Dear Readers,
“Shhhh don‘t do this you are a girl, a ‘banoota'” to be exact, is probably the most common sentence every Egyptian woman has internalized. We grow up listening to statements like this and unfortunately it shapes us into certain molds that society has made up for us.
Society norms are a set of values that are agreed upon by a group of people. Funny enough, most of the founders of our so-called value system are six feet under and probably could not care less about the length of your skirt nor the volume of your laughter.
What makes us fear breaking molds or changing norms? Why are we afraid of our girls? Why do we teach girls to back off just a tiny little bit so her date doesn’t think she is smarter than him? Why do we teach girls that her voice is anything but revolutionary?
It is time to break free from the “Banoota” mold and evolve as a society. It is about time that we stop shushing our girls and start showing them their potential. Societies are dynamic and change, it is time we become this change and give our girls wings. Let‘s free our minds one girl at a time.
Have a blessed Ramadan,
May Abdel Asim