A woman activist who posted nude pictures of herself on her blog to protest limits on free expression has triggered an uproar in Egypt, drawing condemnations from conservatives and liberals alike. It is hard to overstate the shock at an Egyptian woman’s posting nude photographs of herself on the Internet in a conservative religious country where a vast majority of Muslim women are veiled and even men seldom bare their knees in public. Soon Ms. Elmahdy, a 20-year-old activist, found herself swept up in a campaign season political fight, especially among liberals battling conservative Islamists in the first election since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power. Ms. Elmahdy — whose boyfriend, Kareem Amer, spent four years in jail for writings deemed insulting to Islam and Mr. Mubarak — posted the photographs with a statement declaring them an act of rebellion against Egypt’s conservative culture and “sexual complexes,” in the spirit of the revolution. One activist, Ahmed Awadallah, praised her in a Tweet, writing, "I'm totally taken back by her bravery."
– The fight for Egypt's future ahead of parliamentary elections is taking familiar form here in the form of protests in Tahrir Square. But a volatile debate also is taking place in unfamiliar territory: over a political blogger's posting of nude photos of herself. As the AP and New York Times explain, 20-year-old Aliaa Magda Elmahdy posted photos in which she's wearing only stockings and red shoes. She called them "screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment, and hypocrisy." Conservative Islamist groups predictably condemned the images, but Elmahdy also is taking heat from liberal and secular groups, especially because the images come only a week before elections. “Many movements in Egypt, particularly Islamist movements, are trying to benefit,” says one left-leaning candidate. “They say, ‘We have to protect our society from things like this, and if the liberals win then this woman will become a model for all Egyptian women.’" Elmahdy, whose blogger boyfriend was jailed for four years for insulting Islam and Hosni Mubarak, hasn't given any interviews since the photos went viral. Click for more at The Stir, including a link to Elmahdy's blog.