Muslim Lingerie A Hot Item in Syria

Talk about breaking stereotypes.

The BBC just ran an interesting article on the Syrian tradition of presenting a new bride with lingerie. Apparantly the female relatives all get together and buy frilly g-strings and bras for the lucky woman. It's gotten hi-tech now with heart-shaped underwear that sing songs, and sound-sensitive bras that fall off when you clap. Reminds me of that old American TV commerical for The Clapper ("Clap on! Clap off! The Clapper!!!).

Since this all happens within the context of marriage, there's nothing unIslamic about it. In fact, the article states that in Islamic law, not getting satisfied is valid grounds for a woman to divorce a man. I didn't know that. I wonder how often that actually makes it though the courts? One of the producers of this stuff points out that it actually helps support religion, because if a couple is satisfied with each other they won't go looking elsewhere. A sizzling home life stops you from sinning.

There's an entire street dedicated to lingerie at the Damascus souk. I missed it somehow when I was there in 1994. Perhaps I saw women's clothing and ducked down another alley, assuming I wouldn't be welcome. Or perhaps I was too fascinated by that amazing bookshop behind the Blue Mosque. My loss!