Music videos are rife with sexual imagery nowadays. Over the last few years, it seems like mainstream music videos have become even more raunchy and risqué. I remember the moment that my eyes were first opened to this racy nature of the videos, with Eric Prydz "Call On Me" changing the way I viewed the world and seemingly turning me into a man in the space of two minutes and 52 seconds. However, while the Prydz video caused controversy for its highly charged sexual imagery at the time, it seems like every music video is now packed full of scantily-clad bodies. But one country that is seemingly yet to accept this new mode of sexual expression, particularly when it comes to women, is Egypt. An Egyptian pop singer has been arrested for "inciting debauchery" due to a music video where she appears to suggestively eat a banana. Shaimaa Ahmed, who is better known by her stage name Shyma, pulled out the oldest sexual innuendo in the book when she tucked into the fruit in front of a classroom full of young men, and officials in her country are not happy. Not done with the suggestive-fruit-eating, Shyma also appears in the video dressed in just her underwear and in front of a blackboard with "Class #69" written on it. She also proceeds to suggestively eat an apple and pour milk all over the fruit. The video is for her single "I Have Issues" and it has created such a stir in the conservative country that it has been discussed on TV talk shows. But while it may seem fairly innocuous to the majority of people, Shyma was arrested for her role in the video and security officials say that prosecutors have ordered the 25-year-old to be detained for a week. Shyma was arrested last week and was initially remanded for four days, but prosecutors ordered her to be detained for seven days. It's not the first time that Egypt has reprimanded a female singer for expressing taking ownership of her body, with the country also reprimanding a Lebanese pop star for wearing a pair of shorts when performing on stage. Haifa Wehbe, 41, claims that she was "called for interrogation" after donning a pair of mini-shorts during a performance at the American University in Cairo. According to the singer, a female journalist was so upset with her performance that she complained to the country's tourism police. The police passed on the complaint to the Egyptian Musicians' Syndicate, which licenses performers in the country. They summoned Haifa's manager who was warned that the singer should pick outfits which "take into account the traditions and customs of Egyptian people." While Shyma's video is cringe-worthy more than anything and the song is trash, she doesn't need to be arrested for it. While women's rights have come on leaps and bounds, the fact that they still can't take ownership of their bodies in countries such as Egypt suggests that there is still a long way to go until we achieve gender equality on an international level.

People go to jail for bad, bad things like selling drugs or robbing banks or murder or fraud. But for eating a piece of fruit with a bit of a suggestive twinkle in your eye? I wouldn't say that's on the same scale of things. However, in some conservative countries, promoting racy behaviour is seen as a legitimate crime that can have you fined and behind bars for a few years if you're unlucky. Just like this singer from Egypt, who's been apprehended for seductively eating a banana in one of her music videos. [[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/ShymaFans/photos/a.786007851570529.1073741829.723800937791221/807807379390576/?type=3&theater]] 21-year-old Shaimaa Ahmed caused nothing short of an uproar after releasing the video for her single I Have Issues. The video attracted over a million views all within a few days of its release. The video is no longer online. The singer, whose stage name is Shyma, is seen dancing in her underwear in a classroom of adult men, in front of a blackboard In the video, the singer, who is known professionally as Shyma, is seen dancing in her underwear in front of a classroom of adult men ("Class #69", according to what's written on the blackboard behind her) and teases them with various items of food. She licks peanut butter off her finger, tongues an apple and pours milk over a banana (?) before unpeeling it and eating it in a suggestive way. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvUBzd_RtRc]] The overtly sexualised video where the singer seems to be attempting to seduce her audience by demonstrating sexual acts with the various props is not really anything new in Western music, however, was not tolerated in the conservative country of Egypt. The deeply religious society is known as one of the least free countries in the world and is also in the bottom 15 of countries in the Gender Gap Report. Following complaints about the video, the little-known singer was arrested on November 18. She has been given a two-year jail sentence for “inciting debauchery” for appearing in the video in her underwear and performing seductive acts on the banana. She was also fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($560) by the Cairo court. Mohamed Gamal, the director of the music video, received the same two-year prison sentence. They were both accused of inciting debauchery as well as producing a video harming public morality. After the video was released, it caused a stir in social media and was widely discussed in national media and on TV talkshows. One newspaper Youm 7 wrote: "Singer Shyma presents a lesson in depravity to youths.” [[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/ShymaFans/photos/a.724393647731950.1073741828.723800937791221/857732387731408/?type=3&theater]] The singer posted to Facebook at the time, apologising for the video and promised to stick to "true art" from then on. “I didn’t imagine all this would happen and that I would be subjected to such a strong attack from everyone, as a young singer … who has dreamt from a young age of being a singer,” she wrote. Shyma reportedly also denied the accusations at first, saying the director included the controversial scenes without her consent. It's still possible for the two defendants to appeal the verdict to a higher court. The wide-ranging morality laws under the Egyptian president have been used to apprehend a number of different artists in recent years. Yikes! Remember to eat your fruits and vegetables with dignity next time you're there, folks.

From Madonna to Beyoncé to Nicki Minaj, there have always been sexy singers with raunchy lyrics and seductive dance moves. These pop stars captivated the youth, while the older generation clutched their pearls, offended by the so-called immoral, vulgar music. In fact, it goes all the way back to the 50's. Elvis Presley would bump and grind his hips, making young ladies swoon, but outraging their parents. What was considered racy generations ago seems pretty tame today.

In America, conservative pundits might huff and puff about how offensive our sexually-charged pop stars are, but at least they're free to perform, and never end up in jail. In Egypt, the singer Laila Amer was not so lucky. The Giza misdemeanor court sentenced her to two years in jail over a music video accused by "inciting debauchery and immorality." The director of the video was sentenced to six months and a man who appeared in the video was sentenced to two months. (An embed of the music video is below. Currently it can only be found on YouTube in blur-tastic 240p quality.)

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The music video is for the song "Bon Omak (Look At Your Mother)". The title is a pun on the popular Arabic profanity "kos omak," which translates to "your mother's vagina." (Now you have something new to yell when somebody cuts you off in traffic.) In the video, Amer makes some suggestive gestures, bellydancing and swinging her hips.

But the clips of these "controversial" moves are short and the camera's pretty far away. Compared to, say, Nicki Minaj's Anaconda, it looks like The Disney Channel. Most of the video features Amer as a downtrodden housewife complaining to her husband about his bossy mother.

 

On the same day, the Egyptian court sentenced the famous Arabic singer, Sherine Abdel Wahab, to six months in prison. But her crime wasn't sexually suggestive dancing. It was making comments that they considered offensive to the Nile River. At a concert, a fan asked Sherine to sing "Mashrebtesh Men Nilha (Have You Drunk From The Nile?)." In response, she joked that you shouldn't really drink from The Nile, because it might give you "schistosomiasis," a form of parasites that used to be widespread in Egypt. "Drink Evian instead," the singer recommended.

Sherine later apologized for her "foolish joke" in concert, but it didn't stop the legal proceedings. As additional punishment, the Egyptian Musicians Syndicate banned her from performing due to her "unjustified mockery of our dear Egypt."

But isn't her joke technically true - that if you drink from the Nile, you might get sick? Come on, Egyptian court. Denial isn't just a...I'm not going to finish that because I don't want to be thrown in prison. But word of warning to all of you Egyptian singers: Don't make a sexually suggestive song about The Nile River, or you might be thrown in prison for life.

All you sexy singers should be happy you live in countries where you can't be arrested for twerking.

Just months after a British woman was detained in Egypt for bringing prescription drugs into the country, a 31-year-old Russian woman has been arrested after dancing too provocatively - despite being hired to do exactly that. Ekaterina Andreeva, who uses the nickname "Gawhara" when she's on stage, was employed as a belly dancer to entertain patrons of a club in Giza, north Egypt. Videos of her dancing were posted online, and appear to show the crowd cheering her on and joining in with her moves. As far as the clubgoers were concerned, then, Andreeva was doing nothing wrong. However, because of a slight wardrobe complication, her performance was later deemed to be "immoral" and she has since been charged with "inciting debauchery". According to the prosecutor in the case, Hatim Fadl, Andreeva's dancing was considered a criminal act because of her outfit. "Rules for the dance performance oblige the performer to wear underwear of any color but beige," he said. However, he went on: "Gawhara did not have any underwear, and of course it was provocative." A further report in an Egyptian newspaper explained that "Tourism police arrested [Andreeva] after they saw a video of the dancer wearing a revealing outfit in violation of standards that exposed the charms of her body without shorts." It also made note that she apparently "used her hand to point at sensitive parts of her body to stir up the passions of young people." During the investigation, Andreeva denied the accusations. "I know the traditions of your country, if I wanted to dance naked I’d have done it in Russia," she said. "The dance suit that appeared in the videos is not provocative and is identical to the costume my counterparts wear in Egypt." [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVFpNF0fSxk&feature=youtu.be]] The belly dancer also claimed that investigators on the case had acted unlawfully, and had stolen the outfit she was wearing that evening without acquiring a warrant first. The reason they did this, she says, was so that it could be used against her as evidence in court. Police interrogated Andreeva for five hours, during which time they also accused her of performing without a license. However, she was adamant that she had a work permit that had been issued by the General Administration of Tourism. Unfortunately, due to a crackdown on "immorality" in Egypt at the moment, the 31-year-old's case was treated with extreme severity, and she was charged with two offenses. For now, the dancer - who reportedly runs a dance studio with her husband in Moscow - has been released on bail. She was ordered to pay 5,000 EGP ($282) and has yet to be sentenced for her "crimes". According to a friend of Andreeva's, the company who originally hired her to perform at the Giza nightclub are working with lawyers in order to resolve the issue, and hopefully allow the belly dancer to avoid serving any jail time. It is awful that the dancer would face criminal charges for something like this in the first place, and is yet another example of archaic laws which are in place to oppress women.

A popular belly-dancer has been sentenced to three years in prison and slapped with a $18,500 after being found guilty by Egyptian courts of feeding "immorality" on social media.

On Saturday, Sama el-Masry was ordered to pay 300,000 Egyptian pounds as the nation clamps down on certain content shared to social media, The Independent reports.

The 42-year-old was arrested back in April following an investigation into pictures and videos that have been uploaded to social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Per Insider, public prosecution had deemed el-Masry's content to be sexually suggestive

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El-Masry - who boasts over 3 million followers on Instagram - has denied the allegations and said the content in question was stolen last year and shared without her consent.

Cairo's Misdemeanours Economic Court said el-Masry had violated family principles and values, as well as using her social media accounts with the aim of committing "immorality".

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John Talaat, a member of parliament who had requested legal action against el-Masry and other female TikTokers, told those accused: "There is a huge difference between freedom and debauchery."

In 2018, Egypt introduced a cybercrime law that allowed the government to censor the internet and conduct surveillance of communications. The law carries penalties of imprisonment for a minimum of two years and a fine of up to 300,000 Egyptian pounds.

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In recent months, several female TikTok and Instagram influencers and YouTubers have been arrested by the Egyptian authorities on charges of promoting debauchery and prostitution on social media.

Per the Telegraph, Mr Talaat said that the other influencers currently on trial are expected to receive the same prison terms as El-Masry, as they had committed the same crime.

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However, women's rights lawyer Entessar el-Saeed, who is also the head of the Cairo Center for Development and Law, has spoken out and said that it is only women who have been targeted by the authorities according to this law.

El-Masry has confirmed that she will be appealing the ruling.

A banana that was taped to the wall as part of a $120,000 art installation met its match when a student got a bit peckish and helped himself to a bite.

Modern art is a pretty divisive subject, with some believing that it is truly beautiful that simple things can be perceived so deeply, whereas others take it at face value and think it's all nonsense.

There's something quite peculiar about going to a modern art museum and seeing people stare at an image of a red circle that could have been created in Microsoft Paint.

But whether you love it or hate it, there is a big calling for it, and a recent installation involving a single banana and a piece of tape has caught the public's attention.

The installation was a piece by the artist Maurizio Cattelan. Credit: Mairo Cinquetti / Alamy

The piece of art, which is quite literally a banana taped to a wall, is the work of renowned Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, as per the Guardian.

This is quite staggering considering that the bananas cost around 20 cents a piece and get replaced every two days.

The installation, which was on display at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, met its maker when Noh Huyn-soo got a little peckish.

The South Korean student was filmed removing the banana from the wall and eating it in front of stunned onlookers, before putting the peel back on the wall and securing it with the tape,

As reported by the Korea Herald, Huyn-soo said: "Damaging a work of modern art could also be [interpreted as] artwork," before saying that he reattached it to the wall as a joke.

When questioned on his motivation for eating the banana, he simply replied that he was "hungry".

The artist, Cattelan, was reportedly told about what had happened and simply shrugged it off while stating that it was "not a problem".

This isn't the first time that a piece of banana art has been eaten. In 2019, the performance artist David Datuna scoffed the fruit in Miami.

The first two versions of the artwork that were on display at the Miami Art Basel sold for $120,000 and another had been put up for sale for $150,000 before Datuna got his hands on it.

Datuna opened up to the Guardian as to why he ate the valuable art, stating: "I have traveled in 67 countries around the world in the last three years, and I see how people live. Millions are dying without food. Then he puts three bananas on the wall for half a million dollars?"

The performance artist revealed that he had huge respect for Cattelan and his work, but he took issue with the amount of money being generated from a banana taped to a wall.

We sure hope that the banana tasted good considering how much it was worth!

Featured image credit: WILDLIFE GmbH / Alamy