Egyptian cinema has lengthy charmed audiences with its “good guys,” who seem devoted, protecting, and romantic. The good man does the work to win the woman, wooing her with compliments and shows of affection.
However behind the grand gestures and charming banter lies an insidious fact: that the “good man’s” love in Egyptian romantic comedies is usually laced with management, jealousy, and fragile masculinity. Good guys portrayed in cinema are sometimes misogynistic males who exert patriarchal management, disguised as humor for the viewers.
Within the West, the time period “good man” has come to hold an ironic, unfavourable connotation. It sometimes describes males who current themselves as well mannered, mild, or non-threatening towards ladies, but quietly harbor the expectation of romantic or sexual reward for his or her conduct. The label has develop into related to entitlement, passive-aggressiveness, and a insecurity. Being a “good man” is just not about real kindness however a performative politeness that masks deeper resentment and misogyny.
In the meantime, being a “good man” in Egypt’s conventional society usually refers to a person who’s family-oriented, protecting, and morally upstanding. Nonetheless, some disguise themselves as good, and their kindness and affection are sometimes thinly veiled makes an attempt at exerting management. Inside cultural norms, the person is anticipated to function the patriarch of each the household and the connection. With a powerful emphasis on masculinity and energy in Egyptian society, males incessantly assert dominance underneath the guise of protectiveness and love.
The Egyptian romantic comedy, Taymour and Shafika (2007), starring Mona Zaki as Shafika, and Ahmed El Sakka as Taymour, a seemingly charming “good man” for whom the viewers rooted when the movie debuted in theaters.
The action-packed movie made many younger women dream of falling in love with their childhood sweetheart from throughout the corridor, who then saves them from an precise explosion. But, considered via a vital lens, the movie’s illustration of gender relations, whereas humorous and cute at instances, strikes some viewers as a disguise for management, misogyny, and poisonous masculinity as acts of affection and “protectiveness.”
Taymour tells Shafika what to put on, who to speak to, and the way, assuming authority to grant or withhold her freedom. At first look, he looks as if a jealous Egyptian man who fears for his associate’s security. Nonetheless, to the vital viewer, it turns into clear {that a} patriarchal mindset and hegemonic masculinity drive his controlling conduct.
Hegemonic masculinity, widespread within the Center East and rooted in dominance over ladies, turns into threatened when the lady has her freedom of selection and motion. By its requirements, sporting a revealing outfit or speaking to different males and accepting their compliments would routinely imply that Shafika is just not in a relationship with an actual man.
Taymour, who ultimately finally ends up marrying Shafika, is one instance of a celebrated obvious embodiment of a loving, devoted man who, in actuality, oppresses ladies and appears to even hate them.
Many Egyptian media codecs depict “good guys” who, upon nearer inspection, reveal themselves as possessive and selfish, such because the character of Omar within the movie Omar & Salma (2007).
The movie, led by Tamer Hosni as Omar, was seen as hilarious and have become successful, main to 2 sequels in regards to the couple’s marriage and household life. Nonetheless, this “good man” repeatedly yells at Salma, performed by Mai Ezz El Din, humiliates her, lies to her, invalidates her, cheats on her, shames her, and even beats and slaps her.
The movie prompts unhealthy relationship dynamics and patriarchal dominance, disguised as delicate masculinity in comedic and romantic contexts.
Masculinity within the Center East and North Africa usually revolves round competing with different males, and misogyny can come from the worry of seeming much less masculine of their eyes, in accordance to the e book Males in African Movie and Fiction (2011). Much like Omar, Taymour reveals his true, fragile colours when Shafika is appointed as a authorities minister, and he’s assigned as her guard. He fights the thought of working for his associate or the latter outshining him, in keeping with society’s requirements.
One other instance of a comedy movie that portrays such a “good man” is Al Hassa Al Sabba (The Seventh Sense, 2005), starring Ahmad El-Fishawi as Yehia. When Yehia beneficial properties the facility to listen to different individuals’s ideas, he makes use of it to develop into Egypt’s greatest Kung Fu participant and win the love of a lady he likes, Mona, performed by Rania Kurdi.
All through the movie, he notes her likes and dislikes and lies to her, pretending to have extra in widespread along with her. Whereas the movie is humorous and makes the viewers root for Yehia, he’s constructing a relationship on lies and crossing unthinkable boundaries. Regardless that Mona learns that he can hear her ideas and she or he tries to chop him off, he apologizes, and she or he forgives him.
One other good man who captured the hearts of the viewers along with his appeal and humorousness is Tarek in Zarf Tarek (Emergency, 2006), performed by Ahmed Helmi. Within the first half of the movie, he deceives his love curiosity, performed by Nour, by posing as a person named Omar. Although she ultimately uncovers the lie, after time aside, she forgives him they usually reconcile. By the movie’s finish, the viewers is led to consider the top justified the means, when in actuality, he had strung her alongside for months, promoting her a lie, and undermining her intelligence.
This repeated narrative normalizes controlling conduct, misogyny, and fragile masculinity underneath the phantasm of “being good.” It undermines ladies’s company and reinforces cultural acceptance of male dominance and gender roles, similar to the standard Si El-Sayed archetype from Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, Bayn Al-Qasrayn (Palace Stroll, 1956).
Mahfouz wrote the novel as a critique of gender inequality in Egyptian society, portraying Si El-Sayed as a domineering patriarchal determine who demanded authority and respect from ladies in his household just because he was the daddy.
Nonetheless, the message was not delivered, and this archetype of a person persevered with out the irony Mahfouz had imbued it with, influencing future generations and evolving right into a celebrated mannequin of masculinity.
The opinions and concepts expressed on this article are the creator’s and don’t essentially mirror the views of Egyptian Streets’ editorial crew. To submit an opinion article, please e mail [email protected].
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