...Because Oprah is the very busy woman we all know she is, she couldnt come to Egypt herself for the show, however, last year she was in and met lovely Nana. After having spent some quality time with Nana, Oprah decides to make Nana her delegate and send her to Egypt to get a feel of how life, marriage and love are dealt with by the Glorious Egyptians. Up till now, everything is very close to normal, I mean who can blame Oprah for being busy and wanting to delegate; not me! And so what the delegate just happens to be from Denmark?! The first representative of 80 million Egyptians the lovely Nana chooses is a young lady; a 33 divorced interior designer who, I couldnt help but notice, clearly has a lot of issues and bitterness but who am I to judge? So Heba, the first Egyptian representative, goes on to talk about how divorced women are stigmatized in Egypt and how men have the right to divorce women without any explanations. She amazingly went the extra mile of telling Nana how men can divorce their wives through SMS!
Now my laptop of course is long forgotten as I try to make sense of whats being said by the educated ambitious interior designer, but hey, it gets even better! Next thing I know, Ms. Heba goes on about how its "taboo" to live with your boyfriend and how its "socially not acceptable". WHAT THE HELL?! Where did that come from? Now, of course Nana doesnt let that one pass, as almost instantly, she fires back with, and I quote: "My boyfriend and I have lived together for 14 years but feel no pressure to marry." Who asked Nana about what she thought, and when did this turn into a comparison of lifestyles in Egypt and Denmark?!
A little ticked off but determined to keep listening, Nana throws the bomb when she asks why Heba isnt veiled. Heba pauses, with this weird expression on her face, and goes like, I like to think that Im open minded enough to decide against the veil (Im hoping my memory is serving me right, it might not be the exact words, but it was something along the same lines). When did the decision with or against the veil come down to our mentality and how cool we are?! Besides, can someone remind me what the episode was all about again?!
One question that kept wandering through my mind during the show was, based on what could they have possibility picked these two representatives?! I mean I dont think it was the level of education, general knowledge, social class or mastering of English because, again with all due respect, they couldve picked better representatives! I mean if youre aiming for objectivity, which is the least you couldve offered when presenting such a sensitive topic, (not that this was the topic advertised for from the beginning!) they shouldve picked an expert; someone who has enough info to better answer these questions, someone who represents Egyptians, someone who in short knows what theyre saying and what image theyre unconsciously projecting to the world about us and our religion.
Read more: Oprah, Excuse me?! - IslamOnline.net - Art & Culture
Now my laptop of course is long forgotten as I try to make sense of whats being said by the educated ambitious interior designer, but hey, it gets even better! Next thing I know, Ms. Heba goes on about how its "taboo" to live with your boyfriend and how its "socially not acceptable". WHAT THE HELL?! Where did that come from? Now, of course Nana doesnt let that one pass, as almost instantly, she fires back with, and I quote: "My boyfriend and I have lived together for 14 years but feel no pressure to marry." Who asked Nana about what she thought, and when did this turn into a comparison of lifestyles in Egypt and Denmark?!
A little ticked off but determined to keep listening, Nana throws the bomb when she asks why Heba isnt veiled. Heba pauses, with this weird expression on her face, and goes like, I like to think that Im open minded enough to decide against the veil (Im hoping my memory is serving me right, it might not be the exact words, but it was something along the same lines). When did the decision with or against the veil come down to our mentality and how cool we are?! Besides, can someone remind me what the episode was all about again?!
One question that kept wandering through my mind during the show was, based on what could they have possibility picked these two representatives?! I mean I dont think it was the level of education, general knowledge, social class or mastering of English because, again with all due respect, they couldve picked better representatives! I mean if youre aiming for objectivity, which is the least you couldve offered when presenting such a sensitive topic, (not that this was the topic advertised for from the beginning!) they shouldve picked an expert; someone who has enough info to better answer these questions, someone who represents Egyptians, someone who in short knows what theyre saying and what image theyre unconsciously projecting to the world about us and our religion.
Read more: Oprah, Excuse me?! - IslamOnline.net - Art & Culture
