Egypt's first veiled state TV presenter appears on screen

[Winged Isis]

Egypt's first veiled state TV presenter appears on screen
Al-Masry Al-Youm
Sun, 02/09/2012 - 21:12

Fatma Nabil, the first veiled news anchorwoman in the history of Egyptian television, said Sunday she was delighted to appear on the 12 noon news broadcast.

“Having felt bitter injustice before, I was very happy to read the news bulletin,” she said. “It is the qualifications that count, not appearances.

“It is an historic day for me,” she told Al-Masry Al-Youm by phone, adding that she had passed a test after the revolution but was not appointed as an anchorwoman because she was veiled.

Nabil has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Ain Shams University and has worked as a news editor for Egyptian State Radio. She moved to state television in 2002, and became chief news editor in 2005. In 2007, while she was on unpaid leave, she worked as an anchorwoman for Al-Sa'a channel and was allowed to read economic news although she was veiled. She then returned to state television.

Asked if this step was part of the so-called “Brotherhood-ization” of the state, Nabil said not every veiled woman is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or its political party. “The veil is a personal choice,” she said.

Nabil, however, objected to an anchorwoman wearing the niqab. “There would be no communication between the viewer and the broadcaster in that case,” she said. As for bearded anchormen, she said this is a personal choice.


http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/eg ... ars-screen

[Horus]

Personaly I would switch off any TV channel that expected me to watch a veiled woman reading the news, it offends me on several counts. First that it is a sign of male domination regardless of how people may try to portray it and secondly I dislike speaking to or watching anyone who's facial expressions are hidden from me, I view it as a one sided act, I may look at you, but you may not look at me, but more importantly it has no place in the religion of Islam so why are they doing it?

[Winged Isis]

She was just wearing a scarf (hijab) around her head and neck, her face was fully visible. The other headline was misleading. This has a photo: http://www.smh.com.au/world/egypt-tv-un ... 25aff.html

There is (or soon will be) a channel that will feature veiled women anchoring the shows, but it is intended for Muslim women as it will cover topics relating to being a Muslim woman. I posted that report earlier this year, on L4u I think.

[LovelyLadyLux]

If she was wearing a hijab with a visible face I guess that would be ok however if the news anchor was wearing a niquab - well that is akin to listening to the radio. I 'watch' TV to be able to actually SEE the person talking, see their facial expressions and their reactions. If I just wanted to hear a voice I'd turn on the radio.

It seems to be a standard come-back that wearing the veil is 'personal choice' and it may well be BUT if you are a woman working within a male dominated heirarchy and that heirarchy favours the 'little woman' being in their place and part of their being in that place is wearing a veil - well - doesn't take much to figure it out.

Professional clothing here is also "personal choice" but I guarantee you that most professional women i.e. attorney who are upwardly mobile will show up in a 'business suit' extremely similar to that of their male counterpart AND in a colour very similar to that of their male counterparts. They'd also say it is 'personal choice' but it really isn't. It is going with the flow of business culture so as to be able to get ahead. I can't see that Egyptian business culture would be much different. Highly doubt any of the Egyptian anchorwomen will show forearms or ankles and "Allah" fobid cleavage!!!