I am Aliaa Elmahdy: Luisa
Luisa Batista Samora
Almost 20 years ago, a policeman accosted me on the street because of my clothing. He was wondering if I had any idea what “the men in the square” were saying about me.
Now you might be wondering where I was at the time and what kind of clothes I was wearing. Was I in some foreign country where there are other prevailing standards for women than in our country, or was I walking around half naked?
Would you be surprised if I told you that I was walking along on my lunch break across Weesperplein (Weespersquare) in Amsterdam and that I was wearing a wide red T-shirt with a full-length black skirt? And, of course, ultimately, it is absolutely irrelevant what I was wearing.
This policeman felt the need to tell me that I was bringing about a certain kind of behaviour among the men in the square, because he wanted to protect me, so he said. He would have shown more common sense if he had told those men that they were not behaving in a respectful way towards another human being, in this case a woman.
I filed a complaint against this policeman, which was found valid.
Suppose I was a woman in present-day Egypt. A woman arrested by the police because they feel I am giving offence. Because I am not dressed the way they feel I should be dressed, or because I’m in a place where I shouldn’t be, or because I play music, or paint pictures. I would be spit on and beaten. I would be humiliated in all kinds of ways. I would be forced to undress. I would be “examined” internally because they would supposedly want to know if I am still a virgin. Would I be able to make a complaint? And would my complaint be found valid?
Or just imagine I had been born a girl in Afghanistan. Because I don’t have any brothers, I would have been dressed and treated as a boy. As soon as I reached adolescence, all the liberties I would have had as a boy were taken away, and I would have to live on as a girl with all restrictions involved.
And what if my father and mother were a member of the rigidly orthodox Protestant church somewhere in The Netherlands? Then I would not be allowed to wear pants or cut off my hair. I would have to obey the men within my family and my church. Or what if I lived with my husband in an orthodox Jewish community in Israel? I would have to cover myself from head to toe and wouldn’t be allowed to look up. I wouldn’t be allowed to sit next to a man on the bus. Or what if I grew up in India where a mere rumour about improper behaviour is enough for a woman to be mutilated or stoned to death?
There are many places in this world where women have got far fewer rights than we have got. And sometimes they have got no rights at all. There are many women who aren’t allowed to vote, to go to school, to have a job. Women who are forbidden to go anywhere unless they are accompanied by a brother, son, husband or father. Women who are not allowed to drive a car, to wear pants or short skirts. Women who cannot show their hair or even their faces. Women who can’t decide for themselves whether or not they want children and how many. Women who are not allowed to speak without permission, let alone speak up against someone. Women who are not allowed to play a musical instrument or act on a stage, to paint or go to the cinema.
All the things most people in our society take for granted, are inconceivable for very many women. And in even in our western liberal society of sexual equality, there are still many issues to overcome.
Discrimination on the grounds of sex, skin colour, religion, nationality or any other grounds, is a gross injustice.
I want to show solidarity with all women in the world who are fighting a silent or public battle for equal rights; with the silent ones, with the more visible heroic ones who speak up. With women who show their faces and sometimes also their bodies, like Nadia Larguet and Aliaa Elmahdy.
“If you have a problem with nudity, you are afraid of humanity.” – Amanda Azim on Twitter.
This photo is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form or used in any way.
Follow Luisa Samora on Twitter. This is, hopefully, the first of many endorsements of Aliaa Elmahdy, the Egyptian woman who risks the death penalty by showing the world her naked body. This website calls on all the women of the world to shed their clothes in solidarity with Aliaa and all those women who are not allowed control over their own bodies. Please send your statement plus nude photo to Frontaal Naakt.
English, Gastschrijver, I am Aliaa el Mahdy, 06.12.2011 @ 09:44
45 Reacties
op 06 12 2011 at 09:55 schreef hassnae:
I salute you, Luisa!
op 06 12 2011 at 10:34 schreef Rena:
Respect!
op 06 12 2011 at 10:36 schreef Rebecca:
Lieve Luisa, je bent een heldin!
op 06 12 2011 at 11:49 schreef ingrid:
[img]http://www.gewaagdezaken.nl/Aliaa.htm[/img]
Hoe spijtig dat we het generatie na generatie zo moeten blijven uitspellen…
Maar allez. Ik geef het stokje maar weer door.
Lieve groeten,
Ingrid
op 06 12 2011 at 11:58 schreef ingrid:
http://www.gewaagdezaken.nl/Aliaa.htm
op 06 12 2011 at 12:20 schreef David:
Eigenlijk vind ik het gewoon een nette foto. Niks mis mee. En de cause kan ik alleen maar ondersteunen.
op 06 12 2011 at 13:54 schreef Suna:
Super!!
op 06 12 2011 at 14:01 schreef Jolanda:
Hulde!
op 06 12 2011 at 16:33 schreef Inge:
Een hele diepe buiging voor jou Luisa! En laten we allemaal weer even heel trots zijn dat we in Nederland de vrijheid hebben om op deze wijze onze steun te kunnen betuigen!
op 06 12 2011 at 18:25 schreef koss:
sweet & elegant
op 06 12 2011 at 21:28 schreef MNb:
The Americans join too.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/12/06/will-you-be-among-the-nudephotorevolutionaries/
op 07 12 2011 at 05:28 schreef TFWC:
Brave Luisa! Now girls, shed your clothes, not the women fighting with their lives. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
op 07 12 2011 at 18:43 schreef Jeffrey Risner:
I congratulate you for your passion to defend human dignity and art.
op 07 12 2011 at 18:54 schreef wolvenschuur:
Ik ben het heel erg met je eens vrijheid voor iedereen is het hoogste goed
Respect luisa
op 08 12 2011 at 00:41 schreef Shaun Downey:
Bravo!
op 08 12 2011 at 16:23 schreef Mohamed:
Thank you so much for supporting ALIAA she needs all your support ans nice picture I respect you so much greetings from EGYPT and wishing you all the best…Take care and GD bless you :).
op 08 12 2011 at 16:29 schreef ben q;or:
أمور المسلمين و شؤونهم لا تدار بشعوذة “الفقهاء ” و لا بمرويات البخاري و مسلم أيها الدرويش الأعظم ..؟
http://www.elaphblog.com/posts.aspx?U=3715&A=99747
http://www.alwah.net/Post.asp?Id=6ncgPbkWny6
في معرض حديثه عن مسألة النقاب التي تغلق اليوم جامعة منوبة بسببها ، قال الغنوشي أن جل الفقهاء لا يرون ضرورة للباس البرقع … وهو ليس بواجب ، وهو بذلك يؤكد عقلية الدروشة التي تتبناها حركة النهضة في تونس ، فهؤلاء الأوغاد لم يكن في أي يوم من الأيام مستندهم كتاب الله الذي أنزل الكتاب و الميزان تبيانا لكل شيء ، و إنما “دينهم” هو ما وجدوا عليه آباءهم ، فهم في الحقيقة لا يوحدون الله و لا يؤمنون بما أنزل من بصائر للناس ، و إنما إيمانهم بمرويات البخاري ومسلم و ما نقل عن الفقهاء الذين لا يكادون يتفقون على أي مسألة من مسائل الحياة المتجددة و المتغيرة في كل آن و حين ،و بذلك هم يسوسون وقائع حياتية لا تمت لحياتنا المعاصرة بأية صلة مطلقا ، وهو ما يؤكد قدومهم من متحف تاريخ الظلمات و الجهل بالواقع و التخلف و الاستبداد و فرض نمط حياة لا صلة له بواقع شعبنا الثائر اليوم ..
و لن يقودوا شعبنا إلا لمهاوي الصراعات الإيديولوجية الوهمية التي لن تزيد ثورتنا إلا تقهقرا في تحقيق مطامح شبابنا الثائر لو أبقينا زمام القيادة بأيديهم و عقولهم الكليلة و المريضة و المعاقة … لا قدر الله ؟
من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع الله
op 08 12 2011 at 16:37 schreef dibujos para pintar:
Interesting !
op 08 12 2011 at 16:37 schreef dibujos para pintar:
Thank you
op 08 12 2011 at 17:42 schreef Anoniem:
Respect!
op 08 12 2011 at 21:07 schreef keivan:
Great…I do appreciate your courage. I’m really happy to be a human living in the world like you live in it
op 08 12 2011 at 21:19 schreef Anoniem:
You are right
good luck all women
op 08 12 2011 at 22:00 schreef Shah Golam:
The thing you hae shown is the nature of a female human and nothing wrong with that. If anybody can’t tolerent to watch, that is better to not watch even at his or her home.
op 08 12 2011 at 22:24 schreef Veena:
Dear Luisa,
Respect and solidarity from India. Things like this remind me that we women still have miles to go in this world. Whether it is street harassment, sexism, unequal pay, abuse, violence, objectification or oppression, we shall overcome.
I admire your courage (and Aliaa’s as well) in reclaiming your body as your own by shedding the that shame you, as a woman, have been made to feel about it.
I plan to contribute my photo and comments soon to Frontaal Naakt.
-Veena
op 09 12 2011 at 07:35 schreef Siddici:
Much respect from New Delhi. I salute you!
op 09 12 2011 at 10:45 schreef Anoniem:
bravo Dadia.
op 09 12 2011 at 11:23 schreef iranian:
I am Aliaa Elmahdy
op 09 12 2011 at 11:25 schreef Mona:
Salute, ya’R perfect …
op 09 12 2011 at 16:16 schreef Mojtaba:
Why don’t they shave their genitals?
op 09 12 2011 at 16:18 schreef Yannis Farmakidesy:
It is interesting to note that those who are afraid of the female nudity are religion fanatics who forget that it was their God who created the human body, of course without clothes. As a consequence a stand against nudity is actually a stand against God, an anti-religious stand. But they, the religion fanatics, are stupid enough, not to understand this.
op 09 12 2011 at 20:02 schreef massoud fram iran:
respekt aliaa
op 11 12 2011 at 14:41 schreef konstmodell.se:
Nudity is natural and it should be up to anyone to freely express whatever they wish, if so by displaying him- or herself naked.
How come that it’s such a powerful statement?
I work as art model for life drawing, croquis, body painting, fine-art nude photography and being a naturist I have a quite relaxed relation to the naked body, my own and others.
op 12 12 2011 at 02:22 schreef َدر اعتراض به فیلتر شدن وبلاگ علیا ماجده المهدی در عربستان سعودی | وبلاگ شاهین شهر – اندیشه های ( سیاسی) نوین و مترقی:
[…] Elmahdy Nude Revolutionary photos Send in submissions for a #NudePhotoRevolutionaries Calendar I am Aliaa Elmahdy: Luisa مثــّل.. مناضلة شابّة .. علياءّ-المهديّ […]
op 13 12 2011 at 04:05 schreef َدر اعتراض به فیلتر شدن وبلاگ علیا ماجده المهدی در عربستان سعودی | وبلاگ شاهین شهر – اندیشه های ( سیاسی) نوین و مترقی:
[…] Elmahdy Nude Revolutionary photos Send in submissions for a #NudePhotoRevolutionaries Calendar I am Aliaa Elmahdy: Luisa مثــّل.. مناضلة شابّة .. […]
op 15 12 2011 at 16:56 schreef Ralph:
I salute you all.
op 16 12 2011 at 00:18 schreef koufou:
يلوم أحدهم على شيخ حركة النهضة استشهاده بالسنة و أراء الفقهاء و كلامه مردود من عدة جوانب 1 )من أنت حتى تتكلم بإسم الأمة و الشعب ؟
2) إن كنت لا تؤمن بأراء الفقهاء و بالكتاب و السنة فأنت خارج عن الإسلام إذا ضع الأمور في نصابها و أفصح عن نفسك من أنت ’ 3) الغة التي تخاطب بها الشيخ تفضجك
غالرجل ليس درويش و لا وغد وومن كانت لغته هكذا كان من الأجدر أن لا يتحدث عن كتاب و قرآن ,,,,,,,
op 18 12 2011 at 01:44 schreef noureddine:
في الحقيقة اصبح الكثير لا يفرق بين عدة اشياء الحرية و التحرش الجنسي و اكثر ما نرى اللوم يقع على الضحية سواء كان طفلا او زوجة او شابة فالطفل يتعرض للعقاب ان ابتعد عن البيت و الزوجة تسمع اهانة من زوجها ان مرت من مكان ما و الشابة تتعرض للانتقاد على طريقة ملبسها لكن نادرا ما نوجه اللوم اولائك الذين يتحرشون بذلك الطفل او الشابة او حتى الزوجة في مجتمعات غير مجتماعتنا لا نرى الا حالات استثنائية من هذا الخليط فالحرية معروفة و الاحترام واضح و الحرية ليست هي ان نسمح لشاب ان يتحرش بفتاة و نقول لها يجب عليك ان لا تلبسي كذا و كذا لكي لا تتعرضي لسوء ……..
op 27 12 2011 at 17:43 schreef َدر اعتراض به فیلتر شدن وبلاگ علیا ماجده المهدی در عربستان سعودی | وبلاگ شاهین شهر – اندیشه های ( سیاسی) نوین و مترقی:
[…] Elmahdy Nude Revolutionary photos Send in submissions for a #NudePhotoRevolutionaries Calendar I am Aliaa Elmahdy: Luisa مثــّل.. مناضلة شابّة .. […]
op 31 12 2011 at 10:34 schreef Majid:
Very nice your ide and your blog
op 13 01 2012 at 23:42 schreef In The End They Will Stand Alone. « ⠁⠁⠁ I love light. I love air.:
[…] go here and to follow her on Twitter go here. Should you want to support the cause, check here. Dutch and Israeli women as well as Hamburg based Iranian writer Ziba Nawak showed their support already. […]
op 14 01 2012 at 14:44 schreef Just a guy:
disgusting! why am I on this page?
op 14 01 2012 at 15:08 schreef Peter:
Maybe because you searched for ‘hot young boys with enormous hard-ons’ on Google.
op 03 02 2012 at 22:39 schreef Bruno Santos Ribeiro:
Hello
I already knew your naked photo many time ago but I only knew today that you are also portuguese like me. So I’m very proud of have a compatriot like you and I agree with you. I send photos for the nude calendar in suport of Aliaa and I published a photo naked on a Ziba Nawak site on her demand.
op 06 02 2012 at 16:27 schreef دو زن دیگر در راستای جنبش برهنگی « زیبا ناوک Ziba Nawak:
[…] http://www.frontaalnaakt.nl/archives/i-am-aliaa-elmahdy-luisa.html بهاشتراکگذاری این:فیسبوکتوییتردیگرِدیـتاستامبلآپانلینکداینرایانامهدوستداشتن:دوست داشتننخستین کسی باشید که این را دوست دارد. Leave a comment […]
op 15 06 2012 at 12:06 schreef De schoonheid van bekrompenheid en arrogantie : Tom lievens:
[…] zoals in naakt, hebt u hem? Nu ik het toch over naakt heb, plots zie ik een naakt mens verschijnen alhier. Tiens! Toch vermaak? Neen! Een statement met ballen. ondanks die niet op de foto te zien zijn […]
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