Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.565894
As soon as the beat started, the young woman bobbed her head to the
rhythm, raised her hands to get the crowd clapping and then unleashed a
flood of rap lyrics that tackled some of the biggest social challenges
women face in the Arab world.
With
the Middle East's hit TV show "Arabs Got Talent" as her stage,
18-year-old Myam Mahmoud rapped about sexual harassment, second-class
treatment of women, and societal expectations of how a young religious
woman should behave.
The
Egyptian teenager didn't win the program - she crashed out in the
semifinals - but she did succeed in throwing the spotlight on something
bigger than herself.
"I
wanted to tell girls in Egypt and everywhere else that they are not
alone, we all have the same problems, but we cannot stay silent, we have
to speak up," Mahmoud, who wears an Islamic headscarf but not a
full-face veil, told The Associated Press.
In
Egypt, a country where politics have grabbed most of the headlines for
the past three years, little space has been dedicated to addressing
social problems. So Mahmoud, who is a first-year student of politics and
economics at the October 6 University in a western Cairo suburb,
decided to draw attention to women's rights through rap.
"Everybody speaks about politics, but nobody tackles the topics that relate to me the most," Mahmoud said.
She
said she gets the ideas for her songs from the surrounding community,
and that sometimes girls send her their problems to write about and give
them a voice.
"Many girls want to say what I rap about, but they cannot for many reasons," she said. "I speak for them."
One
of the biggest problems for woman in Egypt is sexual harassment. A U.N.
report released in April said the issue had reached "unprecedented
levels," with 99.3 percent of women in the country reporting that they
have been subjected to sexual harassment.
"There
is no single female in Egypt that has not been harassed, regardless of
her looks," Mahmoud said. "As soon as a girl is born in Egypt, she is
repressed with many pressures."
Part of the problem, in Mahmoud's eyes, is that women don't speak out against harassment.
"I wish we would not be silent about our problems," she said. "We have to snatch our freedoms, nobody will just offer them."
Her lyrics take the issue head on.
"Some
of us see the answer is to cover up, and if the girl is hidden she will
not be assaulted," she raps in one song. "My body is only mine."
Initiatives
to counter the problem have increased in the past year in Egypt, where
volunteer groups have started protecting women at street protests. On
the other side of the debate are conservative religious clerics who
blame women, saying they invite harassment and sexual abuse by mixing
with men.
The
issue is, in part at least, linked to the broader expectations that
many men in religiously conservative Egypt have about women and their
roles in society. Mahmoud, with her quiet self-confidence and animated
performances in a genre that has gained more acceptance among younger
Egyptians in recent years, has challenged those expectations.
She
said she received a flood of messages after her performance on TV
accusing her of misrepresenting Islam with her look - read veil - and
attitude. But she dismissed the criticism, saying "religion has never
been a constraint - we put the curbs on."
"The
veil was never a problem for me because it is my personal choice," she
said. "If I'm going to add anything new to my life it has to go with my
initial choices."
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