Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010
M.I.A.
Anyone who performs at the Grammy Awards nine months pregnant and wearing a flesh-hugging body stocking is clearly unafraid of making extreme statements. Even so, there was a sharp intake of breath when singer M.I.A. turned up at an awards event this year in one of the most controversial garments of our era: a burqa. For many, it's a symbol of oppression, representing the systematic silencing of female voices. For others, it's a symbol of liberation, freeing the women who wear it from oversexualization or objectification of the female form. Either way, at least we know it's versatile. And this one had such a friendly print, it was hard to be offended.