What a wealth of ideas in this short essay, Gail! Every sentence tempts development into an article on its own. I'll take this one.

You may have noticed, reading Fugitive Dreams, that I included absolutely no physical description of any of the characters. The few exceptions where necessitated by the plot. The "chubbier" Jawad is caught by the soldiers, while his more athletic friend escaped. The same is true with my yet-to-be published romantic novel, which takes place online - potentially an appearance-neutral environment. I consciously seek to create an appearance-free world in order to bring out the inner nature of my characters - to let the reader see them as they truly are.

This is perhaps in the tradition of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) and other classical Arabic literature - the literary equivalent of the veil, neutralizing appearances. It is also in the tradition of other literature around the world, such as the Chinese classic Dream of Red Mansion.

In contrast, appearances weigh heavily in 19th century British literature. Paragraphs are devoted to describing someone's facial features in minute details, and more paragraphs analyze their dress. Physiognomy is invoked to explain how someone's unusual cheekbone implies some definite character traits, with unmistakable racial undertones. The connection between excessive attention to appearance in literature, and colonialism / white supremacy, in my opinion, provide rich grounds for investigation.