The summer-time is a getaway for everyone — the shining sun and the cold splash of waves have a therapeutic effect on everyone who goes to the beach. Truly, a sight for sore eyes. The free spirit breeze that is ignited throughout the summertime is enjoyed by everyone – except that it is not enjoyed by everyone – and is selective.
People seem to always have something to say about a woman’s choice of clothing, but when a headscarf and a burkini spike discrimination towards women in Egypt, there is a big problem that needs to be discussed.
But after a long and hard fight, hotels and resorts can no longer impose a ban on burkinis. This decision has been announced by the Egyptian Tourism Federation. Even though this a great step, there is still a long way to go for the coherent application and implementation of said decision.
Hotels were given a leaflet explaining that they cannot ban anyone from wearing burkini’s, and the Egyptian Tourism Federation also asks that anyone who has faced this issue to come forward and file an official complaint to the respective hotel or resort.
Burkini’s & North Coast
However, this announcement is not specifically new. An article by Egypt Independent in 2019, the Chamber of Tourism Establishments issued a statement explaining that hotels can’t ban women from swimming in burkinis “so long as the suit in question is made of approved materials that avoid health problems.”
Burkini’s in the North Coast
Discriminatory practices towards veiled women in Egypt have soared in prevalence due to the “Hijabi-free zones and the burkini-free beaches” in the North Coast. Restaurants, high-end resorts, and beaches have enforced discriminatory policies, which begs the question: when are we going to stop making the process of women liberalization in Egypt a selective process?
Liberating women in Egypt is deemed as a selective process because it deems to insinuate that wearing a bikini on a beach is okay but wearing a burkini isn’t, or the other way around, where a woman wearing more is deemed more reputable and respectable, than a woman wearing less.
The fight is no longer between two different sects or religions, it’s a “woman vs woman” fight. This is one part of the problem, the notion of women discrediting and undermining one another instead of presenting a united front.
One of the most apparent reasons for the ban and discrimination lies in the premise that correlates “low-class and hijabis/niqabis” together. If money equated to being a decent human being, many people would lose their high-class profiles.
Egyptian Streets spoke about this issue in an article by explaining that “more progressive, Westernized Egyptians reject the hijab for social, not religious, reasons. Overt religiosity is out of fashion. By dropping the hijab, Egyptian women are able to blend into the ambiguous, elite “other” whose prestige arises from simply not conforming to the expectations of its cult,” as stated.
طبعا كل الناس اللي عرفانى عارفة انى مش بتكلم او بعلق كتير على حاجة بس حصلت معايا النهاردة.. مشكلة انا شايف انها ماينفعش نسكت عليها عشان دى هتكون مثال لنا و لأخواتنا و زوجاتنا و لأجيال ورانا كتير ولازم الناس دى تتغير ويكون لها عقاب زي ما ابتدينا نتغير و نغير عقول ناس كتير و مرضى كتير فى مجتمعنا.. ده فى مثال واقعى حصل لمراتى النهاردة وانا معاها فى pool فى ستيلا الساحل لقيت سكان جايين يقولولها واحنا فى الماية ماينفعش تنزلى باللبس ده او بالمايوه ده !! قالت ليه بكل استغراب و خوف كما لو كانت عملت حاجة غلط . واحدة عندها شاليه زيها زي اى حد و ييجى ناس يقولوا لها اخرجى عشان انتى لابسة مايوه شرعى و مضايقة عيوننا بيه!!هنا كله لابس بيكينى او one piece وطبعا عشان ناس متتطلعش تقول Stella و نربط مسيحيين معانا أحب اقولك ان فيه بنات و شباب زي الورد مسيحين أكتر من مسلمين و كلهم واحد كانوا بيدافعوا عن مراتى و بيقولوا للناس دي انتو مرضى.. أنا شايف اللي حصل ده عنصرية زيهم زى اللي بيقولوا للي لابسة لبس قصير ماتلبسيش و أكيد دول اللي برده عندهم عنصرية اللون و الدين !!ياريت كل واحد يبقى فى حاله احنا فى #٢٠٢٠ يا ناس كفاية جهل . وفى فديو كمان عشان الناس تعمل share ويشوفوا بعينهم وانا اسف عشان فديو ١٠ دقائق ياريت اسمع آراءكم .Edit:انا والله مش قادر اصدق كم الناس اللي دخلت تدافع عن حق و عن منع العنصرية بجد مبسوط اوى مكنتش متخيل ان الموضوع هيسمع كدا بس الحمدلله ان الناس لسه بخير و بيدافعوا كدا شكرا بجد ليكوا كلكم ❤️ ، ارجو توضيح حاجة تانية يا جماعة موضوع عماد متعب حاجة تانية ملهاش دعوة بيا انا فى الساحل فى Stella وهو فى الجونة ارجو مندخلش المواضيع ببعضها و كابتن عماد متعب على مستوى الشخصى راجل بجد قمة الاحترام لكن الموضوعين مختلفين وشكرا .
Posted by Mostafa Hassan on Sunday, July 19, 2020
Recent incidents in the North Coast have proven that there is still no hope for women to exercise their full freedom. In a reputable gated compound in the North Coast, a woman blatantly ‘asked’ another woman to get out of the pool as she was wearing a burkini, claiming how ‘everyone here is wearing a bikini or a one-piece swimsuit’ and asked for her to be escorted out. The video was shared on Facebook by the woman’s husband with a detailed description of the incident and live-footage, which goes to show that change needs to be ignited, and it starts and ends with those who continue to exercise classism and women subordination. 
Moreover, another incident occurred at a high-end restaurant on the North Coast as well where a woman was deprived of dining because of her hijab. The mere thought of women having to anticipate whether or not they would be allowed somewhere in their own country is ruthless and daunting.
For Egypt to prosper, women cannot be marginalized based on their choice of clothing, religious practice, or social-belonging. In its means to be more “Westernized” and “liberal”, people often practice selective-freedom, which goes to show that there is a long road ahead for deterring discriminatory practices.
