In through one ear and out the other

Last night, I watched a segment about the "Respect Yourself" or "E7terem Nafsak" anti-sexual harassment campaign by Kelmetna Magazine on "el 3ashera masa2an" show along with millions of other people. It resonated with me as I'm sure it did with many other girls around Egypt particularly since the segment adamantly placed emphasis on the fact that it's not the girl's fault and unlike what people believe, it doesn't simply boil down to the way she's dressed.

So I decided to check out the campaign's facebook group and you'll never guess what I found people arguing about for pages upon pages.

Actually, you probably can

Lo and behold, people were still arguing about clothes and the way girls are dressed.

I'm stunned that so many people are simultaneously naive and hardheaded. Note to the public : covering a girl from head to toe has been done and it doesn't desuade macho-men with inferiority complexes walking through the streets of Cairo from running their mouths and possibly drooling to the extent of needing a bucket tied around their necks (and this has been supported by research).

Before anyone flames me, I'm not advocating that women walk around in the skimpiest of outfits but basically I believe in two things :

a) Regardless of religious beliefs, I don't think it's particularly intelligent of a girl to emphasize her body over everything else she possesses be it intelligence, talent, humor..etc.
b)However, I do believe in personal freedom.

Another reason why the whole clothing issue is so completely redundant to me is that saying a women is "asking for it" by the way she dresses is basically proclaiming that the majority of men in Egypt are decerebrate animals with absolutely no control over their actions who are simply being driven around by their hormones and desires. I find that both lame and unacceptable. Seriously, people have to come up with a better excuse than that.

To further explain my point; let's use the open door analogy Egyptians seem so fond of. We like to say that if a door of a house or a car is left open, surely this will lure a theif.
Well, yeah..except that means that 90% of the Egyptian male population have suddenly become degenerate theives and women (pssst...those are the houses/cars...ooh..and their skimpy clothes are the open doors!) have suddenly become walking targets.

I don't know about you but that's just insulting to both sexes .

I don't want to live in a place where that analogy is an accepted fact that applies to the vast majority of the population especially in this day and age.

You know what the real problem is? It's apathy. As cliche as that sounds, it's the truth. Nobody gives a damn any more. It's just another day and another chick getting hit on by some moron, maybe violently, maybe not. Ho-hum well what's new and what do you expect me to do, lady?

I'd go as far as to say that some people enjoy seeing other people's misery. After all, it makes for awesome small talk!


listening to: Robyn-Bum like you

It’s all in the technique

I’m sure we all (the ones with functioning brains at least) know that harassment is a horrible vile thing particularly because of how degrading and violating it is to women.

The thing I don’t get, is why would a pompous, self-absorbed jackass who thinks women were all created for his own personal entertainment do something as useless, inane and just plain stupid as harassment that eventually succeeds in doing nothing but making him look like an idiot?

To further explain my point; let’s examine some common techniques guys use to harass women:

-Walking up near a woman close enough so she can hear you whisper something obscene. She doesn’t understand what you said, she doesn’t care what you said, your breath stinks, you stink and you still suck at life.

-Honking a horn when you see an attractive woman. What’s the expected reaction here exactly? Should said woman throw herself at your car’s windshield? Wave? Chase the car wherever it may go because she is now certain beyond all doubt after hearing that heavenly horn that you (yes, you!) are the one for her?

-Swerving your car at an attractive woman in the street. Now what the hell is this about? I mean, I know if I was a guy, whenever I see a hot girl my immediate reaction would be to run her over! Yeah, baby, yeah!

-Walking as close to her as possible and singing. Seriously? That’s like, supposed to have a deeper meaning? Besides that your vocal cords need to be either lubricated or just pulled out for the sake of humanity?

-Comparing an attractive woman to various foods like “eshta/cream cheese” or “3asal/honey.” Or “zebda/butter”. What girl doesn’t want to hear herself compared to gooey, sticky fattening foods that send your cholesterol through the roof all day long ? It actually manages to make the perpetrator seem even more disgusting (hard as it is to believe) . I’m guessing it’s the drool that adds that extra “eww” .

-Grabbing your privates. Good God ! It isn’t enough that for some reason the majority of men think it’s actually OK to adjust um…themselves any where, any time (IT”S NOT DAMMIT, IT”S NOT!), they actually think that it’s somehow enticing.

The overall gain from these techniques is either being completely ignored, being looked at with disgust or if a girl is especially having a bad morning , a minor scandal to spice up the day.

What’s the point ? Even if you don’t have the least bit of respect for women, why do something so incredibly moronic? I don’t care if you can’t get married, or if the economic conditions are harsh bla bla bla…if you don’t give a rat’s ass about women and their rights at least maintain a shred of dignity for your own sake every once in a while.

Truly Horrific News Item

Source

A couple of Law Enforcers attempted to rape a young woman in one of the busiest subway stations in Egypt , in broad f*cking daylight!

Excuse me while I go puke my guts out.. >:(

I can't stop thinking about his. How could this have happened? What could have possibly been going through those 2 jerks' heads to make them think that they could get away with something like this? Did they not expect the girl to report the incident like so many rape victims in Egypt who are afraid of the social stigma? Good God, what is this world coming to...?
I hope they actually get the punishment they deserve and I hope the ppl who make excuses for shit-heads like these (girls wear tight clothes, video clips, el dish, the economy..bla bla bla) actually put a sock in it this time.
Thank God that the girl managed to get away at the right time.

N.B. the poem in my previous post is eerily applicable to this.

Those pesky jeans

Last night I was watching the popular egyptian program on Dream tv called "10 p.m" or "el 3ashera masa2an". Like the rest of the country they were talking about our newest celebrity; the Maadi Stabber. I have to admit that it was an interesting show and I enjoyed what I managed to watch from it except for one particular point brought up by a caller. He stated that if girls which just "respect themselves" and not wear obscene clothing , nobody would attack them.
Omg Omg, it's like..just sooo simple. It's the clothes. Women are being stabbed and having their internal organs torn up because of the clothes. Not because -heaven forbid- the guy's completely psycho, or because the security is so sub-par that these girls were being stabbed in broad daylight. No, no,no, that's just crazy talk. It's the clothes.
I mean if a girl is wearing what some ppl will define as improper or tight clothing (like a pair of jeans instead of a friggin' burka), that warrants her being harrassed, stabbed or even raped. *HeadDesk*
The thing is, this isn't the first time I've heard this opinion about this particular case among others and it's terrifying to realize that there might be many ppl in Egypt who think with the same logic of rapists, along the lines of " she was a slut, so she deserved it, dammit!".
It's the same issue when a girl gets harrassed on the streets in here, it's always because of the way she's dressed, the way she walks, talks , laughs, whatever. The easiest explanation is that it's always because of her. Forget the guy, poor thing has no control over his hormones.
The truth is nearly all girls know that it's never been about the clothes, the only qualification to get harrassed or in this latest case, get stabbed, is having a uterus.
Why this sacred tradition of blaming victims when the victims are girls?