CAIRO: A recent segment on the news comedy show “el-Bernamag” by Egypt's “Jon Stewart” Bassem Youssef has people cringing after mocking women for a cheap laugh. The segment in question on “al-Bernamag”, on Friday night, shows a clip of a women's march in Cairo. It's all women and they are brilliantly displaying their will to stand up for their rights. They are chanting and calling for change. Then he shows a clip of a women's march in Cairo. It's all women and they are brilliantly showing they will stand up for their rights. They are chanting and calling for change. The clip then cuts to Youssef, who mocks and insults them, using a voice that can only be described as a childish snicker. All in attempting to make laughs. It is as if figures and leaders in this country cannot get away from their patronizing of women and women's issues. It is sad. Making the joke continue, he uses his hands to represent breasts on a woman, adding slap-stick humor to the ever-not-so-funny segment. The segment, in itself, is a form of harassment. He is basically poking fun at the women, their voices and their bodies. It is inexcusable. It gets worse still, with underwear “jokes”, but no need to get into that. It would have been fine had he poked fun at something that went wrong, but this was a massive march by women, Egyptian women, who were demanding their voices be heard. Instead of supporting them, attacking their opponents, Youssef joined the chorus that denigrates and silences the female voice. It is not right that anyone with that following would be as careless as to take positive public action for their own future and belittle and patronize. Egyptian women don't get fair treatment in media. On fiction programs they are portrayed as daughters, lovers or mothers. On news programs the gap remains huge when comparing male hosts to female hosts, with only three main women hosting shows. The secret behind the success “el-Bernamag” was he was, for a change, a relatable guy and he was almost venting on people's behalf, but this segment proves that witty people can do stupid things.
