'Forbidden to Men': new TV show for Maghreb women

From household advice to fashion, beauty tips and cultural news, Maghreb women will see it all in a brand new talk show, designed specifically for women of the region.

By Houda Trabelsi for Magharebia in Tunis – 14/12/10

A program exclusively tackling Maghreb women's issues starts airing on Nessma TV on Tuesday (December 14th).

"Mamnua al-Rejal ('Forbidden to Men') is a Tunisian, Maghreb-oriented television show concerned with everything related to the world of contemporary Maghreb women," said Nessma TV director Nabil Karoui.

"However, it will inevitably raise the curiosity of the opposite sex, given that the show is a roundup of the world of women and attraction of women. In each episode, the show crew will address the most important topics related to women and their daily life concerns, as well as their aspirations. Meanwhile, things dictated by the spirit of originality and long-standing Maghreb traditions in this field will be preserved," he said.

The show will be hosted by Morocco's Kaoutar Boudarajja, along with four other anchors from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, who will invite in each episode art and media celebrities to discuss questions of particular interest and concern to women of the Maghreb.

"The problems and concerns of Maghreb women are not the same as in other areas," the channel director said, adding that the new show will be different from similar versions that already exist on several Arab channels.

"I think that the difference will be the selection of topics, because we have special freedom and a language that is close to viewers, unlike some other channels," Karoui said, emphasizing that "the goal of the channel is to focus on the rosy and positive side of Maghreb women, because the street is full of negative aspects".

When asked about the exclusion of Libya and Mauritania from the Nessma TV map and the fact that no one is representing these two countries in the channel, Karoui said, "The channel is still at the beginning stage and we can't enter all Maghreb markets for the time being, especially in the field of advertising." He added, however, that "Libya and Mauritania will have distinguished presence by the beginning of next Ramadan".

Some, however, warned that the new show wouldn't resonate in the entire Maghreb.

"I think that the Libyan audiences will be least interested in watching this show," Libyan journalist Reem Kadouri told Magharebia. "This is for several reasons, including the frequent use of French words by hosts and the absence of a Libyan host who may represent the Libyan woman, and who may play a major role in attracting Libyan women to watch the show. In addition, the show doesn't shed much light on the different levels of social life of Libyan women."

"I hope that this show will be an opportunity for the appearance of a number of Libyan stars in different fields, and that it will reflect what the Libyan women are living in their society, as part of the Arab Maghreb, given that there is much difference between them and women in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. I really hope so, and I think that the Libyan audiences are keen on watching different media outlets and Arab satellite TV channels, and Nessma TV is one of the channels that have high viewership in Libya," she said.

Kaouther Bardi, a Tunisian actress and one of the show hosts, told Magharebia, "The problems facing Maghreb women are similar to the problems facing women all over the world, because we live in a global village. Therefore, the show can attract all Arab women, and why not women across the world as well!"

"I'll try in the section that I will host to highlight the spirit of Maghreb home through my life experiment as a housewife," Bardi added. "Housewives will find in my section all that is of concern to them in terms of new ideas for arranging their homes, attending to household chores, and we will give them smart and funny tips to help them overcome their daily problems."

In her turn, Algerian singer Salima Abada said: "I don't think that the show will be just a version of other shows in other channels. This is because Maghreb women's concerns and inclinations are different from women's in other areas of the world; something that will make the show a distinguished one."

"I will take care of a section on cultural developments, in which I will propose a selected group of major cultural and art events on the Maghreb level so that Maghreb women may be up to date with the cultural arena, and so that we may get them out of their preoccupation with household affairs and lack of interest in cultural events," she added.

Rym ben Messaoud Zarrouk, a Tunisian who worked with al-Jazeera Children's Channel before joining Nessma TV, told Magharebia, "Mamnuaa al-Rejal is an important opportunity for Maghreb women to express themselves, especially as women in the Maghreb are smart, open and educated and have assumed several important positions. Therefore, I think that the show is for women so that they may freely express what they want and what they aspire to."

She added that "the experiment of working with other colleagues from the different countries in Maghreb is a good opportunity for getting to know about many experiments and cultures." As to her role in the show, she said, "I will take care of a section on elegant life and decoration because this aspect is of concern to Maghreb women who love beauty and elegance."

For her part, Yasmine El Asfar, a member of the TV program "Lamassat" on Morocco's 2M, said, "I will try to focus on the interests of Moroccan and Maghreb women in general through my section, which is concerned with fashion, beauty and major trends in elegance, cosmetics and jewelery." She added that "this side is important for women all over the world, and not just in the Maghreb".

"We hope that this show will be different from the other typical shows that are concerned with women. We also hope that it will add something to the Maghreb women who we believe deserve much attention in the media," Samira El Othmani, a journalist at Morocco's Al Massae daily, told Magharebia.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/14/feature-02.