Love seeing billboards and posters advertising tennis ladies like Ana Ivanovic and Serena Williams? Well, be glad you don’t live in Qatar. The WTA decided to hold its season-ending tournament in the Middle Eastern country, which has been exposed to its share of Western culture but is still a Muslim nation.
The women are still allowed to play in their normal outfits, but all advertising in the capital city of Doha has shown them just as purple silhouettes. Apparently, Qatar’s state-run advertising agency rejected photos of the players in their tennis clothing because their arms and legs were exposed and that might be considered sexual in nature. Nah! Women’s tennis marketing the sexuality of its players? Get outta here!
Not selling sex may be a foreign concept to us, but the EARTH TIMES tries to explain the situation:
“Since it was the month of Ramadan, we met and we decided that it was better to have silhouettes and not to show players’ legs and arms. We thought we had to adapt to the country and respect its habits and religion,” Moroccan Karim Alami, the tournament director, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Unlike in America, where scantily-clad women are met with the occasional protest or call to the FCC, it can be a really big issue in countries where conservative religious ideals have clashed with modern society. Just ask Muslim tennis player Sania Mirza, who creates such a frenzy in the Islamic world that she won’t even play tennis in her home country of India. Her likeness has been burned in effigy just because she wears shorts and t-shirts to play tennis, and some crazies wanted to throw her in jail for putting her bare feet too close to the Indian flag.
So, even though it’s Ana Ivanovic’s birthday today, don’t expect to see her picture anywhere in Doha:
Qatar, which has experienced an opening to Western culture over the past few years, understood that change cannot happen overnight. So on the streets there is no sign of the WTA’s classic advertising posters, showing off the beauty of Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic and company.
Luckily, this isn’t Qatar:
6:50 pm on November 6th, 2008
God Bless America!
7:00 pm on November 6th, 2008
Looks like the Bea Arthur Open is ready to get underway.
7:01 pm on November 6th, 2008
Qatar is Qa-razy!
7:02 pm on November 6th, 2008
The ladies on top look like they're waiting for the 5:15 magic carpet into downtown Doha.
7:04 pm on November 6th, 2008
Even in full-length smocks, those tennis gals look plenty hot.
7:14 pm on November 6th, 2008
In response, Amsterdam or Las Vegas should host an all-nude tennis tourney.
7:23 pm on November 6th, 2008
Sour:
I'm all for that. I'll even volunteer to be official ballboy.
7:33 pm on November 6th, 2008
Anyone ever see "Manos: The Hands of Fate"? That's what those robes remind me of.
7:37 pm on November 6th, 2008
To show how much I appreciate living in the good ol' USA, I'm going to hunt down every sexy Ana Ivanovic shot I can find online and proudly download it to my hard drive.
7:44 pm on November 6th, 2008
Did you hear they're coming out with a new music video game featuring Middle Eastern music? It's going to be called "Qatar Hero".
8:52 pm on November 6th, 2008
Cleveland, that's harsh. Very harsh.
8:56 pm on November 6th, 2008
Cleveland:
You deserve to have sand dumped in your shorts for that one.
8:59 pm on November 6th, 2008
Hell, I'll host the nudie tournament in my backyard. They can even sleep in my bedroom if they like.
9:19 pm on November 6th, 2008
J-shortbuss:
I'll stroke to that.
9:33 pm on November 6th, 2008
I'm so glad not to be in Qatar. Especially since I have no reason to go there, anyway.
9:48 pm on November 6th, 2008
Cleveland:
Songs include "Singing In Bahrain", "Gimme Gimme Gimme Oman After Midnight" and "Iran So Far Away".
10:10 pm on November 6th, 2008
What better way to end the WTA's season with so may attractive female players than by holding the finale in such a socially-restrictive country.