Eight female Egyptian presenters told to lose weight or lose jobs

But this week, the veteran broadcaster who has worked for the Egyptian radio and television union Ertu for more than 20 years, has been caught up in an unwanted controversy. She and seven other presenters have been deemed by their employer to be too overweight to appear on camera and suspended for a month.

They have been given an ultimatum: lose weight or lose your job.

“It’s unfair,” Khattab told the Guardian. “It’s discriminatory. They discriminate between men and women. They haven’t gone to any men, accusing them of being fat and suspending them. Only women.

“My appearance is my business, not theirs. It’s my private matter and in fact, I’m the way a common, natural Egyptian woman is. You can’t judge a presenter only by how much they weigh.”

Khattab’s programme, called Itelala (Views), is broadcast on public television’s Channel Two every Friday at 9pm. It reflects on the social and cultural events of the past week, with guests usually invited to the studio. “I have a long history of very successful programmes and my place will be empty if I leave my programme as the result of this,” she said.

According to the privately owned Egyptian newspaper al-Youm al-Sabe (the seventh day), the decision was taken by Ertu’s female director Saffa Hijazi, who has called on the presenters to go on diets if they want to keep their job. 

Khattab said many people in Egypt had expressed sympathy with their situation. “The public opinion in Egypt reject this decision against many of our country’s distinguished presenters,” she said. Not everyone has been supportive, with some using derogatory terms such as “bakabouzas” (overweight girls in Arabic) to refer to them. 

Read more at The Guardian