"While modeling is fun - and I admit to loving the glamour and glitter and beauty of it - there's a cruel side that can be devastating for a woman."
- Waris Dirie
Name a stunningly beautiful woman who uses her celebrity to try to help children and make the world a better place through her activities as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations.
If you said "Angelina Jolie," that's understandable because of the ubiquitous coverage of her every move. But "Angelina Jolie" is not the correct answer. It's "Waris Dirie." Well who is Waris Dirie? You may ask. And I am happy to tell you.
Waris Dirie is a model/actress/writer/activist from Somalia. She lives in London and her flight from her beloved country and her life as a nomad was precipitated by her father's intention of marrying her, when she was thirteen, to an old man in his sixties. Waris's father had a hard time finding a husband for Waris because of her "rebellious" personality and her independent nature. Her father was overjoyed to be receiving five camels as the bride price for Waris.
Camels, in the nomadic world of Somalia's desert dwellers, are like green, like silver, like gold. They are highly valued currency. Waris's running away from home to escape being married off to the old man meant fleeing, with her mother as her accomplice, before dawn, actually running across the desert to outpace her father's hands, eager to exchange her for camels of gold.
Of course he pursued her and tracked her by the footprints she left in the sand. And so, waking to the voice of her father calling to her on the cold of the air (the desert is cold at night and sound travels far on the winds - uninterrupted by structures) Waris ran again. This time she doubled back to throw him off her tracks and this time she ran on rocks to leave no footprint shreds. She ran until her feet bled. She ran until she met up with traffic heading into the city of Mogadishu. And the story of her running away is filled with incidents of men trying to take advantage of a young girl, a beautiful girl, a girl all alone in the world. But Waris is able to avoid actual trouble, time and again, by using her wits and relying on her intuition.
Twice she had to resort to force to protect herself, once when she hit a man in the head with a rock until he lay still and blood poured out of his ear. The man had been trying to rape her and she reasoned that she had a right to protect herself. The second time was when, in the relative safety of working as a servant for her mother's sister's family, she took a rolling pin to bed with her to aid in protecting herself against the unwanted advances of her male cousin. She mangled his glasses in striking him with the rolling pin and knocked him to the floor. Her cries of alarm brought the family running and to witness the incontrovertible proof of what had been going on.
Once, when she was still running through the desert, on the point of starvation and exhaustion, she passed out. She opened her eyes to see a lion staring into hers. She remembers thinking that he could eat her and there was nothing she could do. Even if she ran up a tree, he could easily follow her up there and dine on her alfresco - with a view. She prayed at that point and gave herself over to the will of Allah. She opened her eyes to see the lion walking away.
Despite the fact that Waris faced a lion and beat hardships and difficult situations using her wits and her strength of person as well as her physical strength, there was one thing that she could not escape.
But she named me Waris, the word we used for the desert flower. In my country, sometimes it doesn't rain for months. Few living things can survive. But finally the water pours down and the brilliant yellow-orange blooms of the desert flower appear, a miracle of nature.
- Waris Dirie, from the book Desert Flower
Waris's journey took her to a mansion in London, where she worked as a servant for her Uncle, the ambassador of Somalia. Waris's relatives did not allow her to attend school in her spare time, never gave her a personal day off, and they never allowed her to feel a part of the family - they always treated her as a servant. They gave the largesse of their "help" in letting her travel to London as a servant (and obtaining her passport for her) because of the dislike on their side of the family for her father.
It was while she was working as their servant and walking her younger cousin to school, as a nanny, that she was discovered by a photographer. She cherished dreams of being a model, like another cousin of hers - Iman. But those dreams were not supported by her relatives. They disapproved and actively discouraged her.
Despite that, her discovery, by photographer Malcolm Fairchild, led to a progression of modeling, her face on magazine covers around the world, Richard Avedon, the runway model's travel circuit of Paris, Milan, London, New York, celebrity appearances, and acting roles. She has had a BBC documentary made of her life, A Nomad in New York. She is the author of a book, Desert Flower, published in 14 languages - and the movie rights to that book have been bought by Elton John.
Elle, Allure, Glamour, Italian Vogue, French Vogue
Success, fame, beauty and brains, she had all of this - but with the constant fear of being discovered as different, the fear of shame and humiliation. For she found out in coming to London that she was different from her girlfriends, different from most if not all of the other women in London - and the rest of the world.
Waris talks lovingly of her fond memories of growing up in Somalia, sleeping under the stars, drinking camel's milk, gathering the heady perfumed frankincense from the Boswellia tree, her love of water (because of its scarcity, being able to just sit and look at it by a pool brings her supreme happiness), her respect for the necessities of life, and that because she had nothing growing up, she appreciates everything. But she cannot speak out with happy memories of the shameful thing that was done to her, FGM.
What is FGM? FGM, or Female Genital Mutilation, is the practice of partly or entirely removing or injuring the female genitals. This destructive operation inhibits or destroys sexual feeling and pleasure. This mutilation is most often performed before puberty, on girls between the age of four and eight, but recently it is increasingly performed on babies who are only a couple of days, weeks or months old.
Female Genital Mutilation has nothing to do with culture, tradition, or religion. It is a torture and a crime, which needs to be fought against.
- Waris Dirie, UN-Special Ambassador
From "the birds and the bees" to Georgia O'Keefe, flowers are intuitively grasped as symbols for a woman's sexual reproductive organs. Waris Dirie, named for the desert flower, could not escape FGM. It was performed on her when she was five years old and for years after leaving Somalia, it was her painful secret.
Female Genital Mutilation happens primarily in Africa, in the Middle East, in South-East Asia - and also among immigrants in Europe. According to estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO) 150 million women worldwide are affected by it.
The WHO differentiates between four different types of Female Genital Mutilation:
Excision of the clitoris prepuce ("Sunna-circumcision") and of the clitoris or parts thereof.
Excision of the clitoris prepuce, the clitoris and the inner lips or parts thereof. Type 1 and 2 are the most common types of FGM: eighty percent of the affected women have gone through these procedures.
Excision of part of or all of the external genitals ("Infibulation," also referred to as "Pharaonic Circumcision"). Afterwards the remaining parts of the outer lips are sewn together leaving a small hole for urine and menstrual flow. The scar needs to be opened before intercourse or giving birth, which causes additional pain.
Infibulation is mainly spread in the Horn of Africa and its neighboring areas - in Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea, as well as in the northern part of Sudan and in the southern part of Egypt. It is the most severe form of FGM and affects 15 percent of the women.
Pricking, piercing, cutting, or stretching of the clitoris or the labia, also burning or scarring the genitals as well as ripping of the vaginal opening or the introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina in order to tighten it. Plus: any other procedure, which injures or circumcises the female genitalia.
Why?
An initiation rite, "female circumcision" is usually performed by professional circumcisers, traditional midwives, healers, barbers, nurses, or doctors trained in Western medicine. The procedure is usually performed without anesthetic or any provision for hygiene. It is done with knives, scissors, razor blades, or pieces of broken glass as instruments, among others.
Many different rationalizations are given for this: the chastity of women, ensuring that girls will still be virgins when married, aesthetics, and religion.
More from Waris Dirie's web site:
In Muslim communities in Africa in which FGM is performed, reference is made to the Qu'ran. But the Qu'ran does not mention or endorse Female Genital Mutilation.
FGM causes severe health consequences. The immediate effects of the procedure may include severe hemorrhage, inflammation, tetanus, bladder atony, or sepsis - consequences which result not only occasionally in death. HIV/AIDS may also be passed on by unsterile instruments.
In addition to the mental trauma caused by the procedure and the loss of sexual feelings, the victims often suffer for a long time from pain when urinating or during menstruation. Sitting and walking may become a torture, due to the rubbing of clothing on the scars or bruises. The problems may also include cysts, abscesses, infections of the bladder, and incontinence. Infertility is among the possible long term consequences.
Intercourse is often considered to be painful. Giving birth to a child may cause increased bleeding and rupture of tissue. The birth may take longer than usual; caesareans are frequent.
Waris has always believed that her life has a purpose - and that the things that have happened to her have happened for a reason. She has given consideration to the moral implications of modeling and says, "I find the moral issues surrounding modeling and advertising incredibly complicated. I believe the most important priorities in the world are nature, personal goodness, family, and friendship. Yet, I make my living by saying; Buy this because it looks beautiful. I'm selling stuff with a big smile. I could be cynical about it all and say, Why am I doing this? I'm helping destroy the world. But I believe almost anyone in any career could say that about their work at some point. The good that comes from what I do is that I've met beautiful people and seen beautiful places and experienced different cultures that have made me want to do something to help the world instead of destroy it. And instead of being another poverty-stricken Somali, I'm in a position to do something about it."
And she is. She spoke out about FGM in an interview with Laura Ziv of Marie Claire Magazine and the resulting worldwide attention to this horrible practice, including an interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20, the award winning segment produced by Ethel Bass Weintraub titled "A Healing Journey," resulted in her being asked by the United Nations to be a special ambassador and join its fight against FGM. She proudly accepted and has also founded the Waris Dirie Foundation (http://www.waris-dirie-foundation.com/web/eÍindex.htm).
Check out the site to find out what you can do to support Waris's fight against FGM!
MGMBILL.org Information about the bill to end male genital mutilation in the United States (with links to information about male circumcision) www.mgmbill.org
About the Author
Annette Marie Hyder is a freelance journalist/editor, artist and author.
She sees life as a poem that is constantly altering its form to accommodate one's world view/experiences: sometimes a sonnet, sometimes haiku, sometimes graffiti on a wall. She believes that in love you should not say it with flowers, you should say it with words. Diamonds, however, are always acceptable.
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Name a stunningly beautiful woman who uses her celebrity to try to help children and make the world a better place through her activities as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations. 
Annette Marie Hyder is a freelance journalist/editor, artist and author. 
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