Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Muslimah Media Watch

Home
Muslim
Religion News
Wall of Shame: Ramadan Television in Egypt

Wall of Shame: Ramadan Television in Egypt

Last updated on: August 22, 2012 at 12:31 pm by emanhashim

Wall of Shame: Ramadan Television in Egypt 2012-08-22T12:31:23-04:00 emanhashim

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Now that Ramadan is over, I can get it out of my mind and scream hard on how women were portrayed in the Egyptian TV throughout the whole month.

Women are seen as sex objects: there’s no better way to put it than this cliché; it is as simple, as shallow, and as degrading as it has always been. One would think that the so-called Arab Spring would make some difference, after people had watched women side-by-side with men, playing their crucial role in all the battles since the first day of the revolution, but nope… not a chance.

Here are just some of the messages we saw:

Being a woman is offensive!
There is no way to understand the Birell non-alcoholic beer ad campaign for Ramadan other than this. In the whole campaign, they present men in tough situations asking them to fuel the “man inside” by drinking their product for not to be “soft and sissy”… i.e., a woman. In case you think I’m paranoid, here’s one ad, where they have a woman’s wig on the guy’s hair when he starts to be soft, and here’s another one where the man starts looking like a woman when he says “please.”
This is my favorite, the one where he is accused of being a woman when it shows on him that he had feelings for his girlfriend, what a wuss. For him to gain his glorious manly mustache, he shows his girlfriend’s picture to his friend, because of course he’ll only be worthy of being called a man when he objectifies women and act as if they mean nothing to him.

Women are trophies and check marks!
I tried for days to find a way to begin talking about the TV series “The Fourth Wife” without getting heartburn, but it was a lost cause. As an Egypt Independent article explains,

Scene from The Fourth Wife. Image via Egypt Today.

“‘The Fourth Wife,’ starring Mostafa Shaaban, narrates the diaries of a young rich businessman who lives with his three wives in his villa and changes his fourth wife every now and then.

Shaaban, who wears a galabeya and holds prayer beads as a sign of piety, is the expert on women’s issues among his friends, from whom they all learn.

“It is a message to women to remember not to cross the lines … to remind them of what their role should be [after the developments of the past year],” argues Fatma Emam, a researcher at the Nazra Center for Feminist Studies.”

Female doctors are not cute, and a woman is just like a shoe!
In “The Needle’s Eye” series, the script was customised to be as dumb as it can get.
In one episode, two guys are hanging out in a disco and they spot a woman; through the whole conversation, which extends to more than three scenes, this woman is referred to as El-Farda, meaning a one of a pair of shoes… isn’t this just interesting!
In other entertaining episode, a guy hitting on a woman wonders why she is called a doctor when she is that cute… wow, as a woman, and a physician, I’m utterly flattered!!

Women only care about men … and marriage
And when it comes to “A Third Party” series, they chose to be more true to themselves about being part of a man-world, the main characters in the show are men, and the majority of the female characters so far both think and speak almost exclusively about men and marriage… After all, what other purpose does a woman have?!

Women just have no sense of humour
Last but not least, a TV “comedy” series called “My Wife in Trouble” dedicated their efforts to joining the whole “let’s degrade women” theme. In one scene, the married loving husband laughs his ass off at his crying wife after making her believe he was cheating on her… how romantic!
Just try to imagine the opposite… It wouldn’t be funny, right?

I could try to rationalize having such shows – and these just are examples – for Ramadan but I would not be successful. See, the real problem is not just these shows; it is the people who are supposed to be the audience.

At the end of the day, even when women try to fight a whole system that makes such “entertainment” acceptable and fun, they don’t fight it on the right level. When women live as second-class humans in real daily life, why would they be portrayed better or even considered on television?

Whoever was responsible for the Birell ad, for example, decided that a woman is not in his target audience whatsoever and that she is not worth his consideration when he plans his marketing campaign, cause let’s be honest, women accept far worse in their lives than those ads on TV!

If we’re not respected and we live with being humiliated, degraded and harassed in daily life, how would media be any different?

Ramadan television series

The Fourth Wife

The Needle's Eye

Previous Post

August 21, 2012

Book Review - Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn Arabi, Gender, and Sexuality

Next Post

August 23, 2012 When Laïcité Goes Wrong, or When Burqa Checks Start Getting Real

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advertisements Art/Theater Books/Magazines Cinema Comics/Cartoons Culture/Society Events Fashion Film Friday Links Merchandise/Commodities MMW Announcements MMW Highlights Music/Radio News Photography Politics Profile Ramadan 2012 Ramadan 2013 Ramadan 2014 Ramadan 2015 Roundtable Satire Social Media Sports Technology/Science Television Uncategorized Video Web

Select a Month November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the Christian response to being wronged?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Forgive Hold a grudge Gossip Revenge