Modern Model August 2014 | Page 21
Ramea
Almubarak:
Success
Without
Compromise
Story
by
Brian
Thornton
Photos
©
Studio
M
Portraits
Mary
Gajda
and
Marvin
Hall
Ramea
Almubarak
is
not
just
challenging
the
modeling
industry
stereotypes
–
she
is
destroying
them.
Aner
seeing
photos
of
Ramea
from
numerous
modeling
events,
from
commercial
adver\sements
to
runway
shows,
I
caught
up
with
the
Kalamazoo,
MI
resident
to
ask
about
how
she
discovered
–
or
more
importantly
rediscovered
–
her
passion
for
modeling.
“Growing
up,
I
was
very
good
at
physics,
math,
biology
and
chemistry,”
she
said.
“A
lot
of
people
would
ask
me,
what
do
you
want
to
be
when
you
grow
up?
They
expected
me
to
say
a
doctor,
but
my
answer
was
always,
a
MODEL!”
Developing
a
natural
i n c l i n a \ o n
t o w a r d s
a c \ n g ,
modeling,
dancing
and
social
work,
Ramea
said
her
father,
a
theater
director,
supported
her
greatly
in
her
efforts,
adding
that
he
mother
Modern Model Page 21
inspired
her
as
well.
requires
Muslim
women
to
wear
a
“My
mother
was
the
person
who
veil
that
covers
the
head
hair
and
inspired
and
ignited
the
passion
for
body
skin
and
figure
beyond
the
age
fashion
in
me,”
she
explained.
of
puberty
in
the
presence
of
adult
“Since
I
was
a
liCle
girl,
I
always
paid
males
outside
of
their
immediately
aCen\on
to
the
details
in
her
style,
family
as
a
sign
of
modesty,
privacy,
she
loved
fashion
and
makeup.
and
morality,
made
a
career
in
When
I
was
three
years
old,
I
used
modeling
impossible.
to
use
her
makeup
and
start
playing
Focusing
on
academics
in
the
mirror,
and
paint
and
wash
instead
of
modeling,
Ramea
earned
my
face
un\l
I
learned
how
to
apply
h e r
d e g r e e
t h r o u g h
a n
makeup
professionally.”
undergraduate
college
program,
The
model
in
the
mirror
became
which
lead
to
a
scholarship
through
a
magical
fairy
with
big
charming
WMU
in
the
United
States.
eyes,
a
gliCery
dress,
and
shiny
Arriving
in
America,
Ramea
magical
baton,
who
stayed
with
her
said
she
was
immediately
exposed
un\l
the
age
of
20,
when
she
had
to
judgment
and
discrimina\on.
to
make
a
cri\cal
decision
in
her
life,