12. Like a Virgin
By Ibtissam Ouazzani
Moroccan Times
Lien: http://moroccantimes.com/2014/04/3486/like-a-virgin
Fake nose, fake lips, fake bust… Can anything stay natural these days? Surgeons have apparently achieved to change
every part of the body and they ain’t going to stop. Indeed, another form of surgery has become widespread around
the world: hymenoplasty. Morocco hasn’t escape from that trend. But why in the world a woman would want to have
her hymen − the tissue that covers the external part of the vagina and is broken in the first sexual intercourse − back?
According to Dr. Youssef Derouich, a general practitioner at a health center in Marrakech, hymenoplasty is “the
reconstitution of the hymen using an artificial tissue or using the mucous membrane to create in this case an
endogenous hymen.” There is another type of hymenoplasty: hymenorraphy which is simply a temporary
hymenoplasty. Dr. Derouich emphasized the fact that it is an expensive surgery that is not allowed by the Moroccan
law −which is why it is done secretly in some private hospitals. The hymen of a hymenoplasty lasts until the sexual
act, while the one resulting from a hymenorraphy lasts for about two weeks as Dr. Derouich explained.
There’s more. Women have another option, less expensive but more risky, to simulate their virginity. A made in
China gadget. It is basically a little plastic bag full of fake blood that explodes during the defilement. A trick worthy
of the best illusionists. Originally, it was a sex-toy made by a Japanese company. Years after, a smart Chinese
company, Gigimo, took this concept and started making cheap artificial hymens and selling them in Arab countries.
We can now find these gadgets in some souks in Casablanca or Rabat for less than 300 dirhams (Roucaute).
If Moroccan women are using those two methods these days to recreate a second virginity, despite the allergies,
infections, and sutures’ failure that it may cause as Dr. Derouich asserted, it is mainly because of the importance of
virginity of a woman in Morocco. “What a shame it would be for a man to marry a non-virgin woman!” Ms. Nadia
Azzouzi, an active member of L’Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (The Democratic Association of
Women of Morocco) affirmed. The new bride even risks to be rejected by her family and divorced from her husband.
These methods prove Ms. Azzouzi again the absurdity and hypocrisy of the Moroccan mentality. The first reason
that she points out is that the non-virgins use it to pretend to be pure and chaste during their wedding night.
Especially when in some areas in Morocco, we still have that tradition called the “bridal sheet” where the groom has
to show to his family and sometimes even to the guests waiting in front of the door, the traces of bleeding caused by
the defilement of his wife. An artificial hymen will be a “life-safer” for the non-virgin in this case, erasing her
“mistakes of the past” and making her accepted by her family-in-law.
Recreating a hymen is “lying to her husband while the principal foundations of marriage are trust and mutual respect.
But most of all, it is lying to herself because imagining that she can restore a factitious virginity with a small piece of
flesh is burying her head in the sand, like if it was this membrane that determines the chastity or even the value of a
13. woman,” says Ms. Azzouzi. However, she is aware that in some cases, hymenoplasty is “acceptable” like for the
examples that Dr. Derouich gave: little girls that had an accident when biking or riding a horse, or the 20% of women
who don’t even have a hymen.
Ms. Azzouzi’s voice became high-pitched when she started talking about the consequences of this behavior and how
it drives in the male domination in the society. “Approving this is letting those men, who run after girls in bars and
night clubs, exert their machismo on women that have to be docile and innocent and don’t own the right to have a
sexual freedom.” She also adds that men do not want their wives to be already “used.” They find in this “privilege,”
a way to prove their virility and impose, from the beginning, their strength in the couple. It will consequently lead to
the objectification of the woman and drag her to the level of an object that becomes “useless once touched.”
“The concept of virginity can’t be changed overnight,” says Nadia Azzouzi with a sigh. “We can maybe see
hymenoplasty as a step forward to the freedom of women, but we can’t fool ourselves. A hymen can’t be sewed on
again. Do we really want to own our rights with this petty and deceitful way? No! This method goes against all what
sex equality stands for. It will only deepen the gap between the two genders and kick start the male chauvinism in
our country.”
Who knows, maybe two or three generations later, nobody will care that much about virginity anymore.
14. When Arctic Met Sally…
By Ibtissam Ouazzani
Seven Days
BURLINGTON – Last Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Champlain College, local artist Sally Linder held an
exhibition of paintings from her last series “Within the Circle”.
Starting with a small wooden panel to end with a large impressive canvas, Sally Linder made all the
attendees wander through beautiful landscapes and discover a world they know only by imagination: the
arctic. But her paintings are far from being a traditional realistic depiction of landscapes.
“Powerful, meaningful… Sally had something to say and a boiling passion inside her. She externalized
this passion, satisfied her urge to speak using her talent and it appeared perfectly on her paintings,” said
Andrew Simon, tour manager and also art passionate who attended the exhibition.
Sally Linder is actually a fighter for the environment. She describes her work as very political and
challenging. She has been to the arctic twice and witnessed first-hand the gravity of the situation. This
white serene place is shrinking by the hour and its people are certainly not to blame. As she pointed out:
“Women have the most toxic birth milk there…temperature reached 50 °F last summer… polar bears
cannot stand this climate anymore...and nobody is doing anything for it to change”.
“I just love the story behind those paintings,” explained Chris Thompson, curator at Champlain College.
He wanted Sally to do a lecture and share her story with people from the College. She admitted that “it is
not the ideal place to do an exhibition; it is not a public space.” But as she clarified: “I saw in that an
opportunity to walk the talk to the business people and administrative offices that actually can make a
change. I also knew that students are going to be brought to it. That is why I gladly accepted the
invitation.”
However, only one student attended the exhibition. But this didn’t seem to be problematic. The majority
of the people at the event were professors at Champlain College and close friends to the artist. The
president of Champlain College himself was also one of the attendees. The exhibition was a real success
and the feedback was unanimously positive. Stella Marrs, artist and professor at Champlain College
describes: “It is so…white! So much space, it makes the paintings breathe.”
Sally Linder (in blue), carefully listening to the feedback of the attendees
15. After letting the attendees build up their mind about her artwork and what it represented, she gathered all
the people around so that they can listen to her long-awaited lecture. She started her story by explaining
how hard for her it was to draw everything that was in front of her after visiting Greenland, Svalbard,
Iceland and the Canadian High Arctic. She felt in love with their coldness and wanted to rescue it.
It is when she started narrating her story about three of the paintings within her exhibition −“The
Guardians of the Circle”− that everybody in the room held their breath. “I came back home after my first
time in Greenland, I started painting continuously and some figures started taking shape and emerging
from the graphite. When I went there the second time, I visited a local museum and had a real revelation. I
saw some carved statuettes and was explained that they are considered as protectors by the native people
and are passed down from generation to another. These statuettes strangely resembled to the shapes I
drew. That is how I knew. These were The Guardians.”
Guardians of the Circle III
Some people were skeptical about the power of Sally’s work. How can these paintings be a motor for
changing the situation in the arctic? She promptly answered: “I believe that each person can be part of the
change. Each one should use what he or she is best at to make a change. It happened to be that I am best at
painting. Those paintings can also never be seen by anyone and still help. What matters is the process, the
energy created while I am working on a painting, it will add up to someone else’s energy and so on. This
is how we can make a change.”
21. Follow our Skinny Teatox
program combined with our
diet and exercise suggestions,
Our Complete Health Pack makes
it easy to implement a healthy
lifestyle by structuring
your daily routine to targetyour daily routine to target
all elements of your health.
THE PROGRAM
Visit our page
Skinnymetea.com.au
Follow us on Pinterest
pinterest.com/skinnymetea
Have
ONE this
christmas
wish
Ibtissam Ouazzani
22. Exercise is incredibly
important during your detox.
We will give you a variety of excercies
that target different areas of the body to
speed up the process of getting healthy and
PLAN
EXCERCISE
SkinnyMe Teatox & Teatox Eating
Plan is to cleanse and detoxify
your system.
We have a selection of recipes
you can follow whilst undertaking
your SkinnyMe teatox .
Know the foods you should avoid
the foods you should eat more of,
and some meal ideas.
PLAN
EATING
DETOX
TIPS
Benefit from our
community’s forum
and learn how to
cleanse and detoxify
your body naturally
with detox tips
Ibtissam Ouazzani
25. Buzzfeed 1
BuzzFeed
Interview with
REGINA KING
Bruce Jenner: “Yes. For all intensive purposes, I am a woman.”
REVELATION
From Olympic gold
medalist to reality star
ENTERTAINMENT
Jared Leto tranforms
the Joker
INTERNATIONALLY
Afghan women demand
justice
NEWS
148 students
killed in
Kenya
Ibtissam Ouazzani
26. Buzzfeed 9Buzzfeed 8
“OITNB” is not a comedy
After its petition was not approved by the Academy of Television
Arts & Sciences, Orange Is the New Black will be considered a drama
at the 2015 Emmys, a rep for the show confirmed to BuzzFeed News.
The Television Academy changed its rules for the Emmys last month,
including the fact that series whose episodes are 30 minutes or less
will be defined as comedies and those with episodes of more than 30
minutes will be considered dramas. Orange’s episodes are an hour long,
placing it in the drama categories.
Checkmate!
Lupita Nyong’o Is Filming A Movie About A
Chess Champion From Uganda.
Lupita Nyong’o is currently in Uganda shooting
a new movie, Queen of Katwe, produced by Disney
and directed by Mira Nair.
Queen of Katwe will chronicle the life of Phiona
Mutesi, a chess prodigy who’s been slay-
ing competitors left and right for
the past 10 years. Nyong’o has
been cast as her mother and
David Oyelowo is playing
Mutesi’s coach.
Full House Spin Off
Since August 2014, rumors of a Full House
spin-off show have been swirling. And on Mon-
day night while appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live,
John Stamos finally confirmed that the new show is
happening.
Netflix has ordered 13 episodes of a Full House
spin-off, titled Fuller House, that will follow D.J.
(Candace Cameron Bure), who now has three sons;
her sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin); and her long-
time best friend Kimmy (Andrea Barber). The
series, which was first reported by TVLine, is set to
be released in 2016.
Fuller House will begin just like Full House: A
recently widowed D.J. — the mother of a 12-year-
old, 7-year-old, and pregnant with her third son —
finds a few extra roommates in her sister, Stephanie
(who is following in her Uncle Jesse’s footsteps and
trying to be a musician), and her best friend Kimmy,
who has a teenage daughter.
New Joker
On Friday, Suicide Squad director David Ayer
tweeted out a first look at Jared Leto as the Joker.
The character still has his traditional pale skin,
rictus grin, green hair, and purple garments, but
Ayer and Leto have given him a terrifying tat-
too-punk makeover. Instead of a surgically altered
smile, Leto’s grin is embellished with a set of oversize
silver fillings that are somehow just as scary.
ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT
Bye Jon
Stewart...
Jon Stewart has announced
his final episode as host of The
Daily Show host will take place
on August 6.
Stewart has hosted the
Comedy Central program since
1999.
The network announced on
March 30 that Trevor Noah
would replace Stewart as host,
although he received criticism
almost immediately
for old jokes he had
posted on Twitter.
“I am a woman.”
Bruce Jenner — the Olympic gold
medalist turned reality star — has
finally announced what has been spec-
ulated on for more than a year. Welling
with tears, Jenner told Diane Sawyer of ABC
News, “My brain is much more female than it is
male.”
“Are you a woman?” Sawyer asked.
Jenner answered simply, “Yes. For all intensive [sic] purposes, I am a
woman.”
After making the initial announcement, Jenner seemed to relax some-
what. As for why this was happening now, after turning 65, Jenner said,
“Bruce lives a lie. She is not a lie. I can’t do it anymore.”
IbtissamOuazzani
