A Research Paper submitted by:
Dr. Mohamed Hossam Ismail

Faculty of Mass Communication
Ajman University
UAE

Laila’s Soft Screaming

Extracted from AIESEC website:

Please allow me to officially invite you to the first celebration of international women's day through AIESEC on AUC's new campus on Monday the 8th of March in Bassily Hall from 6 30 PM to 9 30.

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

http://www. internationalwomensday.com/

AIESEC AUC is proud to be hosting the celebration of such a significant event on Monday the 8th of March in New Cairo on AUC Campus in Bassily Hall.

Agenda:

The event will first allow speakers from different NGOs to address different issues that women face in the Egyptian society. Followed is Ms. Mona Arishi the founder of L'EVE Institute (http://lei-egypt.com/) giving a session about the rich and versified feminine entity by focusing on the three planes and dimensions; Mind, Body, and Soul.
We will end the event with the play "kolna Laila":

كلنا ليلى

كلنا ليلى هي مبادره ليوم من أجل المرأه المضطهدة في المنطقة العربية. يقوم في هذا اليوم كتاب المدونات بنشر تدوينات تحت راية يوم كلنا ليلى لطرح ومناقشة المشكلات التي تواجهها المرأة في المجتمعات العربية. بدأت فكرة كلنا ليلى عن طريق مجموعة من كاتبات المدونات المصريات على رأسهم مدونة لست أدري، بنت مصرية، شيماء، أرابيسك، أبيتاف وأخريات. وبالرغم من أن بداية كلنا ليلى كانت من مجموعة من المدونات المصرية فإن القائمين على الإعداد ليوم كلنا ليلى يؤكدون أن يوم ليلى موجه للمرأة العربية عموما وليست المصرية فقط

مسرحية كلنا ليلى هي مبادرة من الفريق المسرحي بالجزويت المنيا و منظمة

Care International

تحت مشروع سلام و أمان. تهدف المسرحية لتسليط الضوء على العنف المنزلي ضد المرأة

This is an open event for everyone within and outside the AUC community, please feel free to bring your friends and spread the word.

Having participated with us for the first time this year during Kolena Laila fourth Campaign, which lasted throughout the last week of 2009, and under this partnership, the Foundation invited people through its website to blog about a number of women's issues and other specific issues that concern women's status and the forms of discrimination they face, in addition to monitoring the reality of women within the dominant culture.

So the New Woman Foundation is pleased to invite you to attend the open seminar next Tuesday on 9th of February at 6:00pm.

What: Kolena Laila Open Discussion

When: Tuesday 9th of February, 06:00 pm

Where: New Woman Foundation Headquarter – 14 Aabdel Moniem Sanad St, off Ibn Aal Rasheed – Ahmed Orabi, El Mohandessein

For more details visit the event's page on Facebook.

Click To Play

Kolena Laila contributed in KVINFO workshop on Sunday November 22, 2009. Kolena Laila representative in Jordan Mayyasi was asked to give a half-hour representation about Kolena Laila campaign and about her own experience as a blogger.

People interacted with the session successfully as they asked questions about Kolena Laila group and commented their own opinions about the initiative and future orientations of Kolena Laila.

Others commented that they have heard about "Laila" before but now they are encouraged to visit the site and get to know Laila much better.

The video was recorded with Anne Nybo, one of the KVINFO workers and she is the one who interacted with Kolena Laila asking for our participation in the conference.

My participation to Kolena Laila focuses on the double social pressure that every woman in our surroundings is faced with at some point in her life. Should she focus on her career and be a successful money-maker in a world where wealth is measured in cash? Or should she make herself pretty, find a husband and raise children? In most cases, women end up having to juggle between both aspects, making it an almost impossible mission.

“I feel liberated!”; a comment made by British women on a TV programme. You would assume that women feel liberated when they break the chains they are born into, or the day women gain their independence or even the day they can fight for their rights and actually accomplish them. Yet this was a comment made by a woman who at the end of the programme ‘How to look good naked’ on channel 4 was happy to have a naked photo shoot. Unhappy at first with their bodies as we are all at some point in our life, Gok Wan, the fashion stylist of the programme is able to transform these women in his inspirational fashion series that shows women how to look fantastic with their clothes on or off no matter what their body shape is and without the need for surgery.

In all honesty, it’s great when women are confident in the way they look which is reassured in the programme. The fact that programmes like this do not encourage surgery or even weight loss, but only to love the body your in is an amazing achievement. But how does stripping nude for camera make you more liberated? And most importantly liberated from what? Does this imply exposing one self is the way for women to unshackle chains of their freedom? And how does such statement made repeatedly on this programme have its effects on the viewers and the wider public?

Haven’t women suffered enough exploitation by society or do women enjoy being in the victim chair along the years. Haven’t women realised that abusing their bodies will only degrade them even more. Women are never happy when they are not treated equally to men, but how can we expect such equality if we don’t respect our selves first and show that women can contribute much to society.

How can we lead and be active citizens in our society if we are only taken seriously in the beauty market! Before we start blaming our male colleagues, we need to know what we want. I am confident that most women do not want to be at that level but want to be challenged intellectually and play an important role next to men in developing their society and the world. To this end, the divine solution for Muslims is modesty for both male and females. Women are asked to cover their beauty for a good enough reason which aims in giving men and women the same fairness in the eyes of God and their society. Striping off should not become the measure of how successful and equal that society is to women.