Egyptian TV Suspends Female Presenters And Orders Them To Lose Weight

One of the women suspended, Khadija Khattab (Al-Yawm al-Sabi)

Female presenters on Egyptian TV have been ordered to lose weight or be taken off air.

Eight women have been suspended and told to shed the pounds.

The Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) has told the women they have one month to slim down.

They must appear on TV with an ‘appropriate appearance’ or face losing their job.

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The controversial move has been widely condemned by women’s groups and by the presenters themselves.

Khadija Khattab, a host on Egypt’s Channel 2, said she wants people to judge for themselves if she is ‘fat’, reported the BBC.

A group called the Women’s Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness was deeply critical of ERTU’s recommendation, labelling it a form of violence against women.

They also said the move violated the Egyptian constitution.

The issue has even made its way into the Egyptian parliament, with one male MP backing the women news presenters.

Some social media users were not so kind, reported the BBC, with people on the internet calling the woman ‘bakabouzas’, a derogatory term for overweight women.