People are a little bit aghast regarding news coming out of the Egypt State this week. Reports indicate that eight women have all been suspended from their jobs as TV anchors, not because they are proving incompetent, but because The Egyptian Radio and Television Union doesn't feel they look attractive enough for TV. Needless to say, people are not particularly excited about the suspensions and why they occurred.
Per the Arabic website Al-Yawm al-Sabi, the women were singled out for a specific reason: The Union felt they were too heavy to appear on television. The suspension entailed that the news anchors be removed from their positions for a month, and during that time they were asked to diet in order to reduce their weight. Per the BBC, there has been a bit of an outcry from active groups in the country---and the women themselves aren't happy about the situation---but at this time, the decision still holds and there are no plans to reverse it.
It should be noted that the head of The Egyptian Radio and Television Union is a woman, so this isn't the case of a dude imposing restrictions on women that he wouldn't on men. It doesn't make it any less infuriating, though. A couple of the women who have been suspended have spoken out, and have noted they wish the issue had been handled in a different way--maybe "internally" rather than the external way the union handled the issue. Khadija Khattab, who is pictured above, has said that it should be audiences and not the union that should be responsible for deciding whether she is too "fat" to work. The whole thing is pretty heated.
While male news anchors around the world have traditionally come in a variety of sizes and shapes, female TV anchors often have to deal with a whole lot more scrutiny regarding their appearance. You hardly ever see a female news anchor without trim nails, done-up hair and a rocking outfit on, but it's one thing to want to look good because you feel it gives you a leg up at your job than to be suspended because you don't fit into some mold that was made up by the head of a union.
Usually when we end up talking about a female news anchor's appearance on a TV show, it's because something odd happened, like this poor woman who was criticized for wearing a dress that looked like a penis. (That's just an unfortunate day, really.) For the most popular national TV anchors, even something as innocuous as a haircut can be big news. However, in Egypt, the appearance conversation has certainly taken some new turns. We'll keep you updated as more news related to this story breaks.
