Aliaa Magda Elmahdy ( arz, علياء ماجدة المهدي, ; born 16 November 1991) is an Egyptian

internet activist Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular infor ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

advocate. She became known for publishing a nude photo on her

Blogspot Blogger is an American online content management system founded in 1999 which enables multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. Pyra Labs developed it before being acquired by Google in 2003. Google hosts the blogs, which can be accessed th ...

page, which she described on Facebook as "screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy". Since then she became a subject of several death threats. Elmahdy describes herself as a "secular, liberal, feminist, vegetarian, individualist Egyptian" and has identified as an atheist since turning 16.

Biography

Nude photo

In 2011 Elmahdy and another activist,

Kareem Amer Kareem Nabil Suleiman Amer ( ar, كريم نبيل سليمان عامر, ) (born c. 1984) is an Egyptian Norwegian blogger and former law student. He was arrested by Egyptian authorities for posts on his blog that were considered to be anti-reli ...

, were stopped for walking in a public park, with their arms over each other's shoulders (a

public display of affection Public displays of affection (PDA) are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What is an acceptable display of affection varies with respect to culture and context. Some organizations have rules limiting or prohibiting public display ...

) and kissing, then taken to the park's security office, where they debated with managers of a public park who expelled them, and later posted mobile video footage. Elmahdy posted the nude photo on 23 October 2011 and according to her tweet, took the photo herself in the "parent's home months before" she met

Amer Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...

Reactions

Elmahdy's blog received over 2 million hits, with a number of insults. Pages for both support and protest against Elmahdy's action have been opened on Facebook. Fearing of becoming tainted in the eyes of Islamic conservatives, Egyptian liberals distanced themselves from Elmahdy. The

6 April Youth Movement The April 6 Youth Movement ( ar, حركة شباب 6 أبريل) is an Egyptian activist group established in Spring 2008 to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to strike on 6 April. Activists calle ...

issued a statement denying claims that Elmahdy is a member of the group. A case, filed by Islamic law graduates, accused Elmahdy and Amer of "violating morals, inciting indecency and insulting Islam". False rumors about her beating on the

Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...

and death have been spread since then. Egyptian

expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

, Western-based Arab journalists and representatives of American art community have expressed their support. Iranian-born activist

Maryam Namazie Maryam Namazie ( fa, مریم نمازی; born 1966) is a British-Iranian secularist, communist and human rights activist, commentator, and broadcaster. Early life Most of her early work focused on refugee rights, especially in Sudan, Turkey, ...

defined Elmahdy's action as "a scream against Islamism" and "the ultimate act of rebellion". According to actress Amanda Banoub, Elmahdy "displayed genuine purity and modesty without a single layer of clothing". Recalling the

virginity test A virginity test is the practice and process of determining whether a girl or woman is a virgin; i.e., to determine that she has never engaged in, or been subjected to, sexual intercourse. The test typically involves a check for the presence of an ...

s carried out by the military to women in

, Egyptian-American journalist

Mona Eltahawy Mona Eltahawy ( ar, منى الطحاوى, ; born August 1, 1967) is a freelance Egyptian-American journalist and social commentator based in New York City. She has written essays and op-eds for publications worldwide on Egypt and the Islamic w ...

noted that Elmahdy "is the

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...

thrown at the

Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

s in our heads – the dictators of our mind – which insists that revolutions cannot succeed without a tidal wave of cultural changes that upend misogyny and sexual hypocrisy". About forty Israeli women gathered via Facebook to "show support in a non-violent and legitimate way for a woman who is just like us – young, ambitious, full of dreams and evidently has a developed sense of humor". The participants were photographed behind a sign saying "love without limits" and "Homage to Aliaa Elmahdi. Sisters in Israel".

Flight to Sweden

Continuing the photographic theme of her protest, Elmahdy has subsequently called for men to submit images of themselves wearing veils "in an attempt to create awareness over hypocritical attitudes," and requested women "who wish to remove their veils to send her photographs of their faces, to be published online." In 2012, Elmahdy sought

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...

in Sweden for fear of being jailed, after being kidnapped and receiving death threats. In December 2012, Elmahdy participated in a public nude protest outside the Egyptian embassy in Stockholm, together with

Inna Shevchenko Inna Shevchenko ( uk, Інна Шевченко) is a Ukrainian feminist activist and the leader of international women's movement FEMEN, which often demonstrates topless against what they perceive as manifestations of patriarchy, especially d ...

and another FEMEN member. The three naked activists protested against the "sharia-dictatorial" proposed Egyptian Constitution, drafted by

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

in those days. Elmahdy had painted "Sharia is not a constitution" in red across her chest and stomach while holding an Egyptian flag. In July 2013 she was interviewed by '' Svenska Dagbladet'' where she stated that during her asylum process, the Swedish Migration Agency received several letters with continued death threats directed towards her. She expressed that she was able to wear trousers and a tank top while walking the streets without fearing being verbally or physically harassed, unlike in Egypt. When asked to comment on Islamic organisations claiming that her campaigning reduces the freedom of Muslim women to wear the veil, she responded that she has never seen a man exercise the freedom to wear a veil. In the interview she expresses doubt towards liberal supporters and stated her belief that many men who claim to oppose sexual harassment join campaign organisations simply to get laid. In 2013, Elmahdy and two other Femen activists staged a protest in

Stockholm mosque Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's Mosque ( sv, Zaid Ben Sultan Al Nahayans moské, ar, جامع زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان), commonly known as the Stockholm Mosque (''Stockholms moské'') or the Stockholm Grand Mosque (''Stockholms stor ...

against Sharia law and the oppression of women. They were arrested by police for disturbing public order.

New nude protests

During International Women's Day on 8 March 2014, Elmahdy and seven other Arab and Iranian women, including

and Amina Tyler, protested naked for women's rights at the

Louvre Pyramid The Louvre Pyramid (Pyramide du Louvre) is a large glass and metal structure designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei. The pyramid is in the main courtyard ( Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace in Paris, surrounded by three small ...

, chanting slogans in French in favour of freedom, equality and

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

(''liberté, égalité et

laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as discouraging religious involvement in government affairs, especially religious influence in the determin ...

). In August 2014, she released a photo of herself menstruating on the flag of the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

(ISIL) wearing only shoes, while another woman defecated on it. Media in Islamic countries did not publish the photo, as the flag of ISIL features the Muslim declaration of faith.

References

External links

* https://twitter.com/aliaaelmahdy
Interview with
Amina Sboui and Aliaa Magda Elmahdy by

Comics Aliaa Elmahdy
by Gianluca Costantini
Elmahdy's CNN interviewElmahdy's interview about her alleged beating in Tahrir Square
*
The Naked Bodies of Alia
'' by Sara Mourad in ''Jadaliyya,'' 1 January 2013 *
Who Is Afraid of Alia’s Nudity?
'' by Sara Emiline Abu Ghazal in ''Sawt al Niswa,'' 18 November 2011 *

'' by Michael Kaplan in ''NJB Article and Source Repository,'' 2 February 2013 *

* ttp://njbrepository.blogspot.de/2013/02/aliaa-magda-elmahdy-and-femen-protest.html Aliaa Magda Elmahdy and Femen Protest Against Morsi in Stockholm - NJB Article and Source Repositorybr> The Egyptian Feminist Who Was Kidnapped for Posing Nude February 14, 2013 By Amira Asad, vice.comfeminist activists have pooped and menstruated on an IS flag By Chris Köver. 27 August 2014 vice.com/de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elmahdy, Aliaa Magda 1991 births Living people African social liberals Egyptian atheists Egyptian democracy activists Egyptian former Muslims Egyptian feminists Egyptian secularists Egyptian women's rights activists Critics of Sunni Islam Individualist feminists Internet activists Nudity and protest People of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 People persecuted by Muslims 21st-century Egyptian women 21st-century Egyptian people Former Muslims turned agnostics or atheists