ALMASRY ALYOUM (‘EGYPT TODAY’): How many Egyptians have appreciated the message behind Aliaa Magda Al Mahdy's naked photo? We only know that few have actually expressed admiration or support, and they did so by posting words of encouragement on her blog, her Facebook page and on Twitter, leaving the pages of printed media to reactions that ranged from the lack of sympathy to outrage. Her boyfriend Karim Amer — though he has nothing to do with the photo — was not spared.
The issue today seems to belong to the past, but we are reminded of Aliaa's action by scattered allusions in the press to the legal charges filed against her: spreading vice, encouraging lewdness and license, and contempt for religion. We are also reminded from material circulating on the net showing a girl resembling her being attacked in Tahrir or slaughtered — supposedly by Islamic fundamentalists.
More now than ever before, Egyptians from all walks of life are talking about liberty. The chants for freedom have united the revolting masses beyond — and regardless of — ideological affiliation. But why has the call for a freer society limited itself to the political sphere: liberties stated in the constitution, parliamentary elections, management of state institutions and — to a lesser extent — media freedoms? Can one espouse democracy as a political system without extending its logic to gender relations, sexuality and issues of personal privacy?
Most important, why have the self-proclaimed "liberals" forsaken Aliaa and exerted all their efforts to excommunicate her from their liberal ideal? Most of those who reiterate the slogans of freedom and democracy have politely denounced Aliaa's move, but not from the point of view of rejecting permissiveness and debauchery — for that would equate them with the same forces "of darkness" against which they have come to define their raison d'être.
Instead of discussing Aliaa’s fundamental right to undress as she pleases, post whatever she likes on her blog — in short to exercise freedom of thought and expression and do what she sees fit as long as she doesn't directly harm anyone — those who tend to view themselves as being opposed to all forms of oppression have nevertheless abstained from uncompromising support for Aliaa's freedom of expression. Instead, they slammed her from the point of view of aesthetics, depth, timing and "cultural sensitivity.
Instead of supporting her, they pitied her; they made statements about her "confused" state of mind, and the fact that she is one year below the age of legal adulthood. The sympathy they expressed is that which one feels for a human being who is "messing up her life" (as some noted worriedly), and who is naïve and unaware of the consequences of her act, that she is not aware of the risks (i.e. getting killed by the forces of evil: the Salafis). Underneath this patronizing tone, there’s a reluctance to either support Aliaa's courageous venture or attack it as immoral. » | Rime Naguib | Sunday, December 11, 2011
Related »
