this performance, what would her parents think? Or if a young a lady with an Iraqi father snuck out of her home to go see this dominant girl group perform while scantily dressed and using this hardly “profound” language, what kind of reaction would she have? I think it would be a serious culture shock- - and dangerous for her life! Coming from countries where a father can perform a sacrifice killing on their children because they disagree with an action they engaged in, coming to a country where women can wear what they want and say what they want, would have to be a serious world-wind for an immigrant who is as destitute as the young ladies of these countries. As I was doing research for this assignment, I came across a couple stories that struck me as disturbing, because the actions of these Muslim teenagers weren’t even close in comparison to what the PCD’s do on stage, but their lives were changed, so I can only imagine what would have happened to them if they were caught supporting a group of women shaking their tail feathers on stage. Their lives were taken for simply being too “westernized”. “This past weekend, NBC covered the trial of Iraqi Muslim immigrant Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, who was convicted of honor killing his daughter. News sources reported, ‘Almaleki was found guilty of second degree murder today for running over his daughter, a crime motivated, prosecutors said, by the Arizona Muslim man's belief that the 20-year-old woman had become "too Westernized." Almaleki was also convicted of aggravated assault, because the mother of his daughter's boyfriend was also injured when he ran down the two women with his Jeep Cherokee in a suburban Phoenix parking lot in the October
2009 incident. Almaleki, who fled immediately after the incident, driving to Nogales, Mexico, was also convicted of two counts of leaving the scene of an accident.’” (Woolridge) There was also another report of another killing here in Texas by Fox News, “January 1, 2008 reported a Muslim honor killing in Garrett, Texas when a 12 year old girl and her sister called 911, screaming, ‘My dad shot me; I am dying.’ She and her sister died before an ambulance arrived. Reason: father didn’t like them wearing western jeans and blouses. ‘Honor Killing in Texas’ by Robert Spencer, 01/08/2008. ‘Amina Said, 18, and her sister Sarah, 17, smile happily in one widely circulating photo, and Amina is wearing what looks like a sweatshirt bearing the name “AMERICAN.” But their fate may have been the herald of a new, disquieting feature of the American landscape: honor killing. Amina and Sarah were shot dead in Irving, Texas, on New Year’s Day. Police are searching for their father, Yaser Abdel Said, on a warrant for capital murder.’” (Woolridge) These cultures believe in the hijab for the sake of their daughters respect in the community and they don’t want her to ruin her chances of being married to the prospects they line up for her in her future. A man from a world like this wants to be in a control, or at least that’s my take on it. If a young Muslim girl were to follow the steps they see in this video, would that be giving off the submissive facade their future husband and his family is seeking? The way she dresses and carries herself has a lot of weight on her future. I got this idea from a young lady named, Ms. Zacharia. She is a Muslim girl who lives in New Jersey and she and her mother hold this fear within, because of the close knit community she is involved in. “Once rumors spread - about a young woman's immodest dress, flirtations with men or even late hours with friends - they can wash through the community ‘like a flood all over New Jersey,’ Mrs. Zacharia said, leaving the family dishonored and cast out, their daughter never to marry. ‘It's kind of sad, but if I make the slightest mistake, I'm ruined for life," said Ms. Zacharia, ‘I'm like a piece of glass that can't even get a smudge.’”(Cooper) The only affect the Pussycat Dolls could have on her is a negative one; her family would never approve of the freedom of choice and personality that is overflowing on this stage. Now as for the Pussycat Dolls themselves, this could go either way. I can’t say that I know what these ladies main agenda is on a personal note just simply because I don’t know them, but from their performance, I see a group of headstrong ladies. The use of the stage and the way they are connecting with their audience assures you they are not shy in what they are doing. There has been backlash, of course, from parents and critics, about the words to their songs, because let’s face it, they aren’t the most classy looking or most soft spoken and this specific song I chose is not the only one that has caused a stir for them as I stated earlier. This group of ladies has a number of songs that could mislead their image, for example, “When I grow Up”, but they do try to find a way to set the record straight on their personal page: “Let us begin by setting the record straight. When The Pussycat Dolls grow up, these ladies want a lotta things -- among them, to be famous, to be a star, to be in movies, to see the world, to drive nice cars. But one thing they don't want -- or, let's face it, need -- are "boobies." So how come pretty much the entire population of the pop radio-listening world has got it wrong, that every single gym-going, car stereo-pumping, iPod-carrying person discovered chirping along to the PCD’s latest smash "I Wanna Grow Up" seems to think they're singing "I wanna have boobies?" The PCDs, for their part, have no absolutely no idea. However, as they prepare to storm the charts with their sophomore disc, Doll Domination (on sale September 23), the singer-dancers would like to take this opportunity to clear their good names, apologize to those who were unintentionally offended, and come clean once and for all about the often misheard lyrics. The Pussycat Dolls -- Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta, Melody Thornton and Kimberly Wyatt -- hereby solemnly swear that they would never, ever be so crass as to publicly profess a desire for "boobies." Groupies, on the other hand? Now that's more like it! Dismissing them as a quintet of Frederick's of Hollywood models with mics would be a major mistake. Almost immediately upon its 2005 release, their super-catchy first single, the global smash "Don't Cha" (altogether now: "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?! Don't cha?!"), proved that these post-feminist Pussycats were a Fancy Feast for the ears as well as the eyes.” They just want the world to see that they have dreams just like everyone else, as well as feelings. I don’t feel as though they are encouraging that 13-year-old girl to emulate their every move, but there is nothing wrong with having self-confidence, which is something that some men do enjoy taking away from women. “In this culture the penis is hegemonic, a symbold of power and pleasure; the vulva is not.” (Hannah 159) The way they dress is simply a costume, it does not define who they are as people and I feel that, that’s something “American’s” forget as they are judging them while they are doing what they love. Just because they have on daisy dukes and tanks tops doesn’t mean that there are incapable of reaching someone in a positive light. I am proud to be an American, and this video that I chose is an example of why. I may not walk around in short shorts or mid-rif tops, but I have that choice if I wanted it. I could be affected differently than my Muslim classmate who chooses to wear her Hijab headwrap to class, who also watched this clip, but through this assignment I also learned that I shouldn’t assume that she is oppressed in her culture either. She is in America, but their has been a change in their culture and she too has a choice. Every person is affected differntly by something depending on their take on the world. Just because they come from the same culture, doesn’t mean they will feel the same way; just because a woman wears a hijab, doesn’t mean she is unhappy with it and she will agree with the American woman’s way of dress either. “ Consider that many critics view the hijab, the traditional head covering of Muslim women, as the primary evidence that these women are severely oppressed. Although women in Islamic countries certainly do not have the same rights as men, critics should not be so quick to assume that the hijabi is the source of oppression (Kristof 2002), especially when we consider the view that some Muslim women hold toward American dress customs:
“If women living in Western societies took an honest look at themselves, such a question [as why Muslim women are covered] would not arise. They are the slaves of appearance and puppest of male chauvinistic society. Every magazine and news medium (such as television and radio) tells them how they should look and behave. They should wear glamorous clothes and make themselves beautiful for strange men to gaze and gloat over them. So the question is not why Muslim women wear hijab, but why the women in the West, who think they are so liberated, do not wear hijab. (Mahjubah 1984).” (Ferrante 402-3). So is there positive or negative energy given off from this clip? I think it’s all in the eye of the beholder! Even though this is my project, I don’t want to make that judgement for everyone, because not everyone will have the same response. I feel like anyone could find at least one positive thing out of it; even a man who doesn’t agree with it.

Works Cited
Cooper, Candy. “For Muslim Women, Marriage's Delicate Dance.” The New York Times. N.p., 8 Jan. 2006. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. .
Ferrante, Joan. "Chapter 14: Religion." Sociology: A Global Perspective. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. 400-31. Print.
Hanna, Judith Lynne. "The Sense and Symbol of Sexuality and Gender in Dance Images." Dance, Sex and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance and Desire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. 151-169. Print. “Pussycat Dolls-Biography.” Pussycat Dolls. N.p., N.d. Web. 3 May 2012. .
Sloan, Lacey,. "Women's Oppression or Choice? One American's View On Wearing the Hijab." Sage Journals (2011): n. pag. google scholar. Web. 3 May 2012. .
“The Pussycat Dolls-Don't Cha (control Room).” YouTube. N.p., 5 Oct. 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. .
Woolridge, Frosty. “Harsh Treatment of Muslim Women: Muslims in 21st Century America.” newswithviews.com. N.p., 9 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. .

Picture
AAshezoo. Hijab Niqab Burqa 2012. 2012. Photograph. What Is Fashion Blog.
“Pussycat Dolls-Biography.” Pussycat Dolls. N.p., N.d. Web. 3 May 2012. .
The Niqab (face Veil). 2011. Photograph. WordPress.com.