If the Arab world has seen mobilisations around #MeToo in several countries, we are also witnessing a resurgence of uninhibited machismo, laments a Saudi journalist. Not to mention the state repression which continues to strike a number of activists.
“When I was at school in Saudi Arabia, there was a specific subject for girls” where we learned to “Cooking, cleaning and knitting”, Saudi journalist Maysaa Al-Amoudi remembers, on the site Daraj. These courses were then excluded from the curricula, but “Looks like they’ll be back soon”, she worries.
Because, according to her, we are witnessing a worrying resurgence of machismo in the Arab world, and more generally a “War on feminism” which would have marked the past year.
In 2021, the activists had to face all kinds of violence, enforced disappearances, wiretapping, excesses against feminist ideas on the part of uneducated people in the media and entertainment circles. Discussion circles [sur les réseaux sociaux] debated the danger feminism would pose to society and, in addition, it was the year of the death of the greatest Arab feminist, Nawal Al-Saadawi. ”
She cites the example of the Lebanese singer Carole Samaha, who boasts of not
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Source
Daraj, “Escalier” is an alternative news site born in 2017 in Beirut. Its editorial team is made up of professional journalists from Lebanon and other Arab countries. By its sections, the site contrasts with the Arab media
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