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49 Pics That Reveal How The Same Products And Images Look In The West Vs. Middle-East
Bikinis and mini-skirts may be commonplace in the Western world, but the Middle-East is a slightly different story. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran enforce strict modesty laws on women in keeping with Islamic tradition, and prohibit any skin other than the face and hands from showing. These restrictions even apply to Britney and Madonna, as it turns out.
Wearing sexy, revealing clothing is a great way to sell pretty much anything in North America. When these steamy images make their way into Islamic territories via media and advertisements, however, they're required to be toned down before they can be released to the public. In most cases, religious police in charge of censorship - known as mutaween - just take a big old Sharpie to Mariah's midriff or Shakira's shoulders. Recently, however, they've started to get a little creative with Photoshop, and even made headlines last week for replacing a woman in a pool ad with a beach ball. A+ for effort!
Check out the best, the worst, and the funniest edited images for sensitive audiences below, and just try to tell us that J-Lo isn't totally rocking those permanent marker pants.
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Christina Aguilera - Lotus
Mariah Carey - #1's
Pool Ad
Shakira - Oral Fixation
Justin Bieber - Purpose
Britney Spears - Oops!...I Did It Again
Christina Aguilera - Stripped
Lady Gaga - Do What U Want
Nirvana - Nevermind
Miley Cyrus - Bangerz
Mariah Carey - Butterfly
Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
Jennifer Paige - Jennifer Paige
At least it's done better than many of the others. And it's a legit style. I probably wouldn't have noticed.
Rihanna's Perfume Ad In Kuwait
Lady Gaga - Artpop
Riana Grande - My Everything
Censored Floaties In Saudi Arabia
Lady Gaga - The Remix
Gisele Bundchen's H&M Ad Campaign Censored For Middle East
Madonna - Hard Candy
Toni Braxton - More Than A Woman
More than a woman, less than a man, apparently... go ahead, give me all the thumbs down :)
Mariah Carey - The Art Of Letting Go
Kylie Minogue - Light Years
Geri Halliwell - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster
Jennifer Lopez - On The 6
Melanie B - Hot
Shakira - Shakira
Mariah Carey - #1's
Back Cover Of Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now'
Gloria Estefan - Abriendo Puertas
Come on! the original one was way less provocative than the Lady Gaga remix cover after they added strips!
Mariah Carey - Glitter
Katy Perry - One Of The Boys
No kidding...she can kiss a girl and like it but not be seen in shorts ahahaha
Toni Braxton - The Heat
Clarks Ad In Kuwait On The Left (It Is Allowed To Show Knees And Women Without A Headscarf) And In Saudi Arabia On The Right (It's Not Allowed)
Sex Pistols - Flogging A Dead Horse
Britney Spears - Circus
Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey
Shakira - Laundry Service
Strange that women in the music business have to get their baps out and show this much skin when thr same isnt expected of men. Not saying skin censorship is the way, however. We need to ask ourselves, why? Oh yeah, sex sells. And i thought that it was the music which spoke for itself. Obv im muchos wrong, wrong, wrong xx
Mariah Carey - Rainbow
Rihanna - Unapologetic
Britney Spears - Britney
This Huge Advertisement With Blurred Woman's Face In A Mall Of Jeddah
Shakira - She Wolf
Censored Marie Claire Magazine In Saudi Arabia
Solid Harmonie - I'll Be There For You
Tlc - Unpretty
This is the first iv ever heard about this Sharpie form of fashiom. Maybe its cos... As long as the records are getting sold, no artist actually really minds. Lesson learned= money is the real religion of the masses x
Demi Lovato - Demi
Mariah Carey - Emotions
Hasna - Bamba
This is interesting. I've lived in Dubai all my life and this never happens here. Our tabloids are filled with pictures you'd deem 'westernized'. I find the title misleading. Not every Middle East country is like this.
I see the covers, but what about the lyrics? They are just as bad sometimes. I'm really surprised that some of these are even sold there.
Although i don't agree with such a degred of censorship it does remove some if not most of the objectification of woman. The objectification of any living creature is disgusting.
all this has done is made me realise how popstars feel the need to dress provocatively to sell
mariah carey's already SO shopped you can barely notice the differences :D
This article is somehow biased.. 90 % of it is about some naked shallow pop stars.. Most people are tierd of them anyway.. Show how regular women are totally cuted out from public apparence like in the case of IKEA catalogue.
I'm all for free speech and expression, but MODEST IS HOTTEST. The photoshops are ridiculous, but yay for modesty.
That made me think... why so many women skin in music album covers? isn't those about music?
Solomon the wise said it once, those who hate women's body are in love with guys.
All that money and they couldn't pay for any decent photoshoppers?
In US we're obsessed w appearances of women, judge their character by their clothing, encourage them to expose their skin. Brains? Who cares
1) this makes me realize how many music related products showcase half naked (or fully naked) females - quite sad really when you're supposedly selling your voice 2) they should up skill their image editing staff because many of those are very poorly made
You can add to this list Ikea catalog and Starbucks logo... presence of women not allowed. Google it.
I'm curious how they censor the internet in countries like this. Do they block sites or just have a group of approved websites to visit.
This is b******t. Fake click baits. If I'm wrong, please show me one single link to a "middle east" music site containing any of the censored version in this post....
Some of the cover-ups are pretty bad. I am surprised the artists don't just do 2 cover shoots. One for each market. It would be much better for their image and they would have creative control.
This is interesting. I just remembered they also censored the ad of Givenchy's "Ange ou demon" perfume, moreover then even changed the name to "Ange ou etrange". Apparently, it is forbidden to even mention a demon. ange-59415...d72959.jpg
It isn't the Middle Eastern governments that are doing this, people. It is the companies marketing there. They could refuse to change the art, but they cave in to these bass-ackward retards.
this is exaggerated they don't have this much of censoring however censoring is everywhere go see the difference between yugioh cards in japan and usa
Repost this as a photoshop-fail article and you'll have a winner, lol.
I must be getting old - I prefer the second images - the others look kind of cheap.
One thing's for sure about here. Mariah Carey's albums are rocking the Middle East!
The pearl clutchers really came out in force for some of the comments on this post.
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Religious observance takes many forms and I have no quarrel with how any one person chooses to worship or keep faith. But the imposition of those beliefs on others who would otherwise choose another means of expressing their faith--be it the wearing of a hijab in Saudi Arabia or reproductive rights in the USA--is simply tyranny. And such tyranny does not prove the strength of their leaders' convictions, but rather their doubts in a faith weak enough to require being propped up by legal punishments. It brings shame upon them and diminishes God.
I don't buy it. Who is taking the time to censor all these products? Do you know how long that would take...😂
Yo u should see Lebanon it's becoming distracting for drivers the ads we don t have this cover
I´m surprised that they didnt covered Shakira, Christina and Britney with a bloody burka ...
I'm Tunisian and I've never seen this before, this may exist In Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, something like that :D :D :D
While I definitely find these photos ridiculously outrageous, I'm also kind of sad to notice how sexualized the music industry has become, leaving little room for original artists who won't show skin for a living, regardless of how talented they are. "I make music for ears, not eyes." Adele.
It's a lie, to some degree on music albums at least here in Lebanon, if there is skin showing it'd still look the same on the album but if there is any religious reference; example a picture of the mother Mary it'd just be vandalized or colored over with paint and/or marker, it's moronic I agree but hey that's just the way it works here apparently.
These are all fake.. Bad photoshop work.. Common boredpanda where are your editors?
How do we know that this is accurate? Where is this info from? The Lady Gaga album has "ft. R. Kelly" written on bottom of one, what is that about? I don't know how trustworthy this is
I do not agree with the excessive use of the female body to sell things of every kind, but I also think that a woman must be free to do what she wants with her body, including discovering it if she wants it, in the picture That live. It really makes me angry that women are forced into this sort of cowardice. And the worst thing is that in the Koran it is not written anywhere that the woman must be so mortified, as there is no script, the attacks must be done to honor the prophet, but I do not think anyone who does this has it Bed on the coral, as heard by his religious representative.
What surprises me more is that these artists are not totally censored in these countries. I mean, they censor their album covers but, what about the contents of them? Hmmmm....!!
I think if certain conservative groups (not just in the USA) had it their way we would see the same in the western countries
I'm for the more modest covers. As an 80s/ 90s teen, a lot of these were the must haves. Now that I'm an adult and they are coming out with Greatest Hits, I feel like a perv because I have a hard time making out the warped print thru the wrapper and case. The concentration on the words look I'm leering at the pics.
You people should know this is not the norm for middle eastern countries most of them don't do this.
Some of these edits actually look better than the original! (some look down right ridiculous)
The only one that I found interesting was the one where they completely removed the woman (mother?) from the pool and replaced her with an inflatable toy. If they could put extra clothes on the man and the children, why not the woman? Why is she replaced with a thing?
#ProperPerspective revealed in this Limited Physical #DivineComedy we are Currently Experiencing ~~ From my Purposeful Research, I find that Censorship and Objectification are two 'Extremes' that would be Most Productively Experienced in Moderation. After examining from the Cultural Perspective, I Understand more the Reason behind these Creative Modifications. Seek and You Shall Find... and only the TRUTH shall set you Free ~~ Peace Be The Journey #ProductiveEngagement #CreativeSolutions #DivineBirthright #DivineFriendship | 777ADVENTURES
Haha , Nirvana and censorship - that Nevermind cover is soooo badly photoshopped! C'mon guys, Kurt would never allow that s**t! Yes, he agreed to alter song title for Rape Me to be suitable for minors, but covering baby genetalies is absurd!!!
I don't understand.. The amount of clothes you able to be without= the amount of freedom you have?
Apart from the overall sexualization of women that s pretty normal on the media these days (and that's fine, I don't condemn), most of transformations are ridiculous. But as a woman, #44 really makes me sad. As it depicts accurately that woman don't have rights, credit, opinions, freedom, access to values and information, etc, etc, etc as any other human being would (for human being I mean men). Is this the forest we've come? Sad...
It's an interesting experiment. Once you get mostly rid of the "sex sells" part, how much ist left? How do sales change if you stop putting naked people on the front?
I prefer the censored images... except the beach floats. That was weird. But they look better in the censored versions!
What a total load of Bol****s, It's different when you see what their menfolk get up to, including the goats and the old men bending over for a young Arab, dirty fu***s all of them but their women can't bare an arm or leg like they did in the 1970's till they voted that Ayertoller ( however it is spelt ) and he took them back a 1000 years.
Most of the ones for the Middle-East are really much more beautiful; except the one of the family in the pool, where being fully clothed seems silly.
Most of these "censored" images are never seen in Middle Easter countries, except for very preservative countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Most of these are all HORRIBLY photoshopped and all with the same errors... (ie. improperly matched lighting and shadows, clothing does not adequately follow body contours) It's really poor quality and not the kind of work that music companies (who HIGHLY scrutinize artist images) usually do when they put together album covers. Makes me think this whole article is a fake.
What is it with these half naked girls on the CD covers, anyways? Are they selling music, or their bodies? Do they get secret funds from pr0n sites?
this is only in Saudi Arabia not the middle east! this doesn't happen in Jordan/ Egypt/ Lebanon/etc...
Watching these I just keep thinking that they have a closet full of clothes handing out to these celebs saying: "here, cover up" or do a close up and they all have frowns on their faces. hahahaha I cant help it.
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This literally looks like the photoshop work of a 14 year old on a 2 day adderall bender. Jesus christ.
this s**t shouldn't even be allowed in the middle east to begin with. if americans love to create cultural garbage, better keep it to themselves.
This is pretty ridiculous, most of these ads have shirts photoshopped onto the men and blurred out the children's face.. it's not a sexist thing if it's being done to everybody. They blur out a child's face so you say they are against children? It's about having a religion and following that teaching that tells us to be modest. I feel bad for women that show off all their body to feel beautiful or to get attention from men. See the difference for a man to see a woman's body and be attracted or for a man to be attracted to her face and personality. It's disrespectful for a woman to show her body , but not because it "offends" men, it offends the lady because she has dignity she feels shame. Don't you think men would rather us women all walk around naked? I have an hourglass body but I feel no need to show it off to the world, I break out my tight dress when my husband gets home , because his opinion is the only one that matters to me. I would feel really uncomfortable with men staring:/
This is interesting. I've lived in Dubai all my life and this never happens here. Our tabloids are filled with pictures you'd deem 'westernized'. I find the title misleading. Not every Middle East country is like this.
I see the covers, but what about the lyrics? They are just as bad sometimes. I'm really surprised that some of these are even sold there.
Although i don't agree with such a degred of censorship it does remove some if not most of the objectification of woman. The objectification of any living creature is disgusting.
all this has done is made me realise how popstars feel the need to dress provocatively to sell
mariah carey's already SO shopped you can barely notice the differences :D
This article is somehow biased.. 90 % of it is about some naked shallow pop stars.. Most people are tierd of them anyway.. Show how regular women are totally cuted out from public apparence like in the case of IKEA catalogue.
I'm all for free speech and expression, but MODEST IS HOTTEST. The photoshops are ridiculous, but yay for modesty.
That made me think... why so many women skin in music album covers? isn't those about music?
Solomon the wise said it once, those who hate women's body are in love with guys.
All that money and they couldn't pay for any decent photoshoppers?
In US we're obsessed w appearances of women, judge their character by their clothing, encourage them to expose their skin. Brains? Who cares
1) this makes me realize how many music related products showcase half naked (or fully naked) females - quite sad really when you're supposedly selling your voice 2) they should up skill their image editing staff because many of those are very poorly made
You can add to this list Ikea catalog and Starbucks logo... presence of women not allowed. Google it.
I'm curious how they censor the internet in countries like this. Do they block sites or just have a group of approved websites to visit.
This is b******t. Fake click baits. If I'm wrong, please show me one single link to a "middle east" music site containing any of the censored version in this post....
Some of the cover-ups are pretty bad. I am surprised the artists don't just do 2 cover shoots. One for each market. It would be much better for their image and they would have creative control.
This is interesting. I just remembered they also censored the ad of Givenchy's "Ange ou demon" perfume, moreover then even changed the name to "Ange ou etrange". Apparently, it is forbidden to even mention a demon. ange-59415...d72959.jpg
It isn't the Middle Eastern governments that are doing this, people. It is the companies marketing there. They could refuse to change the art, but they cave in to these bass-ackward retards.
this is exaggerated they don't have this much of censoring however censoring is everywhere go see the difference between yugioh cards in japan and usa
Repost this as a photoshop-fail article and you'll have a winner, lol.
I must be getting old - I prefer the second images - the others look kind of cheap.
One thing's for sure about here. Mariah Carey's albums are rocking the Middle East!
The pearl clutchers really came out in force for some of the comments on this post.
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Religious observance takes many forms and I have no quarrel with how any one person chooses to worship or keep faith. But the imposition of those beliefs on others who would otherwise choose another means of expressing their faith--be it the wearing of a hijab in Saudi Arabia or reproductive rights in the USA--is simply tyranny. And such tyranny does not prove the strength of their leaders' convictions, but rather their doubts in a faith weak enough to require being propped up by legal punishments. It brings shame upon them and diminishes God.
I don't buy it. Who is taking the time to censor all these products? Do you know how long that would take...😂
Yo u should see Lebanon it's becoming distracting for drivers the ads we don t have this cover
I´m surprised that they didnt covered Shakira, Christina and Britney with a bloody burka ...
I'm Tunisian and I've never seen this before, this may exist In Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, something like that :D :D :D
While I definitely find these photos ridiculously outrageous, I'm also kind of sad to notice how sexualized the music industry has become, leaving little room for original artists who won't show skin for a living, regardless of how talented they are. "I make music for ears, not eyes." Adele.
It's a lie, to some degree on music albums at least here in Lebanon, if there is skin showing it'd still look the same on the album but if there is any religious reference; example a picture of the mother Mary it'd just be vandalized or colored over with paint and/or marker, it's moronic I agree but hey that's just the way it works here apparently.
These are all fake.. Bad photoshop work.. Common boredpanda where are your editors?
How do we know that this is accurate? Where is this info from? The Lady Gaga album has "ft. R. Kelly" written on bottom of one, what is that about? I don't know how trustworthy this is
I do not agree with the excessive use of the female body to sell things of every kind, but I also think that a woman must be free to do what she wants with her body, including discovering it if she wants it, in the picture That live. It really makes me angry that women are forced into this sort of cowardice. And the worst thing is that in the Koran it is not written anywhere that the woman must be so mortified, as there is no script, the attacks must be done to honor the prophet, but I do not think anyone who does this has it Bed on the coral, as heard by his religious representative.
What surprises me more is that these artists are not totally censored in these countries. I mean, they censor their album covers but, what about the contents of them? Hmmmm....!!
I think if certain conservative groups (not just in the USA) had it their way we would see the same in the western countries
I'm for the more modest covers. As an 80s/ 90s teen, a lot of these were the must haves. Now that I'm an adult and they are coming out with Greatest Hits, I feel like a perv because I have a hard time making out the warped print thru the wrapper and case. The concentration on the words look I'm leering at the pics.
You people should know this is not the norm for middle eastern countries most of them don't do this.
Some of these edits actually look better than the original! (some look down right ridiculous)
The only one that I found interesting was the one where they completely removed the woman (mother?) from the pool and replaced her with an inflatable toy. If they could put extra clothes on the man and the children, why not the woman? Why is she replaced with a thing?
#ProperPerspective revealed in this Limited Physical #DivineComedy we are Currently Experiencing ~~ From my Purposeful Research, I find that Censorship and Objectification are two 'Extremes' that would be Most Productively Experienced in Moderation. After examining from the Cultural Perspective, I Understand more the Reason behind these Creative Modifications. Seek and You Shall Find... and only the TRUTH shall set you Free ~~ Peace Be The Journey #ProductiveEngagement #CreativeSolutions #DivineBirthright #DivineFriendship | 777ADVENTURES
Haha , Nirvana and censorship - that Nevermind cover is soooo badly photoshopped! C'mon guys, Kurt would never allow that s**t! Yes, he agreed to alter song title for Rape Me to be suitable for minors, but covering baby genetalies is absurd!!!
I don't understand.. The amount of clothes you able to be without= the amount of freedom you have?
Apart from the overall sexualization of women that s pretty normal on the media these days (and that's fine, I don't condemn), most of transformations are ridiculous. But as a woman, #44 really makes me sad. As it depicts accurately that woman don't have rights, credit, opinions, freedom, access to values and information, etc, etc, etc as any other human being would (for human being I mean men). Is this the forest we've come? Sad...
It's an interesting experiment. Once you get mostly rid of the "sex sells" part, how much ist left? How do sales change if you stop putting naked people on the front?
I prefer the censored images... except the beach floats. That was weird. But they look better in the censored versions!
What a total load of Bol****s, It's different when you see what their menfolk get up to, including the goats and the old men bending over for a young Arab, dirty fu***s all of them but their women can't bare an arm or leg like they did in the 1970's till they voted that Ayertoller ( however it is spelt ) and he took them back a 1000 years.
Most of the ones for the Middle-East are really much more beautiful; except the one of the family in the pool, where being fully clothed seems silly.
Most of these "censored" images are never seen in Middle Easter countries, except for very preservative countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Most of these are all HORRIBLY photoshopped and all with the same errors... (ie. improperly matched lighting and shadows, clothing does not adequately follow body contours) It's really poor quality and not the kind of work that music companies (who HIGHLY scrutinize artist images) usually do when they put together album covers. Makes me think this whole article is a fake.
What is it with these half naked girls on the CD covers, anyways? Are they selling music, or their bodies? Do they get secret funds from pr0n sites?
this is only in Saudi Arabia not the middle east! this doesn't happen in Jordan/ Egypt/ Lebanon/etc...
Watching these I just keep thinking that they have a closet full of clothes handing out to these celebs saying: "here, cover up" or do a close up and they all have frowns on their faces. hahahaha I cant help it.
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This literally looks like the photoshop work of a 14 year old on a 2 day adderall bender. Jesus christ.
this s**t shouldn't even be allowed in the middle east to begin with. if americans love to create cultural garbage, better keep it to themselves.
This is pretty ridiculous, most of these ads have shirts photoshopped onto the men and blurred out the children's face.. it's not a sexist thing if it's being done to everybody. They blur out a child's face so you say they are against children? It's about having a religion and following that teaching that tells us to be modest. I feel bad for women that show off all their body to feel beautiful or to get attention from men. See the difference for a man to see a woman's body and be attracted or for a man to be attracted to her face and personality. It's disrespectful for a woman to show her body , but not because it "offends" men, it offends the lady because she has dignity she feels shame. Don't you think men would rather us women all walk around naked? I have an hourglass body but I feel no need to show it off to the world, I break out my tight dress when my husband gets home , because his opinion is the only one that matters to me. I would feel really uncomfortable with men staring:/