To Enas Taleb, the headline felt like a spiteful punch line.
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"Why women are fatter than men in the Arab world," it read in bold, above a photograph of the Iraqi actress waving onstage at an arts festival.
The Economist article ran through possible explanations of the obesity gap of 10 percentage points between men and women in the Middle East, then cited Iraqis who see Taleb's curves as the ideal of beauty.
"Fat," a word now considered taboo in much of Western media, was repeated six times.
The article triggered torrid criticism on social media. Twitter users blasted it as misogynistic. Local rights groups issued denunciations. Some writers were appalled by what they described as demeaning stereotypes about Arab women.
Taleb, 42, said she's suing the London-based magazine for defamation.
The Economist did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
