Once upon a time there was a land called Egypt, reigned by a man. In love with his self-proclaimed divine comedy he demanded worship by all – indoctrinating his subordinates with lyrics to a self fulfilling prophecy: “Long live the Pharaoh”. And so he did, reincarnating himself into monarchs, Feloul, Ikhwan and today, Al-Sisi. Is this Egypt’s fate? Will the mother of the world forever be ruled by masculine megalomaniacs? I hope not. In 2011 we demanded – and succeeded – in Mubarak’s fall. “Irhal” kicked out “Hader” from our vocabulary. In 2015, the billboards show a different face, yet his vanity is just as wild. And “Hader” is back on the tip of our tongue. How did we get back to singing our submissive tune? “Hader” — Egypt’s most vocalized submission to paternalism. We say “Hader” to our own system of thought – every single day – usually to masculine authority. Of age, of title, of familial status, of military rank, of degree, of profession, of wealth. And expect a dose of “Hader” in return too. Dress-code, academic discipline, marital status, purchases, leisure and, of course, political opinion– all subject to…
