One quick scroll down Arab Twitter on any given day will have you bump into some kind of misogynistic hashtag that's making the rounds with no other purpose than to spread idiotic opinions. Disgusting online debates centered around women are unfortunately quite popular on the platform in the region.
From asking men for their opinion on women who "can't cook" - because God forbid an Arab man has to lift a finger and feed himself - to debating whether it's acceptable to marry a female doctor, these tags are as unacceptable as they are offensive.
Over the weekend, a new trending hashtag "Do you like fat or thin women" was added to this endless list of disappointments. Through it, men shared their opinions on women's body shapes (as if the perspective of disrespectful pinheads mattered to anyone).
"We repeat, let no one think their [men's] opinion matters."
The hashtag is intolerable for two main reasons:
A. It objectifies women.
B. It makes it seem as if men's preference over women's bodies matters ... when it really doesn't.
Under the hashtag, many posted insulting tweets. Some compared women to food; One man, in particular, said "Fat women are grapes and thin women are raisins" - because that's what sexists do in a patriarchal society that deems the objectification of women "acceptable." Another man uploaded a tweet comparing women to shawarma rotisseries, while another compared them to bottles of hot sauce.
Arab women noticed the trending hashtag and rolled up their sleeves for some comeback time.
"Before you set conditions, think if you even deserve to have a woman in your life and thank God if one agreed to be with you. Enough with you already," a female tweep wrote.
Sexism, in all its repulsive forms, is common on Arab social media
Some Arab men use social media platforms to push forward their sexist rhetoric and reinforce messed up gender roles that plague the entire region.
There's no limit to the daftness of misogynistic hashtags trending on the internet in our countries. After all, where else would a trending tag be titled "Is it OK to cook for your wife?" or "Would you marry an ill woman?"
As nonsensical hashtags keep coming, their virality reflects the sexism that exists in our societies and the deep-rooted misogyny that women have to fight against every single day.
It's also all over the region's media industry
Sexism isn't only rife on Arab social media as it's also quite common in the way women are represented in the media industry. Nauseating definitions of what it means to be a woman are reinforced quite often on television and in commercial adverts. They echo the patriarchal power dynamic which portrays men as powerful and women as submissive.
A clear example of this exact point is an ad used to promote laser hair removal at a beauty lounge in Lebanon. The online campaign personified fruits as women's body parts, pointing to how men like their women's body to be smooth and hairless.
This wouldn't the first time women are insulted in sexist ads, of course. In 2017, Lebanese restaurant Sandwich W Noss apologized over an ad that positioned two burgers side by side to resemble a pair of breasts ... all that to promote an offer targeting men.
Both ads sparked intense backlash - understandably so - as such uneducated, disrespectful, and outdated marketing strategies have no place on our social media feeds anymore nor should they be popularized via our media in general.