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For all of those of you who have heard of Blessthischick cool avatar maker, they have just added a cool hijab option for all of you head coverers out there. Of course you still have lots of cool other head coverings but I thought I’d share with you.  My New Avatar You might also like
 Respect Part of the Kolena Laila initiative. I have been thinking about what the main issue for Laila is for the past couple of weeks. I thought about what affects us, what makes us happy, what hurts us, what makes us sad and what would help us the most. I looked up statistics on domestic violence, literacy, health, poverty and employment. I wondered and I thought, and then I realized that I wanted to pinpoint one thing and only one thing that could help. I thought about domestic violence and honor killings, but what could I possibly do to change that. These are things that need years for people to change their ideas and values. I am not just talking about domestic violence where a man abuses his wife or a father beats his daughter, I am also talking about brothers who mentally, emotionally and physically abuse their sisters just because they are men and their sisters are women. Later, during a conversation with my mother she mentioned that the media also played a huge role in women’s issues by portraying women in a way that was not very beneficial to them. Her argument was that role models were few and far between. I agree, women are bombarded with fake beauty ideals, the idea that they are either feminine or successful, that they can either have a career or a family. The problem is there is not much I could do there either. How about sexual harassment, that’s a pretty hot topic right now and as much as I think that every harasser should be jailed and fined, for even a minor offense. We need changes to laws and tough enforcement. It needs government involvement and change in behavior on the people’s part too, because women are sometimes also to blame because they do not report these assaults because of societal fears. Fairness and equality at work is more about the company you work for as opposed to the country’s policy. Let’s be fair for a while, you are entitled to 3 months paid maternity leave, you should get equal pay and if you need to take an extended leave of absence for family reasons you can. The problem is not with the law but how companies find ways to work around them to discriminate against women. So many issues but only one in my view can be a real situation changer. And that is RESPECT
Respect yourself, as a woman respect yourself. Women should respect themselves before expecting respect from anyone else. A woman is more than a pretty face, a dress size or a stereotype, respect her individuality, her inner beauty and her soul. Respect your strengths. A woman is strong, respect that, enjoy it and build on it. Respect your daughter. Respect her dreams, her wishes, her aspirations and help her achieve her dreams. Respect your mother. Whether you agree or disagree with her, she is the reason you are here today, respect the fact that maybe she had to make hard choices and sacrificed time and effort on your behalf. Respect the men in your life. When a woman respects her man, her husband or father, he will respect her back and most probably will treat her the same way. Respect change. Change is inevitable, respect it and you will understand and accept it. Understand the cycle of change, nothing happens over night, but if women work together change can happen, it just needs time and hard work. Respect your limitations. No woman is super woman, seriously! No they can not really move mountains no matter how hard they try, at least not alone. Sometimes we need to listen to our limitations. Sometimes we need to ask for help or say we can not do something. Take a moment to think about the women in your lives, celebrate them and thank them. You might also like
I was thinking and just decided to post this as a rant. I was thinking about women’s issues in general because of the Kolena Layla campaign (if I can call it that). I love empowered women. I tried to start blogging about great examples of Egyptian women a while back and got stuck. I still manage to find examples which still make me proud even if it is for simpler reasons (like businesses or bloggerettes turned authors). Is it because there are not a lot of examples? or is perhaps because they are not celebrated as much? I know think more about women’s rights, education, health and general well being now that I have a girl of my own. I was very lucky to have been blessed with an amazing set of parents who thought that we could do or be whatever we wanted as long as it wasn’t harram. Their line was drawn there and only there. It is hard to argue with religion because those kind of values do not budge when society does. They taught us (I have a super younger sister too) that we could think for ourselves. It is all about mindset, beleifs and the basic idea that we have rights, even if they are very simple ones. It is all about teaching girls to be balanced, strong individuals. The media is not helping either, and this is confusing girls. Even girls who do have a choice are confused. Do they want to be successful? Should they look like super models? Should they get married or follow their dreams? Do they want to have kids right away or do they want to wait? Do they want to stand out as innovators, leaders, inventors and owners? Do they want to follow? A total rant. You might also like
There are so many forms of abuse against women in Egypt and the Arabic world. I know that there is also alot of inequality and unfairness towards women, but I think physical abuse or even emotional abuse should be dealt with first. When a husband beats his wife because “he is the man” it crushes her soul and it sets the worst kind of example for their children. The boys learn that this is acceptable behaviour and the girls expect this to happen to them and learn to accept it too. When a man verbally abuses his wife to make himself feel better he is just proving that he is a “small” man. When a father differentiates between his children because of their gender he is setting the ground for larger problems. From a religous standpoint this is harram, we are all equal and we all deserve respect. This is just off the top of my head to start off the topic of supporting this year’s “Kolena Layla” blog action day. For more info head over to the blog or send them an email.
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The amount of young women starting up their own creative business endeavours makes me proud. I am what you could call a simple feminist. I am all for girl power, equal rights and strong women but with good traditional family values. I love that these women are creative. I love that they have passion for what they are making and that they are selling it. I am seeing groups popping up on facebook every day by women selling jewelry, accessories and home accessories that they have made themselves. I am also seeing lots of women who are selling clothes that have been bought in from abroad. Although I am more proud of the women selling their own handmade goods because I think this is better for the economy and overall future of the country because it creates pride in Egyptian goods and should eventually create a productive society instead of a consuming one. Here are some of the great examples that are on facebook: Shakmageya copper jewelry.
Fofo hand painted t-shirts and bags
Crochet and Knit Lovers the name says it all.
Hand Touch handmade purses and bags
Personalized Accessories I just wish that they could come up with a catchy name like their lovely pendants and rings.
Any of these products would make a lovely gift. Most of these artists offer personalization and special orders. I also find prices amazingly fair and affordable. If you have this kind of talent you really need to be out there making your stuff and selling it. You might also like
I wasn’t lazy the last few days I was just challenged into finding a solution for my Polyvore addiction. If you don’t know what Polyvore is, then you really should just go and experience it for yourself. It is a site which lets you mix and match items of clothing into “sets” and outfits. You can also browse other people’s sets and steal their ideas for your wardrobe. I also love the groups because no matter what, one person will always have a certain style and the whole idea is to be able to see different styles by different people. My favorite group is Muslim Attire, because with the hijab it is sometimes not so easy to find inspiration. The only problem was there is no rss feed for the groups and you have to go every once in a while and check them out. Well it is not really a problem, but I am a lazy person and a forgetfull one, left to chance I would probably totally forget about it in a couple of days time and just stop looking and go back to wearing my jeans, t-shirt and flip flops happily. I needed those Polyvore sets to come to me, I even tried some voodoo on them but no they would not listen. So I remembered Yahoo!Pipes, which helps you build your own feeds among so many other things. I love a good challenge, once challenged I rarely if ever back down until I find a solution to the problem being faced. They are now happily flying to my Google Reader. So I proudly present to you a feed to Muslim Attire. If you are interested in other groups just go to the pipe and enter the group ID (if you look up at the url when you are in the group page it is the xxxx in id=xxxx). The interesting thing is that the creator of Polyvore is also one of the creators of Yahoo!Pipes. Enjoy, now I am off to do some more browsing. You might also like
I have always thought my sister has a unique literary style. I think it comes from her extremely eloquent and charismatic personality. This peice is called “the big bad black wolf”, please enjoy.
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Last week I went to Cairo for a short weekend trip and stopped at On the Run, a little green book with a white bride caught my eye and I bought it. Titled “Ana 3ayza atgawez” meaning I want to get married, the book is the funny stories that Ghada has been through meeting different potential grooms. I had no idea that the book was originally a blog, my husband pointed that fact to me and then my mother. Obviously the book was all over the news and I was just the last to know. I went out and got the other two books in the series by Shourouk publishing “Orz Belanaban lesha5sein” and “Ama hazihi faraksati ana” and was definitely impressed. I instantly fell in love with (3ayza atgawez). Ghada’s style is hilarious, the stories are just so Egyptian and everything about the book is fresh and refreshing. Orz Bellaban, is more about little stories that Rehab writes. Some are sad, some are funny and some are on the verge of crazy, but all of them grouped together point out very clearly that Rehab is talented and definitely on her way to a literary future. The shortest book and in my view the simplest is Ama Hazihi faraksati Ana. Simple it might be but, shallow it is not, the book has lots of depth and is very easy to relate to, or maybe I related to it on a very strong level. Ghada (a different one) is obviously a very down to earth girl who’s head lives in the real world but has a very romantic heart. Apparently the blogging trend is here to stay so definitely kudos girls! You can visit the original blogs: Ma3a Nafsi >> Ama Hazihi faraksati ana Orz Bellaban lesha5sein >> Hawadeet Wanna Be a Bride >> Ana 3ayza atgawez You can also part of the interview the girls did with Mona El-Shazly on El 3ashera Masa2an here: You might also like
There is a reason why I haven’t updated the blog for so long, there always is You might also like
I am a focused, well balanced and very dependable career girl. No wait, I was all of that until I got pregnant. My hormones have rendered by brain into a lump of mushy marshmallows with lots of chocolate sauce and cherries on top. I will be fair as I usually am ( thankfully my ability to rationalize is not fully gone yet ) and say that not all of it is because of being pregnant. I am in a strange country, still don’t have a driving license, work at home and don’t get to socialize at all, so I tend to spend most of my time working at home and surfing the internet. I am bored and when I get bored I usually loose interest in real life. But then again, I love reading but my reading capacity has gone down from 800 page books in a week to 8 words on the back of microwave dinner packs. I spend most of the day trying to pick out the perfect nursery, taking into consideration that I am not going to have a nursery at all, just a baby crib which which will probably end up in our room for the first year. I dream of lovely pink polka dot wallpaper ( for the record, I don’t even like pink that much, and polka dots were never my thing). I also have a thing for baby clothes, although in comparison my husband is much worse off, I practically have to drag him away from the baby girl section to stop him from buying more stuff than she could possibly wear in the beginning, and every time he gives me a nasty look which makes me feel like I am the evil step mother or the wicked witch of the west. He also talks to the baby which I find so cute and tells her all of the wonderful things he is planning to do with her, like teach her how to build Lego towers. Did I mention I also dream of having my pre-baby body back? I am 30 weeks pregnant and I miss being able to roll around in bed when I want to instead of having to get up and roll to my other side, and I also miss sleeping on my back. I also miss my waist, is was a nice feature. I was never really “thin”, but I was ok and I was happy with my body and comfortable with it, now we are not very comfortable with each other, my body wants to go to the bathroom every 3 minutes and my legs don’t want to carry me there. My shoes don’t fit anymore either, part of it is because my feet are bigger and part because I used to buy shoes that fit with no room to spare for even a pair of thicker socks, so I guess I deserve that one. My sister will be very happy because I guess she might as well have them, including a pair that was only worn twice and cost an arm and a leg. The funny thing in all of this is that I am euphoric, I don’t really care about all of these things, I want to get to my due date and end up with a cute and slightly naughty little baby girl whom I hope will be my friend forever. You might also like
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). I finally met the little person who was living inside my belly for 9 months and kicking my insides like there was no tommorrow. I was blessed with a beautiful baby girl who is a miniature version of myself and has the sweetest grin ( even though it is still a reflex, it is as cute as hell ). I am trying to adjust to my new life even though I was mentally ready for it, when the baby finally arrived it was nothing like I ever thought it would be. It has also made me have so much more appreciation towards my mum.