Aliaa Magda Elmahdy (born 1991) is an Egyptian internet activist and women's rights advocate. Together with her boyfriend Kareem Amer, Elmahdy publicly challenged Egypt’s social strictures. Elmahdy became known for publishing a nude photo in her Blogspot blog, which she described in Facebook as "screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy".[1] Since then she became a subject of several death threats.[2]
A student of the American University of Cairo, Elmahdy positioned herself as a "secular, liberal, feminist, vegetarian, individualist Egyptian" and an atheist since turning 16.[3][4] Earlier in 2011 Elmahdy and Amer posted mobile video footage, where they debate with managers of a public park who expelled them for public display of affection. A case, filed by Islamic law graduates, accused Elmahdy and Amer of "violating morals, inciting indecency and insulting Islam".[5] False rumors about her beating on the Tahrir Square and death have been spread since then.[6]
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| Elmahdy's nude photo from the Blogspot blog | |
Elmahdy posted the nude photo on October 23, 2011 and according to her tweet, took the photo herself in the "parent's home months before" she met Amer.[7] The photo was subsequently published on Twitter with the hashtag #nudephotorevolutionary.
Elmahdy's blog received over 2 million hits with a number of insults. Pages for both support and protest against Elmahdy's action have been opened on Facebook.[8] Fearing of becoming tainted in the eyes of Islamic conservatives, Egyptian liberals distanced themselves from Elmahdy.[8] The April 6 Youth Movement issued a statement denying claims that Elmahdy is a member of the group.[8]
Egyptian expatriates, Western-based Arab journalists[9] and representatives of American art community[10] have expressed their support. Iranian-born activist Maryam Namazie defined Elmahdy's action as "a scream against Islamism" and "the ultimate act of rebellion".[9] According to actress Amanda Banoub, Elmahdy "displayed genuine purity and modesty without a single layer of clothing".[9] Recalling the virginity tests carried out by the military to women in Tahrir Square, Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltaway noted that Elmahdy "is the Molotov cocktail thrown at the Mubaraks in our heads — the dictators of our mind — which insists that revolutions cannot succeed without a tidal wave of cultural changes that upend misogyny and sexual hypocrisy".[9]
About forty Israeli women gathered via Facebook to "show support in a non-violent and legitimate way for a woman who is just like us — young, ambitious, full of dreams and evidently has a developed sense of humor". The participants were photographed behind a sign saying "love without limits" and "Homage to Aliaa Elmahdi. Sisters in Israel".[11]