As children, we grew up accustomed to hearing our grandparents, parents and practically all adults in our lives make snap judgments about all those around them.
We were too young to understand what they were doing exactly, but we grew up and we now have a word to describe it: stereotyping. Stereotyping is defined as the act of attributing certain traits to a group of people or categorizing a group of people and reaching a certain conclusion with no basis.
Now, I know what you’re thinking — this isn’t just an Egyptian problem, everybody does it — but that’s a simplified argument and doesn’t make it okay to stereotype an entire group of people.
1. All Khalijis are loaded
As soon as we figure out someone is khaliji, we ask, “How many of your friends have private jets?” “None.” “Oh, that’s so weird.”
What’s weird is assuming that everyone who lives in El Kahlig must have a private jet.
2. All Nubians are butlers
“Oh, is he the butler?” is the question everybody asks as soon as they find out that someone is Nubian. But hey, who can blame them — the media seems to think that no Nubian Egyptian could choose to be anything but a porter or a butler.
3. If you’re not a doctor or engineer, you’re stupid
“Oh, that’s good, too.” Gee, thanks. As a law student, I hear that a lot. I know it’s hard to believe, but I actually chose to be a lawyer and I actually did well in school, and yes, it was a shock to my parents, too.
Think about this: If a doctor, God forbid, makes a mistake, he’s not going to call another doctor for help, is he? He’ll call me, or someone like me, and I would hope that the lawyer he calls will be more educated in the law than the doctor was in medicine.
4. Stereotypes about women
Somebody doesn’t turn on their turn signal and is about to hit your car, so you automatically assume that the driver is a woman even though actually, it’s a fifty-year-old man — it’s still supposedly a “woman’s way of driving”.
Also, apparently women can’t handle the pressures of a working environment — I guess all the amazing female entrepreneurs and professionals who drive the world’s economy didn’t get the memo. Because, of course, a woman’s place is at home with her kids, so we’re back to the stone ages where women don’t get to choose what they want to do with their lives.
5. Stereotypes about men
“Men can’t cry” — is that because they don’t have any emotions or just because it’s not okay for them to have emotions?
Also, men have to be the sole breadwinners for their families, and even if they have to work 14-hour days and still aren’t making enough, God forbid that his wife has to work — this can’t happen, it’s just wrong and they should just struggle.
And supposedly, men can’t be too involved in their children’s lives — so being a good parent has nothing to do with anything but your gender?
6. Stereotypes about girls who wear or don’t wear makeup
A girl who wears a lot of makeup is thought to be attention seeking, vulgar and unrefined. It doesn’t occur to people that she might be doing it for medical reasons, or even just to feel good about herself, which of course isn’t a valid reason — she should just have low self-esteem and be miserable.
Ironically, if she doesn’t use makeup, she’s not trying hard enough or she must be arrogant and think that she’s the prettiest girl in the world even without makeup. If I didn’t know any better, I would think women can’t win…oh wait.
7. All single women are unhappy
“She’s probably hiding how depressed she is.” Of course, there is no way that a girl could be fulfilled without being married. It’s actually better for her to be in an unhappy marriage than to be single — God forbid. It doesn’t matter if she’s married to the wrong guy — she’s married and that’s enough.
8. Misconceptions about divorce
According to society, a family is only successful and children can only be happy if the family lives together. It doesn’t matter if children might grow up with abusive parents or in homes with fights being a daily occurrence — as long as the parents are together, children will supposedly be better off.
9. Stereotypes about hijab
As soon as a girl puts on the hijab, everybody treats her differently, as if in that one minute that she put on the hijab, she changed completely. Because that’s just how it works. Now, everything has to be awkward because in that one minute, she forgot how to have fun and is always judging you.
On the other hand, if a girl isn’t wearing the hijab, she has to be up for anything and has no standards or values.
Ironically, Egyptians are bothered and offended by stereotypes in the West concerning Egypt, Egyptians, Arabs and Muslims, vehemently denying them. But if we want people to stop typecasting us, we have to stop typecasting each other.
WE SAID THIS: Don’t miss 10 Egyptian Concepts that Need to Change and Viral Visual: ‘Meen Homma’ Campaign Highlights Egyptian Stereotypes that Need to Change.