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,