I have a technical piece to write but my head is not there yet so instead, I will ramble...
I was shocked yesterday when I read a BBC Breaking News tweet that Omar Sharif is in support of the protests. I was ready to tweet back at the BBC that Omar Sharif was dead and that they should check their source who was an imposter. I also thought that maybe bbc was making a joke of some kind even though I had not seen any evidence of this kind of sense of humor. I also thought maybe Omar Sharif was representative of the western view of Egypt and the reference was symbolic. In any case, I was ready to retweet and correct the BBC, yes me correct the BBC on the blatant mistake they had made. Good thing I second guess myself as a matter of course, and went off to Google.
I swear I thought he was dead! I am sure I heard something to that effect a few years ago, that the Dr Zhivago had passed. Anyway, the dude is alive and well and maybe 150 years old.
So today is the million man march in Egypt. I find this perpetuating the station that woman hold in that country. Far from me to make judgments about a country I know little about but the little I saw, had very few women in it. At night time driving through Cairo, all the bars were patroned by men smoking their shisha. In all the hotels and museums and historic sites, few women, many men.
I suppose there could be fewer women in the tourist and retail industry than in other industries. Our tour guide also explained that the women in Egypt are free to do as they wished. If you see them adorned in a black Hijab, even in 40 degree weather, it is because they choose to and it is practical.
Now I wonder if this million man march is meant literally. Will women be present? Are they allowed to be present? Can they participate in the revolution of their own country and of themselves?
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