The Politics of Harassment

“Egyptian women sexually harassed at anti-harassment rally,” read this week's headlines.  Well isn’t that ironic? 

On Friday, a few hundred women staged an anti-harassment rally to protest the sexual harassment that is ubiquitous in Egypt.  Male supporters formed a protective circle around them, only to be overwhelmed by hordes of violent young men who sexually assaulted some of the protesting women.  

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when women stand up for themselves in Egypt.   

Wait, maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to condemn.  Let’s look at the bright side.  Some Egyptian women and men are starting to recognize that sexual harassment is a HUGE problem and are willing to do something about it.  It’s unfortunate that it took several instances of revolution-related gang rape for them to wake up, but at least they’ve awoken.  Better late than never. :/

"No Justice, No Peace"

In the words of New York City firebrand, Al Sharpton, “no justice, no peace.” This is what came to mind upon hearing the verdict of the Mubarak trial two days ago. I have never had much use for the Reverend Al, but his words reverberated in my head as thousands of Egyptians took to the streets, enraged that Mubarak and Co. were let off the hook. Mubarak was facing life imprisonment for failing to stop the shooting of protesters during the initial wave of the 2011 revolution. So was Mubarak’s Minister of Interior, Habib Al-Adly, and Mubarak’s sons, Gamal and Ala. The six officers charged with actually pulling the trigger on protesters were also let off scot-free.

If that’s not getting off the hook, I don’t know what is. You would think that after thirty years of robbing the country, they could come up with enough charges to put him in the electric chair. Or to wrap a noose around his neck and mete out justice in Tahrir Square, Iraqi style. Which is basically what a lot of Egyptians clamored for (especially the relatives of those who died in the revolution). Instead, Mubarak was found guilty of only one crime but innocent (!) of numerous corruption charges.

As if we really needed a trial to prove that Mubarak was one of the most corrupt dictators in the world. One need only look at this place to know the extent of the damage. The education and health systems are a joke. The economy is in shambles. Unemployment and illiteracy rates are embarrassingly high. Traffic is a nightmare. Pollution is out of control. That’s all the proof of Mubarak’s corruption you need right there. But no. Egyptians are having a trial, knowing full well all the judicial finagling that will occur. Alas… us moderns and our obsession with process. :/ 

What I find most intriguing is the collective Egyptian reaction. Of course, Egyptians have the right to be outraged. But outrage implies surprise. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what is so surprising about any of this. From the very start of the trial, it was clear that things were fixed in Mubarak’s favor—Mubarak appointed all the generals, prosecutors and judges! Even without these appointments, we would still have a sense that things were fixed, because that’s just how things work here. This time, however, it was a little more obvious and therefore insulting to the national intelligence. 

Yes. That’s it. Insulting. Egyptians are insulted, not surprised. They are insulted that the powers that be think they are as stupid as to believe that Mubarak only did one thing wrong in his thirty-year tenure. They are insulted that even after a revolution, it’s still business as usual in conspiracy-prone Egypt.

This is why there will be no peace. Because there is no justice. Until the guilty and the innocent trade places behind bars, Egyptians will not stop raging in Tahrir. Don’t get me wrong. I fully understand that in this part of the world, in these times, manipulating political events to ensure more desirable outcomes is necessary. It may not be “right,” but it is better than letting nature take its course. Letting nature take its course (i.e. free and fair elections), would result in Islamists gaining complete control of the country. That would have disastrous affects for everyone, including the people who voted them in. Hence, I fully support rigging the presidential elections to ensure the victory of a secular candidate. This is probably really un-American of me to admit. Then again, I’m not exactly a (small d) democrat these days. 

That being said, Egypt could have afforded to conduct the Mubarak trial with less overt manipulation; convicting Mubarak for murder and corruption would not have jeopardized the future of the country the way fair elections would. If anything, conducting a fair trial would have been a nice gesture…a symbol of goodwill toward the Egyptian people. It would have communicated that the revolution was not fought in vain. At least not entirely. 

Not to mention, the timing of the trial was all wrong. The verdict came directly between the first and second rounds of the presidential elections, both of which are (rightly) perceived as rigged.  If Egyptians were outraged at last week’s election results, this verdict basically guarantees that this time around, Egyptians will approach the polls with a vengeance. And it’s the Islamists who stand to benefit. 

Here’s why. Last week’s election results put Egyptian liberals in the unfortunate position of having to choose between the two evils they have been trying to extinguish—Mubarak and the military, on one hand, and radical Muslims, on the other. Liberals must now choose between the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsee, and Mubarak’s former Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq.

Or, they can start a new revolution…

I’m willing to say that before the verdict, liberals would have voted in droves for Ahmed Shafiq. Not out of conviction, but to prevent the country from falling into the hands of radicals (and because this would be easier than starting another revolution…and because liberals have tacitly admitted defeat). The revolution did not preside the way they hoped it would, and it is too late to save it. Their only option would be to prevent Egypt from turning into Afghanistan. If that means electing a Mubarak crony, then so be it. 

After hearing the verdict, however, many angry liberals will vote to Morsee. Also not out of conviction, but out of spite. They are disgusted with all things Mubarak. Though Morsee wants to impose Shariah law, everyone knows that he is also the ancien regime’s staunchest opponent.  Right now, this is the most important thing for disillusioned Egyptian liberals. 

Casein point, Mr. Ayman Nour. He is one of Egypt’s most influential liberals who publicly endorsed Morsee. Ayman Nour is a hardcore secularist who made a career out of opposing Mubarak. His activism landed him in jail for being the first person to ever challenge Mubarak for the presidency in 2005. After hearing the verdict of the Mubarak trial, however, Nour declared his intent to support the Morsee campaign. 

So there we have it. Basically, this means that if the second round of the elections is not rigged, Morsee gets in. Now, I’m willing to believe (and sincerely hope) that the elections are fixed in Shafiq’s favor, but if they are not, we can kiss this country goodbye. 

If the elections are fixed and Shafiq wins, things will get ugly fast. We can expect more protests and more violence. Though Egyptians have historically had a high tolerance for corruption, a sham verdict on the heels of a rigged election was just too much, even for Egypt.

But if Morsee gets in, things will get ugly slowly. Women and Coptic Christians will be stripped of their rights and dignity. The economy will shatter even more than it already has, and life will become as miserable as it is in other Islamist countries. Slowly. Wahda wahda. That is more dangerous than any protest, or dare I say, any isolated massacre. Massacres come to an end, and people lose their enthusiasm for protests. But gradual Islamification lingers on for decades, destroying people’s livelihoods and lives. 

This is why this mockery of a trial was the biggest mistake since the onset of the revolution. It has angered people so much that they are now willing to throw their support behind the candidate who will most definitely destroy Egypt as we know it.

No justice, no peace.  

The Lesser of Two Evils

“El-Tet” 24/7 Belly Dance TV

Sorry, this is going to be long. I have a lot to say. 

If there’s anything positive coming out of post-revolutionary Egypt, it is the new belly dance channel, “El-Tet.”  Based in Bahrain with an office in Cairo, El-Tet features performances by Egyptian and foreign belly dancers 24 hours a day. That’s right. Shimmies and undulations around the clock on national Egyptian TV. The channel, which is a little over a year old, takes its name from the Egyptian Arabic word for the accordion/tabla section of a baladi piece. It is actually pronounced “tit,” but for obvious reasons, you’ll almost always see it transliterated as “El-Tet.”  Short “e,” not “i.”

I first encountered the new channel last December, when some of my musicians insisted they had seen me dancing on TV. I hadn’t heard of the channel before, and I had no idea why they were saying this, although I found the idea of a channel named “The Tit” quite hilarious. So, I assumed they probably saw another dancer who resembled me. I was right. My tabla player showed me the clip of the dancer in question, and sure enough, it wasn’t me. I don’t know how he confused us, but then again, Egyptians tend to think all of us foreigners look alike.

Dancing to "Ya Helwa Sabah" on El-Tet

"Being a foreign Belly Dancer in Egypt Interview with Luna of Cairo

Interview by Isis Zahara

WEDNESDAY, MAY 09, 2012  

"We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle."--Marilyn Monroe 

Luna of Cairo is an American Belly Dancer originally from Brooklyn, New York (she studied in Harvard!) and has been living in Cairo for the past three years. She is contracted at the Nile Memphis in Cairo (Memphis Tours Nile Cruises) .

Luna will be at the next Salamat MasrEgyptian Festival (July 05^th till  July 12^th  2012) teaching with well-known Egyptian belly dancers stars Mona El Said, Zizi Mostafa, and Najwa Fouad.

She has a polemical  blog: Kisses from Kairo.  Where you can read experiences about being a  foreign belly dancer in Egypt, some cultural contrasts and - as she says - her mistakes, observations and successes!

IZ: When and why did you decide to start a successful dance carrier in Egypt?

The Big Yellow "M"

Yes, I’m talking about that M. McDonald’s. The place in which no self-respecting American traveling abroad would be caught dead. We Americans who travel abroad suffer from a sort of McDonald’s complex. We are painfully aware that the rest of the world stereotypes us as provincial, untraveled, uncultured cowboys who only speak one language and only eat fast food.  So, to prove to the world (and ourselves) otherwise, one of the things we do is avoid eating at McDonald’s. Even when it might be in our interest to do so.   

I am one of those Americans who suffers from McDonald’s complex. Not just because eating at McDonald’s would be an indication of close-mindedness, but because of all of the things the fast-food chain has come to symbolize over the years. Especially here in the Middle East. As one of the largest corporations in the world, it is a symbol of American economic and cultural hegemony. Is it any surprise, then, that McDonald’s restaurants have become a favored target of anti-American violence in the Arab world, alongside our embassies?

Eat My Feet

Eat My Feet

This post is for all the guys, real and virtual, who have ever said they want to kiss, lick, bite, tickle, rub, suck, wash, or eat my feet. Gentlemen, be my guest. I have THE most disgusting feet on the planet. Dancer’s feet. There’s years of ballet and belly dance under those things. (There’s some men under there too! :O ). Actually, they’re more like tools than feet. I have hammer toes, ingrown toenails, calluses, corns, blisters, open wounds, broken bones, premature Arthritis, dead skin, and permanently blackened heels. Bunions run in my family. I walk and dance barefoot on surfaces you wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole. My feet are so gross even the podiatrist grimaces when I take my shoes off. In fact, they’re so untamable, I’ve given up on them. I no longer bother painting my toenails. That would be like putting lipstick on the proverbial pig. Besides, 90 percent of the nail polish disappears after just one show. I don’t clip my toenails either, but then again, they never seem to grow past a certain point. Hah! They probably get filed down from all the friction that occurs when I dance on wood and concrete surfaces. I still clean them every so often, although it doesn’t really make a difference. They just get dirty again. lol

The Audiences of Cairo

Audiences

One of the perks of being a contracted dancer in Cairo is that you get to perform quite regularly.  Some of us work a few nights a week. Others work multiple times a day, depending on the venue, the popularity of the dancer, and these days, whether there is enough business. What could be better than doing what you love every single day. It seems like the ideal work situation. And it is. Except I wasn’t too sure of that when I first got contracted. Here’s why.

Anytime you turn your artistic passion into a job, you run the risk of losing the passion. This is because a job entails obligation, routinization, and money, whereas art is antithetical to all of that. Art is a gift from God. It is not something we can always produce on command. Hence, we often hear the word inspiration associated with art. Artists seek and wait for inspiration, and when it comes, we become impassioned and produce our best work. Since inspiration can neither be forced nor rushed, it almost seems ridiculous to turn art into a living the way we would law, medicine, or dry cleaning. And yet, somehow, after a year of performing every single night, I have not lost an ounce of passion for the dance. Rather, what I have noticed is that my enthusiasm for the dance has increased, and is highly dependent on the enthusiasm of the audience.  

On Being Egyptian

I’m not Egyptian and I don’t pretend to be, but I would be lying if I said I haven’t picked up a few Egyptian habits. Being Egyptian is contagious. Particularly when you live here for a while and speak the language fluently. That’s all quite normal, I guess. But it is interesting in light of the fact that I grew up in a country where it is common for foreigners to resist assimilation. So, when I observe the ways in which my thoughts, mannerisms, and even speech have transformed, I cannot help but be chuckle at how much I have unintentionally assimilated into Egyptian culture.  

For example. I have gotten into the very Egyptian habit of staring at beautiful women. No, I don’t lean that way, and I definitely don’t harass them. But like most Egyptians, I cannot help but marvel at beautiful people. Which is pretty hypocritical of me considering how much I hate it when people stare at me, even if it’s because they find me cute. Staring is rude and is an invasion of personal space. Besides, I learned not to do when I was in Kindergarten.

On Being American

On Being American

Last year, I bought some red, white, and blue fabric to make myself an American flag belly dance costume. Well, to have Eman Zaki make it for me. I never thought I would do such a thing, but I couldn’t resist those glitter stars and stripes set against a background of stretch lycra. Politics aside, it is a beautiful flag. And I’m crazy like that.**  

The costume was absolutely stunning, but I wasn’t brave enough to wear it. At least not initially. I was well aware of Egyptians’ generally unfavorable views towards the United States, and I didn’t want to risk being offensive (or being pelted). Then one day, I decided to risk it. I figured the worst that could happen was being booed off the stage. I was willing to take that chance. To my surprise, nothing like that happened. In fact, my audience started clapping and cheering the moment I entered the room. Many of them begged to take pictures with me after my show.

Metamorphosis

Adjustments

I just realized that I have been living here in Cairo for more than three years. This is a long time for someone who never intended to live or work here. With all the uncertainty in the air about Egypt’s future, one wonders how much longer I and others like me can thrive here. But rather than speculate about the future (again), I have decided to reflect on my past and share a few of the adjustments I made as a dancer. There were many, because belly dance outside of Egypt is a totally different animal than belly dance inside Egypt. There were adjustments in technicality, musicality, and even physicality. There were adjustments in music selection and music understanding, costuming and audience. And there were changes in attitude, ethics and comportment.

False Alarm

Warning: If you have an aversion to feminine products or problems, or are generally squeamish, proceed no further.

 

I totally didn’t intend my first blog post of the year to be about my period, but hey, it’s better than some soppy post about New Year’s resolutions. Years come and years go, and I never make resolutions. They are worthless, and nobody keeps them anyway. Besides, there is nothing special about January 1^st. As far as I’m concerned, July 29^th is just as good a day to make resolutions as January 1^st. Because there is no such thing as time. Not here in Egypt anyway.

Back to my period. If anything, my monthly cycle is the closest thing to time. It is always punctual and always painful, and I can always count on it coming (that is more than I can say for most people, including myself). And, conveniently enough, it came back to haunt me on January 1^st, at the stroke of midnight, to be exact. There could not possibly be a better way to kick off the new year, could there?

Endangered Species

The Dying Art of Egyptian Belly Dance

Egyptian belly dancers are an endangered species.  On the road to extinction.  That is, if there isn’t a belly dance renaissance in Egypt sometime soon.  Even Dina fears as much.  For the truth is, aside from Dina, Randa, Camelia, and more recently, Aziza, there has been a decline of good Egyptian belly dancers on the market.  This is ironic, considering that most of us imagine Egypt to be “Planet Belly Dance,” and that Egypt is the home of belly dance legends Samia Gamal, Fifi Abdo, and Soheir Zaki.  There’s also at least 40 million Egyptian women living here.  You’d think that with those numbers, this music and dance oriented country could produce a few more belly dancers.  Yet the reality is that an ugly combination of economic and socio-religious factors is robbing this country of one of its greatest artistic achievements.

I remember first moving to Cairo and being excited about all the belly dancers I thought I’d see.  Expecting to discover hundreds of naturally talented women, I visited nearly every venue that featured belly dancing.  But what I expected and what I discovered were two different things.  To my dismay, the level of dancing here amongst most Egyptian belly dancers is not as high as it used to be just 30 years ago.  

An Entirely Possible Possibility

Egyptian belly dancers are an endangered species. On the road to extinction. That is, if there isn’t a belly dance renaissance in Egypt sometime soon. Even Dina fears as much. For the truth is, aside from Dina, Randa, Camelia, and more recently, Aziza, there is a conspicuous lack of good Egyptian belly dancers on the market. This is ironic, considering that most of us imagine Egypt to be Planet Belly Dance, and that Egypt is the home of belly dance legends Samia Gamal, Fifi Abdo, and Soheir Zaki. There are also at least 40 million Egyptian women living here. You would think that with those numbers, this music and dance-oriented country could produce a few more star belly dancers. Yet the reality is that an ugly combination of economic and socio-religious factors is robbing this country of one of its greatest artistic achievements.

I remember first moving to Cairo and being excited about all the belly dancers I thought I would see. Expecting to discover hundreds of naturally talented women, I visited nearly every venue that featured belly dancing. But what I expected and what I discovered were two different things.  To my dismay, the level of dancing here of most Egyptian belly dancers is appallingly low.  To be frank, it is quite bad. With the notable exceptions of the four superstars I previously mentioned, the majority of Egyptian dancers leave a lot to be desired.

Flying High...

Well, more like drunk. Is there a better way to celebrate my coming home to Brooklyn than drinking cranberry and vodka on the flight home? But hey, it has been a good while since I’ve consumed alcohol. It’s just not a priority when you live in Egypt, a country as dry as its dessert sands.

I will admit, I’m a lightweight. That’s because I rarely drink. It only took one cup of the stuff to blur my already blurry vision and make me giggle out loud while watching Aasal Iswid. Aasal Iswid is an Egyptian comedy which translates as ‘Black Honey.’ It satirizes the oftentimes repugnant ways in which Egyptians treat each other by juxtaposing it with the royal treatment they often bestow upon foreigners. The protagonist is Egyptian actor Ahmed Hilmy, who returns to Cairo to work as a photographer after living in the United States for twenty years. Intent on ‘going native,’ Ahmed deliberately leaves his American passport in the States and proudly identifies as Egyptian. The film progresses by showing all the unnecessary travails he experienced because of this. From taxi drivers to authorities to horses(!), no one treats Ahmed the way he expects to be treated as a native of Egypt.

Teaching in NYC Nov. 14th-16th

11/13: Performing @ Columbia University Raqs    2-4pm

11/14: Egyptian Shaabi Choreography                       5-7pm

11/15: “Feeling” & Sas - Taqsim Baladi                       6-8pm

11/16: Classical Egyptian Choreography                   6-8pm

All classes are $45 and require prior notification of attendance.  Please e-mail lunaofcairo@gmail.com to reserve a spot. Classes will be held

@ Anamita Navatman Studios

344 W 38th Street, 5th floor, New York, NY, 10018 

I will also be available for private lessons.

My Interview with BellyDanceFinder!

Bellydancefinder: Tell us a bit about yourself. What is your background? What do you do when you aren’t dancing?

Luna: Three years ago, I won a Fulbright Scholarship to write a book about the history, development and decline of belly dance in Egypt. I had just graduated from Harvard University with a Masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies, and would soon be moving to Cairo. I originally planned to return home after 9 months upon terminating the scholarship. However the dance distracted me and I never finished my book! I kept taking classes and meeting new people, and one thing led to another. Before I knew it, I was performing regularly at all of the 5-star resorts along the Red Sea. Exactly one year later, I auditioned at the Semiramis Hotel and the Nile Memphis and was awarded contracts to dance at both. The Semiramis gig didn’t work out (for very ugly reasons), but I am happily dancing at the Nile Memphis every night. I also perform regularly at weddings and upscale corporate events with my band.

Celebrate Halloween
Nile-Style
with
Luna

@ The Nile Memphis!

October 31, 2011
7:00p.m.

.
$25 USD gets you a buffet dinner, a 2.5 hour cruise on the Nile, and a fun belly dance show to live music by Luna of Cairo.


Halloween costumes strongly encouraged.
Winner of Best Costume Contest receives a (sur)prize!


E-mail me at lunaofcairo@gmail.com for location & details & to RSVP :)

The Frustrated Feminist

I’m a frustrated feminist. I have always been a feminist of one kind or another, but the frustrated part is rather recent. It has a lot to do with where I live and what I do. Luckily, I haven’t reached the point of no return. I still shave my legs and armpits and wear makeup. And I’m straight. Yet I find myself hating men. Well, many of them anyway. It’s not that I hate the individuals who happen to be men. I just hate their misogyny and machismo, or whatever it is that drives them to subjugate women.   

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, I live in an ultra-patriarchal society. This means men have the upper hand in almost all aspects of life here. They are the leaders, the law makers, the law keepers, and law breakers. This is true of most of the world, but it is a little more exaggerated in places like Egypt than in the United States or Western Europe. That is not to say that Egypt is on par with Saudi Arabia, Iran of Afghanistan in terms of women-hating.  Nevertheless, misogyny does have its place here. And it takes various forms. Female genital mutilation (extremely widespread); domestic violence (the norm); sexual harassment (no comment); honor killings (much rarer but do occur from time to time). Divorce, adultery and other personal status laws overtly favor men. And of course, there is the oh-so-prevalent “a women’s place is in the home” school of thought to which men and women subscribe. Again, all of these things exist in other countries, even in our corner of the world. It’s just that they occur with more much more frequency and much less stigma in this slice of the world.

The Case for Cairo

Why you should come to Cairo. Now.

Perhaps more than most, I am known for openly criticizing Cairo. This is because I am way past the infatuation phase in my relationship with this city. I have said and continue to say that it is dirty, crowded, chaotic, draining, dysfunctional, and frustrating. But one thing I have never said about this place is that it is dangerous. If it were dangerous, I would not live here. Neither would thousands of other foreigners who live here alongside me. Okay, okay, the first week of the uprising was pretty scary. I’ll give you that. But things calmed down soon after. Sure, there is no real government right now, and there still isn’t as many police on the streets as there used to be, but I could think of much more dangerous countries that have functioning governments and plenty of police.

Despite what you hear from the media, Cairo is safe. The problem with the media is that it broadcasts from Tahrir Square to the near exclusion of the rest of the country. This results in a skewed version of reality. Tahrir is not Egypt. It is a tiny sliver of Cairo that serves as a rallying point for political agitators. Generally, what happens in Tahrir stays in Tahrir and does not affect the country at large. In fact, half of the time, Egyptians don’t even know what is happening there.

Baladi Beauty

Modeling a wedding dress in an
Egyptian magazine.

I know there’s a superstition about wearing a wedding dress before your wedding day, but I have worn quite a few wedding dresses since moving to Cairo. At one point, I was up to 20 wedding gowns a week. The irony is that I have never been married (despite the endless marriage proposals from Egyptian men). I simply model wedding dresses in my spare time, when I’m not performing or teaching belly dance. 

Let me clarify. I am NOT a bridal model. It’s just that I am a bit more ‘well rounded than all the Eastern European girls who saturate the modeling market in Egypt, so I get called for a lot of shoots which require a fuller-figured woman. That means lingerie and wedding shoots. As I refuse to model lingerie (especially in Egypt), I stick to occasional bridal modeling. It’s kind of ironic in light of my phobia of all things marriage, especially poofy white dresses. And boy are they poofy here. The minute I step into one of those monstrous things, I look like I’m drowning in a sea of white tulle and chiffon. Not to mention it is impossible to maneuver in them. Now I know why the Egyptian brides usually look scared and pissed.