Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party at some Western traditional wedding ceremonies. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often the bride's close friend or relative. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Traditionally, bridesmaids were chosen from unwed young women of marriageable age.
A call girl or female escort is a prostitute who does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency. The client must make an appointment, usually by calling a telephone number. Call girls often advertise their services in small ads in magazines and via the Internet, although an intermediary advertiser, such as an escort agency, may be involved in promoting escorts, while, less often, some may be handled by a pimp. Call girls may work either incall, where the client comes to them, or outcall, where they go to the client. Some porn stars are known to escort as well.
The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore.
Harem refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic servants, and other unmarried female relatives. In the past, harems also enslaved concubines. In former times some harems were guarded by eunuchs who were allowed inside. The structure of the harem and the extent of monogamy or polygamy has varied depending on the family's personalities, socio-economic status, and local customs. Similar institutions have been common in other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations, especially among royal and upper-class families, and the term is sometimes used in other contexts. In traditional Persian residential architecture the women's quarters were known as andaruni, and in the Indian subcontinent as zenana.
Shannon LaRhea Marketic, is an American model and beauty pageant titleholder who was Miss California USA and Miss USA 1992.
Jefri Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III, is a member of the Brunei Royal Family. His elder brother is the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. Prince Jefri was the finance minister of his oil-rich country from 1986 to 1997. He also served as chairman of the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) which invests much of the country's wealth and was responsible for overseas investments.
The Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire was the Ottoman sultan's harem – composed of the wives, servants, female relatives and the sultan's concubines – occupying a secluded portion (seraglio) of the Ottoman imperial household. This institution played an important social function within the Ottoman court, and wielded considerable political authority in Ottoman affairs, especially during the long period known as the Sultanate of Women.
The Hotel Bel-Air is a boutique hotel located in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California. The hotel is one of the nine luxury hotels operated by the Dorchester Collection, which is owned by the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA). The hotel has a total of 103 rooms, 45 of which are suites. The Bel-Air hotel has an overall old Hollywood style and is surrounded by 12 acres (4.9 ha) of gardens in the Bel-Air Estates neighborhood.
Ottoman court was the culture that evolved around the court of the Ottoman Empire.
In the Ottoman Empire, women enjoyed a diverse range of rights and were limited in diverse ways depending on the time period, as well as their religion and class. The empire, first as a Turkoman beylik, and then a multi-ethnic, multi-religious empire, was ruled in accordance to the qanun, the semi-secular body of law enacted by Ottoman sultans. Furthermore, the relevant religious scriptures of its many confessional communities played a major role in the legal system, for the majority of Ottoman women, these were the Quran and Hadith as interpreted by Islamic jurists, often termed sharia. Most Ottoman women were permitted to participate in the legal system, purchase and sell property, inherit and bequeath wealth, and participate in other financial activities, rights which were unusual in the rest of Europe until the 19th century.
Slavery in the Ottoman Empire was a major institution and a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's economy and traditional society. The main sources of slaves were wars and politically organized enslavement expeditions in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Southeast Europe, and Africa. It has been reported that the selling price of slaves decreased after large military operations. In Constantinople, the administrative and political center of the Ottoman Empire, about a fifth of the 16th- and 17th-century population consisted of slaves. Statistics of these centuries suggest that Istanbul's additional slave imports from the Black Sea have totaled around 2.5 million from 1453 to 1700.
Prostitution in Brunei is illegal and can incur a punishment of imprisonment for 1 year and a fine of BN$ 5,000 for a first offence, or 3 years and BN$ 10,000 on a second or subsequent conviction.
Jillian Lauren is an American writer, performer, adoption advocate, and former call girl for Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei; about whom she wrote her first memoir, Some Girls: My Life in a Harem.
Mahidevran Hatun was a concubine of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire and the mother of Şehzade Mustafa. After Suleiman ascended the throne in 1520 and his first son, Şehzade Mahmud, died a month after the ascension, Mahidevran acquired the rank of Baş Kadın, that is mother of the Sultan's eldest son.
The Whitney - Brunei: The Royal Wedding Celebration was a notable concert performance by American singer Whitney Houston in August of 1996.
The Sultanate of Women was a period when wives and mothers of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire exerted extraordinary political influence.
Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III is Sultan of Brunei since 1967 and the prime minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984.
The Jerudong Park Amphitheater is an amphitheater at Jerudong Park in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. The amphitheater was built for a free Michael Jackson concert for the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's fiftieth birthday in 1996. The theater is located in Jerudong Park's Garden, designed with only a roof and its capacity is over 60,000. The stage is removable and can be replaced with another stage.
Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah is the eldest daughter of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Queen Saleha.
Hamidah Jamalul Bulqiah or Hamidah Jamalul Bolqiah, is a member of the royal family of Brunei as eldest daughter of Prince Jefri Bolkiah, fourth son of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III.
