Mardi Gras had its fair share of wildness and some of the more flamboyant celebrations connected to it had caught on in Lyre, particularly after Animalia came into existence. Partially because of the fact that Animalia's Edicts also carried many of the same sorts of restrictions that Christianity and the other major religions imposed, in no public nudity and no public sex. It was partially why certain areas in Animalia and Lyre were restricted because of their specific business interests that allowed for nudity or sex, as those places were set up for them. Of course, that didn't make things easier for those Animalians that weren't interested in the sort of jobs that went along with them. And some even more so.
"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Adi grumbled as she moved away from the drunken lout that had gotten overly fresh with her.
"It is fun, in a way," said Gwen as the Red Squirrel Animalian winked to the white furred Arabian Horse Animalian, "the guy's problem is that he had too much to drink."
Adi gave something of a disapproving snort at that. Sure, writing "perverted person" on the forehead of a drunken idiot was amusing, but she was fast finding that Mardi Gras was NOT what she'd joined Animalia for. She'd agreed to participate in the parade with some of the others from the Animalia School of Modelling, but she did not expect that the first thing the others picked for her to wear was a harem girl's outfit. It showed WAY too much of her fur and cleavage and left little to the imagination, and that conflicted heavily with how she had been raised and taught. Her family was not overly religious and among Syria's Muslim population had been rather secular, but that did not mean she was that eager to flaunt herself or her body. In fact much of what she'd signed up to do was with regard to more conservative minded attire that would suit more formal situations.
"And people just come here for Mardi Gras to get drunk and hope to grab an Animalian's butt or breast?" Adi questioned.
"Actually... that guy actually lives in Lyre," Karen commented, "most of the tourist season with regard to people coming to Animalia just to see Animalians is going to be in the summer, when there are more events. It'll be our version of the Olympics this summer… the IAC."
"That's worse," Adi answered, "we are not sexual objects."
"Appearances can be deceiving," Gwen gave a shrug, "and to a drunken idiot... the booze in his system might be clouding his judgement. Wouldn't they have had issues with this in Syria during Mardi Gras?"
"Muslim countries do NOT have "Mardi Gras" or anything like it," Adi answered, "In fact much of my faith's rules are designed to protect women from such things. One may argue that it could absolve men of responsibility for their actions... and to those of us that have been more secular, like my family was, there is some interpretation of laws and understanding that there is some measure of equality between genders and that the law should be equal for both. But still... even Muslim countries that are more secular do not have anything like Mardi Gras. It promotes poor behavior and opens up too many temptations."
There was a silence that came from the group. Both Karen and Gwen then collectively looked down for a moment. As the harem girl outfit had been their idea and they'd pushed it forward that there wouldn't be much in the way of problems. And at first, Adi had been opposed to the idea, but the group had pushed to go along with it as something of a "cultural exchange" and that things wouldn't be too bad. Some things weren't too bad, and there wasn't that much of an issue with going to the parade, but the harem outfit and urging Adi to try and interact with some of the people in the crowd weren't. Though, Karen also had to admit that she didn't think that someone would get so sloshed that they would be as forward as the were.
"And this ultimately also betrays many of the things that Animalia's own Edicts claim to stand for," Adi spoke, and gestured to the harem girl outfit she'd been put in, "This costume isn't even what most women would wear in a harem. The area is often secluded and reserved for women only, and only close male relatives or the husband may enter... it is like you are literally advertising yourselves as prostitutes."
"Hey now... that's NOT what we're going for," Karen countered.
"Really? How many have solicited you for sex in the course of the day?" Adi asked back.
"Most of those guys were drunk," Gwen pointed out.
"That isn't an excuse," Adi answered back firmly and with one stamp of her hoof, "they may be drunk and may not be thinking clearly, and by law, that is something they should be responsible for their own behavior on. But that doesn't mean that wearing skimpy and see through clothing is excused or that it won't generate a reaction!"
"I'll admit that the harem outfit was a poor choice," Karen said slowly, "and I'll also admit that we didn't expect some of the people to get as hammered as they did... but with Lent and all..."
"That is irrelevant," Adi said firmly, "I am MUSLIM! Jesus was a prophet to us, nothing more. We do not "celebrate" Lent. Things like Lent are purely Christian observances that are part of their belief that Jesus was the son of God. He is not. He is a prophet that was not listened to and nothing more. We have nothing that would be on par with that... and while my family was more secular than groups like ISIS, that does NOT mean that I think running around in public in skimpy clothing is a good idea. It is in fact a BAD idea. All this does is advertise as sex objects and nothing more."
"That wasn't the intent..." Gwen said weakly, "and we didn't mean any offense..."
"And you did have fun with some things... right?" Karen asked.
"Some things were amusing," Adi answered, "and some of that was fun... but there is much of it that goes too far. Like you are condoning actions that I've seen that Animalia and Lyre have seemed to oppose otherwise."
"Well... it is an odd time of year... and maybe we pushed too hard," Karen said softly, "we thought it would be a source of fun that you didn't get to experience in Syria and Jordan."
"And that much of what you experienced that was troubling was more the result of the civil war there and Assad's government," Gwen added.
"Assad's government is a part of the problem," Adi nodded, "but not all of it... and regardless, that doesn't change who I am... the culture I was raised in, and the religion which I followed."
"Well," Karen said softly and reached over to rest a hand on Adi's shoulder, "We're sorry if we pushed you too hard into anything that made you uncomfortable. We do generally wish you to be able to have fun and enjoy things here."
"I'm sure," Adi gave an assuring smile, "you've all seemed quite friendly... but there will always be times where for some... some things like this is too much. I do not need or want to be molested, and this get up is only going to encourage it. I would be far more comfortable and secure in something where I know I am covered. The only one I would wish to see me naked would be the man that I marry and live out my days with and raise a family with."
"They won't have to be Muslim, will they?" Gwen asked, "because even if the lines you model for are more conservative... most of the people we've run into have been Christian..."
"Though that is also with America's over all population," Karen added.
"Who the man may be... or who's interpretation of the word of God doesn't matter, so long as it isn't someone that demands I change to suit them or is some drunk or perverted lout more interested in my body than anything else," Adi answered, which soon earned some nods of acceptance.