A state of controversy dominated the Egyptian social media among supporters and opposers to the recentest trending incidents, one of which of a girl who wore a dress to her governmental university’s final exams and another of a veiled girl who was prohibited from the right to swim in a private club’s pool because of her conservative swimsuit.
Both coin sides were revealed as well as how society would condemn a certain behavior while parallely condemning its opposite. Questions about the reasons why Egyptian society deal differently with dress code, what the society’s criteria are in dealing with different appearances and why should differences be confronted with bullying or deprivation from citizenship rights circulated the social media platforms.
Hassan: social media made the bullying incidents come to surface easily and the intentions behind them would vary
Dr. Ammar Hassan, researcher in political sociology, said that the bullying phenomena has existed among members of the Egyptian society for so long where the rich class bullied the poorer ones and vice versa. However, the advent of social media made the bullying incidents come to surface easily and the intentions behind bringing such incidents to the public would vary; While some people may try to reveal corruption through publicizing an issue, others may seek fame through it.
Hassan added to “Trendify” that publicizing bullying incidents could be argued to have had a negative impact on the society as a whole. “We have seen over the recent few years people writing fake stories, to gain sympathy and achieve dishonourable goals. Some even made money because everything posted in a sympathetic tone would be mostly believed”.
Hassan: Religion will always be part of the debate
“Religion will always be part of the debate since most laws and societies norms and values are derived from religion”, Hassan said in explanation of the reasons and arguments social media users would frequently adopt in support or opposition of a specific incident or victim after it becomes a trend.
The Egyptian society as a whole witnessed a drift in dealing with different dress codes; while most of the Egyptian women used to wear more revealing clothes in the last century, bullying rates were much less, Hassan mentioned. This should not be explained in terms of any religious thoughts. However, it is the politicization movement that the whole society was subject to towards the end of the last century as certain groups utilized religion and Egyptians religiousness to gain political power over the whole society.
Dr. Samia Khedr, Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Education at Ain Shams University, said that the Egyptian society is a hybrid one with many different levels and backgrounds. However, problems like the recent incidents rarely get on the surface since the society became slightly more accepting of differences.
Khedr added that the issues like refusal to let ladies with certain swimsuits to specific swimming pools became viral recently and people would usually take it with a sense of personal or religious bullying. However, it could be argued that this is the dress code of a certain place not the other and if it is pre-declared and would come in the form of applicable rules on all the swimmers, it should be socially accepted.
Khedr: When a person goes to some place where they pay in exchange for a service, he/she should be aware of its rules and respect them
“When a person goes to some place where they pay in exchange for a service, he/she should be aware of its rules and respect them in case of making a decision to receive the offered services”, Khedr added. The Egyptian society became more respectful of different sectors of society, and, thus, provided different forms of similar services to suit the needs of each sector.
Khedr: As long as clothes are not revealing, or evoking whether worn by a veiled or non-veiled girl, people would find it easy to accept
In non-private places, respect for differences must be guaranteed, Kedr said. “The traditions of our society are moderate. Therefore as long as clothes are not revealing, or evoking whether worn by a veiled or non-veiled girl, people would find it easy to accept because this is what they are used to”.
Khedr added to “Trendify” that some types of clothes might suit some events and not suit others. However, this should not be an excuse for any society member to show hatred towards co-members of society.