Burqa Swag

Mahdawi, A.(2013)Rihanna, Lady Gaga and what's really behind burqa swag. Available at:http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/24/rihanna-lady-gaga-burqa-swag Last accessed(24/9/14)

Rihannas controversial stunt which involved wearing her interpretation of a Burqa to a mosque in Abu Dhabi is another example of religious iconography being exploited this time by a celebrity. This obviously got a lot of attention, good and bad. It obviously brought the burqa into the public eye allowing it to be seen in a different light to the usual headlines of its controversy in school. However due to the sexualisation of the burqa this is going massively against the whole religion causing the religious icon to be watered down stripping it of its true meaning. A younger generation who look to celebrities such as Rihanna as a role model will see this and view the burqa as more of a fashion symbol than vital item in the Islamic religion. Celebrities play a big role in fashion being translated to the high street, if someones sees their favourite celebrity wearing something, they want to wear this too. Most fashion pieces have a history, they will have started as a major piece at a fashion show and eventualy be watered down for the everyday person on the highstreet, most of the time the every day person would have no idea of this. This again links in with the theme of religious symbols being used in fashion, most people will look beyond the symbol and buy the item simply because it looks nice, they have seen it in a magazine or they have seen a celebrity wearing it.