The Sex and the City 2 trailer has been out for a while but I’ve been avoiding it. As a former resident of the Persian Gulf, I dreaded what it might look like when our fearless foursome landed in the desert. But after finally getting around to reading this month’s issue of Vogue featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, I had to.
Sam gets four all-expenses paid tickets to Abu Dhabi (as you do) and the girls put their lives on hold for a reunion tour. We’ve got camels and sand and frolicking. Woo-hoo! Having lived in the Persian Gulf, and been to Abu Dhabi, I am dumbfounded by their choice of Emirate. Shopping is the national sport, and Dubai is its capital. Abu Dhabi is, in fact, far more conservative than Dubai. But what makes their ridiculous getups stand out most is the bare shoulders. Last fall in Doha, Qatar (the Gulf nation next door) the police were fining expats who dared to expose their shoulders. It’s true, they do seem to be spending a good deal of time hanging poolside–and 5-star hotels are lawless zones where tradition may be flaunted. And sure, people do run around inappropriately dressed without getting into any trouble whatsoever. It’s all very arbitrary.
And yet, I bring these two things together for you, dear reader, because of SJP herself. In Vogue she waxes poetic over the new twin girls she and hubby Matthew Broderick recently welcomed into their home. They tried the conventional way, but ended up going to a surrogate mom. This made me wonder, was she even aware that such a procedure violates Islamic law in general and UAE law in particular? Adoption jacks up the family lineage and is, as such, haram, or forbidden according to the Quran. Because that is the ultimate extension of women, bearing children to extend the family tree. I’m all for gal power, wearing whatever ridiculous clothes you want and having sex and/or babies with whomever you like on your own time. But to purposefully go into this world and NOT comment on women’s issues really just pisses me the fuck off.
Or perhaps I underestimate. If the trailer is any indication, it’s doubtful. Guess we’ll see soon enough.
