The original hijab fashion, hijab style, beauty and entertainment blog for Muslim women

While I’m not a big fan of Jessica Simpson, I am intrigued by her latest project. She’s doing a show for VH1 called “The Price of Beauty.”
Simpson travels around the world with her two friends to explore what beauty means in different cultures. The show also looks at the things women go through to meet those ideals.

There’s been a lot written about Simpson’s weight fluctuations, which is ridiculous. She’s not big by any means, but it shouldn’t be a big deal even if she was. Weight is so arbitrary; it goes up and down all the time for everyone. People are simply different shapes and sizes.
It’s kind of like people’s idea of beauty. It really is in the eye of the beholder.

I think one of the things I hate most is when someone is called ugly. Have you really met anyone who is ugly? There are always things that make people beautiful. It’s just how we were made.

But the idea of beauty is a strange one. It’s spawned a huge industry that women spend millions of dollars on, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Everyone should feel that they’re looking their best.

It’s just the idea that one way of looking is more beautiful than another.

I can look at my own culture for examples of that. Pakistanis and Indians often see people with fair skin as better-looking than those with darker hues. I always saw that as ironic, since the subcontinent was overtaken by the British, who are fair-skinned.
It’s fine to see someone with light skin as pretty, but I don’t think that should be to the detriment of someone that simply was born a different way. I’m personally a big fan of dark skin. I think it looks regal and striking.

Obviously, it’s a cultural perspective. People have that ingrained in themselves.  It’s very intriguing to see that some cultures love women who are fat while others worship those who are emaciated. The differences are what make us all great.
It’s an interesting thing to look at, and I applaud VH1 for taking that on. It’ll be exciting to see what Jessica Simpson finds out.

Want to read more posts like this? Click on Pop Culture Hijabi for the full collection.

Pop Culture Hijabi is a weekly column by Nadia Malik. Malik is a former newspaper reporter based in Chicago who’s now making her way as a freelancer. She spends entirely too much time watching TV and reading pop culture, fashion and TV blogs. She also occasionally consumes serious books and news. No, really. You can reach her at info@hijabtrendz.com with “pop culture hijabi” in the subject line, follow her at www.twitter.com/nadiamalik or simply leave a comment below.

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I’m very late to the Glee bandwagon, but I just rented the DVDs for the first half of the first season and devoured them in just a few days.

That was just in time, too, since the season starts up again in April.

My brother and sister kept making fun of me while I was watching because they said the show’s been done already as High School Musical.

Although I’ve never seen the Disney version, Glee seems less sugar-coated and a lot more fun.

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This week has all been about the Olympics for me.

I know people tend not to like the Winter Olympics as much as the Summer Olympics, but I absolutely love both.

This has been a crazy week for the American competitors, too. (I apologize to international readers; I have to take a moment to brag about our medals.) I don’t even know what my favorite event has been so far. The week started out strong with a win for speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno. If you caught that race, you know it was insane when two Koreans took each other out, putting two Americans in place to win silver and bronze.

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I don’t know how many of you have been watching the newest reality series, Kell on Earth. The show, which is on Bravo, follows Kelly Cutrone, who runs People’s Revolution, a fashion PR company.

I was interested because Cutrone had made appearances on The Hills as Lauren Conrad’s boss and, most recently, as Whitney Port’s boss and mentor on The City.

Although she works in fashion, she’s not what comes to mind when you think of PR. She doesn’t mince words, and I’ve generally liked the way she handles herself. She’s also very intimidating to people, which is kind of nice to see in a female boss.

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I finally got around to reading Speidi’s book, but before I discuss that, we HAVE to talk about Heidi’s plastic surgery.
For those who don’t know, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are two reality “stars” from the MTV show The Hills. They gained fame by basically being the most repulsive couple on TV. And that’s being nice.

As far as Heidi goes, she recently elected to have 10 surgeries to “improve” her looks. This is the second time she’s gone under the knife, and she’s only 23.
Since all the talk shows have been discussing this for the past few weeks, I won’t rehash what’s been said. But I do think she knows exactly what she’s doing.

The book, “How to be Famous: Our Guide to Looking the Part, Playing the Press and Becoming a Tabloid Fixture” is all about how to gain fame and wealth by doing nothing.

Heidi and Spencer are pretty upfront with what they’ve done and who they are. “We’re SUPERfamous — and for what? We’re on a reality show … on cable for that matter … and we’re not even allowed to acknowledge on the show that our real jobs are, well, being on a reality show!”

The pair gives advice — admittedly, it’s tongue-in-cheek — on how to get on a reality show, mirroring the journeys their lives took. Spencer also gives a guide on being a villain, which he knows all too well. There’s also a pictorial (yes, that means several illustrated steps ) by Heidi on “How to Say ‘I Hate You’ Without Saying a Word.”
Plus, there’s plenty of information on how to use the paparazzi to your advantage, the goal being to be in as many magazines as possible, no matter what the content.

Back to the plastic surgery, though. There’s a whole chapter on looking the part of a star. And there’s a section on plastic surgery. Heidi says, “I can’t for the life of me think of a single reason why a person shouldn’t be able to look exactly the way they want to. Sure, there are healthier ways to lose weight than stapling your stomach, but you can’t diet or exercise your way into bigger boobs or a smaller nose.”

Later on, she says, “Not only will you look better and feel better about yourself, there is no better way to get instant attention than to completely change your look.”
And that just about says it all, doesn’t it?

The book does what it sets out to do. Obviously, the only reason I picked it up is because I loathe this “celebrity” couple, but I can’t wait to see what they’ve said. And just like that, I’ve fallen right into their trap. That’s what they want: To get paid to live their lives. So I guess they are good at what they do.

Want to read more posts like this? Click on Pop Culture Hijabi for the full collection.

Pop Culture Hijabi is a weekly column by Nadia Malik. Malik is a former newspaper reporter based in Chicago who’s now making her way as a freelancer. She spends entirely too much time watching TV and reading pop culture, fashion and TV blogs. She also occasionally consumes serious books and news. No, really. You can reach her at info@hijabtrendz.com with “pop culture hijabi” in the subject line, follow her at www.twitter.com/nadiamalik or simply leave a comment below.

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