Spraying Messages in Egypt *Grade This :)

Scrolling through news sites over the past week, I came across this article from the Daily Beast. According to the article, a group of female artists in Cairo are spreading messages of equality through street art. For the country, this is quite a revolutionary concept. Bright and colorful spray paint works of art convey messages such as empowering women by increasing their visibility throughout the city. This idea stems from the Women on Walls (WOW) project, which uses graffiti and street art to talk about women. The campaign aims to illustrate the daily struggles of Egyptian women, ultimately encouraging better treatment and women's rights.

While reading about this project, I found it interesting that graffiti was used to portray such important messages. Graffiti, an illegal art, is not something that I would typically think of to become a form of resistance in a country plagued by dictatorship and an unfinished revolution, especially for women's rights. I enjoyed reading about WOW, however, because I admire its attempt to become an alternative media source. When I picture graffiti, I usually imagine art portraying gangs and other illegal activities. I appreciate WOW's ability to bust multiple stereotypes, including the stereotypes of both graffiti and the inferiority of women.

This unique approach is important to recognize because it demonstrates the power of aesthetics in terms of changing gender roles and women's rights. The radicalness of WOW is inspiring to many around the world, including myself. The messages of WOW have brought artists together to increase awareness and positively portray women in a public sphere. In an area like Egypt, where women are constantly treated as secondary roles in society, publicly depicting what is wrong in society can help address the issues and ultimately promote change.

I hope that as readers, you can admire this work and it sparks thoughts and conversations for yourselves about the role of gender in our society. Please reply to this blog post with any comments, I would love to hear your thoughts!