It's old news, but today I discovered an article about Aliaa Elmahdy's photographic protest. I thought it would spark some relevant discussion because Elmahdy used an internet blog as a tool for global communication and social protest, and her description of social structures in Egypt reminded me of the oppression we studied in Tagore's The Home and the World.
Aliaa Elmahdy posted a nude photograph on her blog- wearing only sheer, thigh-high tights and red patent leather shoes. Her explanation for publicizing the photo on her blog and other social forums like Twitter and Facebook, was:
Put on trial the artists’ models who posed nude for art schools until the early 70s, hide the art books and destroy the nude statues of antiquity, then undress and stand before a mirror and burn your bodies that you despise to forever rid yourselves of your sexual hangups before you direct your humiliation and chauvinism and dare to try to deny me my freedom of expression.
In a CNN interview published in 2011, she also states that "Most Egyptians are secretive about sex because they are brought up
thinking sex is something bad and dirty and there is no mention of it
in schools. Sex to the majority is simply a man using a woman with no
communication between them and children are just part of an equation.
To me, sex is an expression of respect, a passion for love that
culminates into sex to please both sides." Elmahdy speaks openly about her relationship with boyfriend Kareem, her use of sexual protection, and her adoration for the female body as aesthetically beautiful.
In another article, Chris Monty writes that "Nudity is looked down upon in Egyptian society, even as a form of art. Elmahdy’s posting is almost unheard of in a country where most women in
the Muslim majority wear a headscarf and rarely wear clothes exposing
the arms or legs in public." Elmahdy expresses distaste for the veil, which she says some Egyptian women wear merely to escape the public backlash and harassment that would ensue if they shed it. She is living in a time of conservatism and female oppression. The SCAF responded to a political protest in Tahrir by giving the women activists virginity tests- thrusting two fingers into their private areas.
What do you think of Elmahdy's decision to pose nude?
How do you think this Egyptian news compares to Bimala's revolution in the Indian novel The Home and the World?
Also, we use this blog as an educational tool to discuss class readings. What do you think of Elmahdy's use of the internet to achieve global media coverage and garner support? 
This is a very thoughtful and thought provoking post Alicia. We discussed “purdah” in the context of The Home and the World and we will be reading Persepolis which will raise, among other issues, the issue of the mandatory hijab in the post revolution Iran and Satrape’s rebellion against it. In that context, Aliaa Elmahdy use of nudity as a form of protest in a conservative society is certainly like a bolt of much needed lightning.
ReplyDeleteOther artists, contemporary and past, have used nudity to highlight taboos about the body that have been normalized. I was recently introduced to the work of Miru Kim, who says that photographing herself in nude in public spaces has been a way for her to overcome the fear and humiliation associated with nudity. Here is a TED talk she gave that you might enjoy listening to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ScJVrV6bk1g
And here is the huff post article where I first learned about her:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/24/nude-artist-miru-kim_n_883110.html#s297169&title=Nude_Artist_Miru
Kim’s interest in the rats that populate the subway tunnels of New York City and in the natural reclamation of abandoned industrial complexes might also remind you of Through the Arc of the Rainforest.
In the context of feminism, though, I wonder if associating nudity with freedom and a clothed body with restriction is not all too simple. Recently, France banned Muslin women from wearing the hijab. What do you think of that?
The enhanced role of the blogs and social networking sites in raising awareness and mobilizing support for social and political causes – “slacktivism”- is the other important issue you point us towards that is worth thinking about. I would love to hear what others think of the uses and abuses of blogs (apart from mandatory class blog posts that is!)
I think Elmahdy is a very strong person to not only stand up for her beliefs and speak out against the conservative society and because she did it in such a public and personal way. The internet has allowed for so many new ways to spread information and the people are constantly finding new ways to use it creatively and spread their messages further, I think the internet has brought the world together more than anything else in the last 100 years, and its potential continues to grow.
ReplyDelete