Hijab and Cairene Women

A friend of ours who has been living in Cairo for the last 10 years commented that he had seen the city undergo multiple transformations. The “change” that most intrigued me was that according to him, the number of women wearing the hijab had significantly gone up since he arrived in Cairo in the year 1999. At that time, the women wearing the hijab were in a minority, especially in work places. All along, I had been under the impression that due to the increase in the number of women studying abroad, exposure to western culture, fashion consciousness etc, fewer Egyptian women were taking the hijab. However, my research validated my friend’s comments.

There does seem to be a greater number of Egyptian women taking the hijab in recent years, though their decision may not always be welcomed. In the year 2002, two TV presenters who took the hijab were excluded from appearing on the state- run TV station where they worked, by the employers, despite obtaining court judgments in their favour (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6565145.stm). In the year 2006, the Egyptian culture minister came under pressure to resign after he commented that wearing the Islamic headscarf (hijab) was “regressive.”

Taking the hijab is a serious decision and one that you need to go through the rest of your life. It is reflective of your upbringing, your outlook on life, your priorities; indeed of the very person you are. It is not uncommon to come across a group of Egyptian girls-some of them wearing the hijab and others not. Yet, they are together, they are friends and they are enjoying the same things. I find it strange that though they are part of the same group and doing the same things, there must be such a vast difference in their thinking and attitude. One might say that it is not necessary for two people to be alike to be friends. Even in India, two girls who are friends may have totally opposite styles of dressing-one always wearing the traditional “salwar kameez” and the other wearing halter tops and off-shoulder dresses. But the hijab represents a division or difference that is much deeper than differing levels of modesty. Hijab is something that is the topic of heated debate in Egypt as well as the other Muslim countries. Even in western countries having a sizable Muslim population, the hijab dominates news. It has religious implications and is a way of life.

In Cairo, some women wear the hijab tied under the chin, covering neck, shoulders and the chest. Yet others wear it tied at the back of their head, leaving part of the ears and the neck exposed. I think the different styles of wearing the hijab will form the basis of another post.

At the fitness classes that I go to, the girls/ladies wearing the hijab and attending these classes are few. They make sure that their scarves are tightly wound. And go through the routine with equal fervor. These girls/ ladies have learnt not to let the hijab stand in their way!

“Egyptian sexual harasser jailed” – I was heartened to read this! The victim, Ms Noha Oustath, bravely went public about her harassment and pursued the matter. This has resulted in the conviction of the harasser with three years’ rigorous punishment being awarded to him. You can read all about it on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7682951.stm

Earlier this month, during the Eid holidays, there had been a disturbing incident of a group of men sexually harassing some women in Mohandisseen on Gamaet-al-Dwal al arabiya street Later, in an incident outside the Metro Cinema in downtown, two women were groped and attempt also made to tear off their clothing.

More details on http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=17001

Violence against women is prevalent in every country-some are highlighted and some incidents never come to light because of the reluctance of the victim to speak about the crime. Their reticence is understandable because most of the people, including the victim themselves, would blame the women for provoking the attack. In the case of Noha Oustath too, she was advised by the people who were a witness to her ordeal to forget about the matter and not go to the police.

A well-defined law pertaining to sexual harassment, providing for a framework for the victims to report the harassment and punish the perpetrators, is a pre-requisite to combat this phenomenon. Even then, the prejudices against women-it is the way a woman dresses and her attitude that incites such harassment-will limit the chances of reporting and conviction.

Cairo Petroleum Wives

Last week attended a gathering of the Cairo Petroleum Wives (CPW)-an organization that is dedicated to “promoting social, cultural, educational activities and furthering friendship among women.”

The name “Cairo Petroleum Wives” is attributed to the ladies who started the organization, some 30 years back, but they welcome all English – speaking women in their midst and no affiliation to the petroleum industry is required. I had the opportunity to attend their event-“Show and Tell”-an innovative format. The members had brought along with them food items that they had “discovered” in Cairo which could be used as substitutes for ingredients available “back home”. Or they simply “showed” stuff indigenous to Egypt and “told” us about how it could be adapted and used in our meals.

The President of CPW Dianne Crewse, a dynamic and friendly lady demonstrated how to make the milky, frothy lemon juice which is so popular in Egypt. It is extremely simple-quarter a “baladi” (country) lemon, put it in a liquidizer with 2 teaspoons of sugar, a glass of water and some ice cubes and run the liquidizer and voila! Your thirst quencher is ready. Dianne had also managed to persuade the head chef at the “Maadi House” to take us through some Egyptian spices and their uses. We ended the morning with a raffle draw, with some members winning “hard-to-get” favorite foods. Never mind about me-am never lucky at these kind of draws!

Apart from the regular informative gatherings, CPW also has a very active book club and hold your breath!-a bowling club too! The book club gets together regularly to discuss a book or watch a movie and even does some related field trips together. The bowling club has a “bowl” of a time and meets twice a month. There is much more happening –you too can be a part of all the fun-send your name and number to cpwives@yahoo.com and you can receive emails on their upcoming events.

Pampering in Cairo

Yesterday was “pampering” day. On my agenda - pedicure, manicure and waxing. Was not very sure what to expect-women all over the world have the same beauty needs but the techniques and the results differ from country to country.

Once, while in Saudi Arabia, I went to a local parlour (since my Indian beautician friend was away in India) for “waxing”. In India, to remove body hair, we use hot wax (a mixture of paraffin or beeswax), which is applied to the skin, a strip of cloth placed over it and quickly stripped off, yanking out the hair in the process. It is painful! I expected the same here; but imagine my horror when the girl at the parlour came towards me, holding a wax look-alike in the palm of her hand! This was no hot wax (since she was holding it so comfortably between her fingers) and where were the cloth strips? Was I going to be subjected to more pain than before? I demanded an explanation as to what was going on-she explained to me that it was “hallawa” and extremely good for the skin; she demonstrated how it would work- since then I have become a fan of the “hallawa” way.

“Halawa” literally means “sweet” and can be eaten too! Seriously! It is a mix of equal parts of water and sugar boiled together until caramelized. Add a few drops of lemon juice and its ready. It is cooled to room temperature, then applied to the skin and pulled against the direction of hair growth and voila! No hair and your skin feels soft and smooth. Good for the skin too-since it does not burn the skin like the wax which has to be applied hot and can also be washed away easily from clothes etc since the mix is water soluble. And to top it all, it tastes yummy too! I did hands and legs and it set me back by LE 45 (INR 315).

The pedicure and manicure here was a disappointment - they just put my feet and hands in hot water, scrubbed perfunctorily, cut nails, filed them in a weird square shape and rounded of with nail polish. Hey what’s this? What about the massage? Without the massage, I would feel that the whole point of getting a “parlour” pedicure is defeated. My friends in India will agree, I am sure!

Hassled in Cairo

To date, I always thought that Cairo was an extremely safe city-safe for single women, safe for women to go out unescorted in the nights. A number of my expat friends and acquaintances have felt otherwise, they insisted that it is not “all that” safe - they had narrated incidents of kerb crawling and catcalls! But I was not convinced!

I believe them now after what I witnessed from my apartment window last night. Saw a smartly dressed woman walking on the street below. A man and a child were walking besides her and the man seemed to be saying something to her. They looked like a family to me, probably returning home after dinner at one of the nearby restaurants. But then I saw the lady suddenly dart in front of the man and rush to cross the street-she seemed to be avoiding the man. It then stuck me that the man was not known to her and had actually been following her trying to chat her up. To add to her woes, a car came and braked next to her and then started kerb crawling her…..Hey stop it! Leave her alone! I felt like shouting out to the men harassing her. As the lady continued walking, and the men followed her (one in the car and the other on foot), I could no longer see them. Was quite disturbed by what I saw. Is this the “real” Cairo and is this how the Cairenes behave?

Just last week, when I had cousins visiting from India, I had emphatically declared to them that Cairo is very safe and probably even more safer than Bombay (Mumbai) for women…..don’t know what to say now?.