I received the following from a long time reader of American Bedu…
Okay, I have BREAKING NEWS….. (from your anonymous eyes on the ground) the FIRST time it happened, I couldn’t believe my eyes and now I have seen it TWICE.
There is a show on Channel KSA 2 called something like “Harmony of Life” and it’s usually a male and female host interviewing some kind of doctor about something medical.
TWICE the hostess has worn STREET REGULAR CLOTHES AND NO ABAYA! Yesterday she wore a BRIGHT RED SWEATER, pants and BOOTS! The other day she had a long-sleeved top with vest, SKINNY BLUE JEANS and had her LEGS crossed like you would cross them sitting at a bar wanting people to look at your legs if you were wearing a skirt, seemed so provocative! I had to blink to see if I was seeing things! I ALMOST had to go for the smelling salts!
Isn’t this a government channel? On all the other shows (English shows on KSA 2), there are usually two hostesses and they have bright colorful hijabs but always abayas (blinged out abayas, but still abayas).
I don’t know if this is a topic for your blog, but this was breaking news to me! Does this signal the winds of change? Hmmmmm
American Bedu certainly sees this development as a signal of the winds of change. When I worked for Saudi Channel 2 I was required to always wear a loose cover over my head. Due to the programs in which I was involved, I always wore Saudi dress or an abaya. Initially recordings of my program were done without my covering my head, but Channel 2 senior management said that those programs had to be reshot with my head covered. That in spite of my being an American national they expected female employees to abide by the traditions in the Kingdom and their regulations of covering the head when on the air. However, a foreign female guest who would be on the air was not required to cover her head.
In closing, the show, Harmony of Life, also has its own twitter account:
https://twitter.com/Harmony_on_Ksa2
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