This Ramadan marked an era of nouveau-feminism in the Middle East, when Maria launched on the airwaves of Egyptian television. As the Mubarak era ended, a group of veiled women started Maria to claim their right to freedom of, uh, expression. Veiled women, dressed in the traditional niqab, run the station.The station features only veiled broadcasters and pundits. If they can’t find a veiled pundit, they’ll just make her wear a veil. If she refuses, they’ll blur out her face, because they believe, that, well, niqab is a line in Islam that shouldn’t be crossed. (And that radio is too circa 1930 to really make a point.)
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