This week a Facebook page sprang up from Algeria with a message we've heard a lot in the Arab world — "be a man". But what came after the phrase was something less expected, since it had everything, instead, to do with women. What followed were a few thousand "likes," and a pretty kickass counter campaign in Tunisia.
The page in question is called "Be a man and don't let your women out in revealing clothes," and makes the argument that true "men" should be charged with making sure women are dressed conservatively and with their hair covered.
Filled with Qoranic verses and photos of toddlers in hijabs, the Facebook campaign has already drawn fiery criticism from the rest of the Internet, especially with graphics on the page which compared women to objects, like the one below, which translates to: "You can’t stop them, but you can protect yourself. God who created you knows better."
Or another, which asks whether one prefers a peeled banana or a "covered" one, in reference to a woman's clothing.
Meanwhile in Tunisia, a counter campaign began brewing on Facebook — and it started with miniskirts. Activists in the neighboring country called for a national day of miniskirts next week in support of Algerian women, which they say will beat the "be a man" campaign at its own, clothing game.
One Tunisian activist told the BBC,
[Our campaign] had to make the same point, they chose the veil as a piece of clothing and we chose the miniskirt."
