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At home, the law of the land is to watch these series. Then their prevalence continues and takes over chat spaces across social networks. At nightfall, after the generally festive meal to break the fast, tradition in Arab countries dictates that the whole family gather in front of the television screen. There isn’t a channel that doesn’t take part in this race to capture the most eyeballs; this is accompanied by a veritable advertising orgy, knowing that the cost of advertisements skyrockets at that time.
Mousalsalat Ramadan, the Ramadan soap operas, must also meet precise specifications often imposed by the advertisers themselves. They must be consensual—meaning: they must be saturated with conservatism and “rules of decorum.” Women pay the price for these dictates, represented as they are by images riddled with gender stereotypes.
The characters of the wife, the daughter, the sister, the friend, the neighbor, the fiancée… are most of the time undervalued and suffer violence, humiliation, and insults.
However, this year, Medfeminiswiya correspondents in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Tunisia tell us that tiny exceptions have been emerging.
Feminist vigilance is on the rise, particularly in Algeria, to denounce the sexism in these representations.
This progress notwithstanding—progress manifested through, for example, the character of Naamat in Naamat l’avocate (Egypt), a brilliant lawyer admired by all, unlike her husband, a lazy man who is jealous of his wife’s success, or the character of Sabra in Bab Rezk (Tunisia), a rural woman who overcame all obstacles to become an agricultural engineer in a context hostile to female leadership—these Ramadan series remain largely marked by an obvious cognitive and artistic weakness. Poorly put-together scripts, shallow dialogue, sloppy acting, and an atmosphere reminiscent of the 70’s are enough to dampen even the best intentions and efforts to free female protagonists from such biased and stereotypical portrayals that always reduce them to mere victims.