In-depth

Over the month of Ramadan, from Lebanon to Tunisia, Syria to Palestine, passing through Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco, viewers across Arab-Muslim countries share an almost sacred ritual: watching soap operas produced mainly for consumption during this month of fasting.

The show Bab Rezek (Doors of Livelihood), broadcast on Tunisia’s El Watania 1 television channel, is one of this year’s soap operas that addresses the suffering of Tunisian women working in agriculture and fields.

“Hello to the newlyweds, we’ve brought you sweets on a tray. Tell us, how did that first night go? Show us the proof of honor.” It is with this sentence that a mother congratulates her daughter on her marriage in front of the family and the whole village, demanding proof of the bride’s “honor”..

Egyptian soap operas offered us a hefty meal of major and recurring women’s issues this year, ranging from surrogacy to the same old marital infidelities. The shows treat these issues that revolve around women’s lives and rights in sometimes clever, sometimes unjust ways.

The series Fallujah, Part Two of which was broadcast on Tunisian channel Elhiwar Ettounsi, answers outstanding questions from Part One such as the outcome of the case of the rape of the minor student Rahma.

The series Wlad Badia (Badia’s Sons) is the talk of the town this month of Ramadan. The song Fahat Rihat al-Baroud (The Smell of Gunpowder), which plays during multiple scenes, has gone viral, and two of Sukkar’s iconic lines - “it’s not my business,” “I don’t care” - can now be heard randomly on the street and in restaurants.

The image of the Algerian woman in Ramadan productions has this year been reduced to the “legendary slap” an actress received, a narrative reinforced by the harassment several women on the street endured from the hidden camera crew.

Since the first episodes of the series Wlad Badia (Badia’s Sons) started airing, female roles emerged clear and strong, breaking away from the stereotypical portrayal of women.

During the first half of the month of Ramadan, the series Neama al-Avocato (Neama the Lawyer) made it to the list of the most-watched shows on multiple viewing platforms.

“There’s snow everywhere in Gaziantep, where I now live after being displaced from Syria. I look out the window and feel the warmth enveloping my body, and I feel grateful to have finally arrived somewhere warm and safe where I will live with my newborn and small family, where I can set off on a new life with friends my husband and I just spent a nice evening with.”