CAIRO: Egyptian activist Aliya al-Mahdy denied Tuesday that she was part of the April 6 Movement and wrote on her personal Twitter account that she was never part of the political group. Egyptian press had identified the 20-year-old as a member of the pro-change group. Mahdy made headlines this week after posting a nude picture of herself on her blog, promoting freedom of speech and gender equality in post-revolution Egypt. However, the picture opened the doors of criticism from conservatives and liberals alike. The religious conservatives accused her of being immoral and crossing the boundaries of social norms in the country, where most Muslim women are veiled. Liberals saw it as a chance for people to become more disconnected from the revolution and allowing the counter revolutionary forces to gain more popularity. Her blog attracted many negative comments from Egyptians who accused her of “prostitution” and mistook the message of the picture for eroticism. One commentator called her an animal, while another man said he “pleasured himself watching the photo.” Mahdy is a secular activist and a feminist who believes in her right to express her personal views, especially in an open media such as the Internet. “Put the nude models at art schools on trail, hide art books, break ancient nude statues, then take off your clothes, look in the mirror and set the bodies you despise on fire to rid you of your sexual complexes, before you address me with your bigoted opinions and take away my freedom of press,” she wrote on her blog commenting on the photo. The controversy started on the the micro-blogging site Twitter, where the hashtag #NudephotoRevolutionary housed several anti- and pro-opinions on the posting. @SandraYacoub wrote “it's ur right to disapprove, it's your right to voice ur opinion it's also within ur ability to not click on the link,” while @NevineZaki wrote: “stupid and ignorant, Mahdy is presenting a golden chance to the ultra conservatives and the counter revolution” and @HalaLoCa wrote “anything is welcome under the banner of freedom but not the the banner of the revolution.” Other tweets attacked the 20-year-old viciously, while others questioned the relation between the revolution and nudity. If not careful, Mahdy's life could be in danger as she blogs and writes under her real name and after angering many exterimists, she has to think about her next step. Her blog however, is recording immense numbers of visitors curious about the post, reaching over 700,000 visits in less than two days. BM
