He's probably not the first person you would have on your mind as being the face of lingerie, but King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has become something of a hero to women in his home country.
He has issued a decree banning all men from working in lingerie shops to end "embarrassment" suffered by women who don't want to give men their measurements.
The decree from the king was part of a push to reduce the amount of femaleunemployment in the conservative kingdom, currently at around 30 percent.
Saudi women say they have been uncomfortable buying lingerie from men and would prefer female sales assistants.
Fatima Garub, founder of a Facebook campaign called 'Enough Embarrassment', backed the king's decision saying it would create about 6,000 jobs for Saudi women.
"From now, embarrassment will end," she said. "We thank the king who felt our problem and took the decision that we have been waiting for a long time."
In February last year, campaigners urged women to boycott lingerie shops with male staff for two week.
They said that women should not have to give their measurements to men they don't know because it contradicted Muslim law.
Religious leaders in the Wahhabi form of Islam - which makes up the majority of the country - require complete separation of members of the opposite sex who are not related.
The Saudi society continues to be traditional and the idea of women working is frowned upon.


或许，在人们的心目中，沙特国王阿卜杜拉并不是女士内衣运动的第一人，但对沙特的妇女来说，这位国王就是一个英雄。

为了使本国妇女不再因要给男性店员提供自己的内衣尺寸而感到尴尬，这位国王颁布了一项法令，禁止男性从事女士内衣销售工作。


在沙特这一保守的国度，该法令旨在推动降低女性的失业率。目前沙特女性的失业率为30%。

沙特妇女表示，在男人那儿买内衣会让他们感觉很不舒服，他们更愿意选择女性售货员。
作为脸谱上一项名为"尴尬够了"的运动的发起人，法蒂玛-加鲁布对于国王的这项法令表示支持，并说这个决定将为沙特妇女提供6000个就业机会。
"从现在开始，这种尴尬将会终结"，加鲁布说，"国王能感受到我们的困难并作出了我们期待已久的决定，对此我们表示感谢。"

去年2月，运动组织者曾敦促沙特妇女对雇佣男性员工的内衣店进行为期2周的抵制。


组织者称，沙特妇女不应该将自己的内衣尺寸告诉不认识的男人，这有悖穆斯林的法律。
沙特国内最大的教派--伊斯兰瓦哈比教派的宗教领袖要求对没有任何亲属关系的异性进行彻底分离。

沙特阿拉伯社会依然传统，妇女外出工作的观念常不被支持。

• decree [di´kri:] n.法令；公告；天命 (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
• female [´fi:meil] a.女(性)的 n.女人 (初中英语单词)
• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
• unemployment [,ʌnim´plɔimənt] n.失业；失业人数 (高中英语单词)
• conservative [kən´sə:vətiv] a.保守的 n.保守者 (高中英语单词)
• uncomfortable [ʌn´kʌmftəbəl] a.不舒服的，不自在的 (高中英语单词)
• founder [´faundə] n.奠基者 v.陷落 (高中英语单词)
• campaign [kæm´pein] n.战役；行动 vi.从军 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• separation [,sepə´reiʃən] n.分离；分开；分居 (高中英语单词)
• arabia [ə´reibiə] n.阿拉伯 (英语四级单词)
• embarrassment [im´bærəsmənt] n.窘迫；困惑；为难 (英语四级单词)
• traditional [trə´diʃənəl] a.传统的，习惯的 (英语四级单词)