Responsible citizens are taking it upon themselves to end the so-called indecencies plaguing Egyptian society. Indeed, our Facebook timelines have become flooded with posts that criticize “the alarming state of immorality” that our society has reached.
Such citizens have taken as evidence of this immorality everything pertaining to Sahel. From criticizing revealing swimsuits, to calling for an end to the non-conservative behaviors in Sahel’s beaches, pools, and nightlife scene, it looks like these morality police officers are here to stay.
These kinds of posts are not a novel nor alien phenomenon. They repeat themselves every year during the summertime. This year, however, they have become more annoying, with this moral police force of responsible citizens becoming more judgemental than ever.
Firstly, we do not understand why people can’t just keep to themselves. If you do not want to drink, don’t; if you don’t want to wear a swimsuit, don’t; if you don’t want to take part of the Sahel nightlife scene, don’t. This is not about being close-minded nor is it about being open-minded, it is about respecting people’s personal choices in life, and accepting that not everyone is motivated by the same things. This is simply not how life works, nor how society ought to function.
Secondly, this focus on women wearing bikinis or revealing summer dresses or short shorts, is simply going too far. While there are countries that literally have official employees in charge of enforcing specific dress codes (and we fully respect them), Egypt is not such a country. Women can legally wear what they want to wear.
Stop assuming, stop judging, and most importantly stop calling women sluts and whores just because you personally do not agree with what they are wearing! It is truly a sad day when something as personal as the clothes on a woman’s body are no longer hers to judge, but yours to judge. The truth is these women are keeping to their own, and it is you who is corrupting society when you do not mind your own business.
This is not a mere judgment nor a neutral description of said women; this discourse strengthens rape culture. If you judge women merely by what they wear and you teach people to do so, then you are encouraging people to judge women literally by how much skin is exposed or covered.
Please stop predicting some apocalyptic end to society based on what women wear, and/or how people are behaving in a club at the North Coast. If your morals and values are threatened by a mere bikini – or by people partying in Sahel – then the problem does not lie in the bikini. Throwing words around like sluts and whore – and forcing religious judgements in there – is potentially much more harmful than a mere bikini.