Egypt: The Lollipop and The Flies

Lollipo Hijab

The image above is been circulated for a while via email. It's one of those campaigns targeting women in order to cover their body and get veiled. But many bloggers in Egypt found it offensive and pathetic.

The Egyptian SandMonkey wrote a post about it entitled boys are flies, girls are lollipops.

The text reads: “You won't be able to stop them (i.e. guys), but you can protect yourself. He who created you knows what's best for you!”

Oh, where do I begin? Should I start with the “Men are flies” example, the MEN who made this employed, describing themselves? Or with the complete disregard to personal responsibility of men when it comes to sexually harassing females theme of the ad? Or Is it with the paternal tone that god, who created you naked, really really wants you covered for your protection from his other perfect creation? Or should I not even bother, given that there is a joke there about lollipops and licking that I am simply not man enough to make on this blog?

Yeah. maybe I just won't bother. I am tired of fighting with Hijabis. If they don't find this offensive, then maybe they do deserve whatever comes their way. What's the point of yelling at men that women are not pieces of meat to be coverd, when the Hijabis hold that same exact view of themselves? I mean, sure I am offended by the idea that they are portraying men as uncontrollable animals, but if the women who wear the Hijab and are in the majority are ok with it, why should we even care if they get sexually harassed or assaulted by those same men?

There used to be a point in fighting over this. I am just not sure those women are worth fighting for anymore!

The Arabist published the picture in one of his blog posts, and asked:

Two obvious (and rhetorical) questions: Can we really not stop harassment? And does veiling really “protect” you?

Forsoothsayer also published the picture here in her “Unnecessary, and not very diverting, musings“, and left it for her readers to comment on it.

Deeeeeee's reaction there was just three letters, “WTF?!!”

While Tarek commented: “Oh shit, we are not filthy flies for God's sake.”

And finally Noha commented on The Arabist's Post saying: “I’m veiled, and I can’t stop them nor can I protect myself.”

4 comments

  • The site musliamh media watch is a persian nationalist onbe focusing on negative phenonmena in Arab countries- while they mention nothing about the barabrous practces in the Khomeinist republic. Also it is wrong to integrate Iranians into our cultural circles. All of them with no exception cheered gleefully over the Iranian occupation of Iraq along with Americans ( refer to the statements of Khatamy and Aptahy).

    So including Iranians in our forums is indeed synomous with an implicit particpation in the Iranian occupation of Iraq. Unlike, Arabs, the average Iranian citzen is highly motivated by his historical inferiority complexes from the Arab Iraq ( Arab babylonians brought them Aramiac alphabet, later on the Arab semitic linberators brought them the Arabic Alphabet in addition to rteligon and Arabic sciense , Babylonians beforehand built them the persopolis).

    Just ook at this so called Zeynab muslimah media web site, always wrting about suicide bombers in Iraq ( mostly iranian inteelignece elements) but they neverrefr to the Iranian settlements in the sout of Iraq or the grudged Iranian death squads that are wipin out the modern pillars of Iraq so as to convert into a Khomeinist Persian republic.

    Besides, this an Arabist website, so why the hell are this Iranians ” Musliamh media watch infesting it?

  • As long as women are pressurised by family and culture to wear headcovering, men can use the paltry excuse that those women who dont wear a headress are wanting sexual attention.
    It is a brave woman who goes against her familys expectations. I would urge all women with a concience who are only wearing the headcovering to appease their family and cultural expectation to be brave…braver than ever for by sheer defiance of this restriction can they make changes.
    Only when a SIGNIFICANT ammount of women rebel against pressurisation and emotional blackmail will men be unable to use the excuse that those who are not wearing headcovering are cheap and tarty wanting sexual attention.
    This will take years of undoing all the inherent inbread vileness which men perpetrate against women in the name of religion.
    The men in authority will realise eventually if their wives and daughters are brave enough to say no to headcovering that they cannot brand all women as harlots for in doing so they would brand their own.
    WOMEN YOU HAVE THE KEY TO YOUR FREEDOM IF YOU CHOOSE TO UNITE!

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