Can Beauty Be Defined?

“I will have succeeded in effecting change when all girls realize they can do anything they want without having to sacrifice who they are as a person.” - Noor Tagouri 

Noor Tagouri, is a 22-year-old, Libyan, American woman who is not only taking the media by storm but is also changing history in doing so. Tagouri has managed to change the face of both media and fashion in America, along with being a role model for various types of young females throughout the world. She originally made media history by being the first hijab wearing commercial news anchor on American television.

Not too long after, she made fashion history by posing for Playboy magazine, fully clothed along with wearing the hijab. Being Muslim and posing for Playboy has come with its fair share of criticism for Noor. Despite being fully dressed from head to toe, people were enraged to see a Muslim woman in the October 2016 issue of Playboy, due to the stigma attached with the magazine. Playboy has been known to objectify and sexualize women, which is the sole reason for the cause of upset in many people, including fellow Muslims.

The backlash Tagouri received included various amounts of hate comments in the form of tweets and Facebook posts. Unfortunately, a lot which consisted of a vast amount of misconceptions associated with the Middle East.

Playboy Magazine- October 2016 "Renegades" Issue

“I know this much. Now that her face is out there. She better never step a foot inside a middle eastern country, because they’re not going to like this at all. I could see them stoning her to death.” - Facebook Comment

A major reason she did receive backlash from the Middle East was due to Playboy being banned from a lot of countries in the Middle East and how a majority of the people residing there are unable to read her interview about the sole reason as to why she accepted the offer. She is on a mission to create change for not only Muslim women but all types of women.

Women, in this specific case, Muslim women, are still living in a world where masculinity dominates and Noor is trying to break that norm. Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali are two perfect examples of this masculine power in the Islamic world. These two prominent Muslim men faced little criticism for their interviews with Playboy yet Noor faced an immense amount of criticism for posing for the same magazine. She is representing that women can be whatever they want to be.

Noor is portraying that Muslim women in America who wear Hijabs should be respected and treated no differently than anyone else. She is helping people steer away from the ignorance and stereotypes there are about women who wear hijabs. Especially since the rise of racism in America, what Noor is doing is incredible. It’s great to see her making such differences for Muslim women and changing the norm in American media and fashion. Having a Hijab wearing news anchor and model, shows how far Muslim women have come as well as how far America has come today.

We live in a world where women are being commodified in the fashion industry for their bodies. Our lives are consumed with media and social media in which materialism is at an all-time high. The media tries to create false images in our minds. Our society passes those messages, forcing us to accept their "perfect" definition. The way society thinks we should be, cause cracks and dents into our health and mindsets. Negative effects include dissatisfaction, self-harm, depression, eating disorders, low self-esteem, and body dysmorphic disorder.

An individual’s value is now determined by profit and aesthetic appeal due to the increasing obsession with an image everyone is so readily chasing to obtain. Instead of subverting the system by asserting that these are irrelevant, we assimilate into an objectifying culture. We embrace what oppresses us by becoming the perfect victim.

While searching for various types of people to interview, a lot of the responses we received were along the lines of “waste of time” or “there are far greater things to worry about than Noor Tagouri posing for Playboy.” A significant part of our beings truly wished those other greater things to worry about were all that we indeed did have to turn our attentions to, but unfortunately matters such as Noor posing for Playboy not only effects Noor, by an immense amount of other women who share the same ambitions as her. Change is always difficult to accept and majority of the time not everyone will be pleased with our actions. It is immensely important to have an open mind and to accept change and to make everyone feel beautiful, regardless of their looks.

The very foundation of our communities are built on values, thoughts, ideas, morality and ethics. These very ethics and values should be solely on what is within our hearts and how we treat others. Being beautiful should not define what a woman looks like. Rather, if we are all able to look past their exterior, we will be able to appreciate the intellect that is encapsulated within the very women we interact with on a daily basis. 

The real battle is within. Our connection with others and being kind to one another is our only true source of value.

My name is Pooja Ragha and I am 21 years old and am currently a student at Rutgers University. I am majoring in Exercise Science and also minoring in Psychology. I chose to do this topic for my class project because not only do I love fashion and beauty, but I also love female empowerment and those women who are making a difference for females around the world. I find Nour Tagouri to be an incredible women’s right activist and hope to see that she can keep making such big changes for women out there.

Email: psr47@scarletmail.rutgers.edu.  

My name is Aleena Khan and I am a Junior at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. I am majoring in Biology and also minoring in Middle Eastern Studies. Being a girl who was bullied throughout most of elementary school for being Muslim and looking different, I had my share of struggling with who I was. This project is something near and dear to my heart because I hope it is able to help other females, and even males, to accept who they are and to be able to look far beyond someone’s outer appearance. Noor Tagouri is someone I have looked up to for a few years now and I believe she is an incredible woman making history day by day.

Email: awk35@scarletmail.rutgers.edu