A lot of jobs have dress codes employees must adhere to. But weight guidelines are far from normal.
Eight female news anchors hired by Egypt’s state television have been suspended over their weight and urged to go on a diet.
The women were told they had to lose weight or they would lose their jobs, Buzzfeed reports. They have been given a month to do so, after the shock decision was made by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union.
Women’s rights groups have labelled the the move discrimination. One of the impacted news presenters, Khadija Khattab, lashed out.
“This is moral assassination,” Khattab told Buzzfeed.
“I have worked here for more than 15 years and now suddenly those who hate me are publicly defaming me and my career.”
Khattab defiantly said she would not bow down to weight-loss demands.
"I won’t lose any weight," she said. "I am satisfied with how I look and if they decide to do what they say, I will take a legal path for help."
One women's advocate said: "It’s 2016 and we will not accept someone telling a woman,"‘sorry you’re fat, go home'."
TV officials have defended their decision, arguing there were standards for people who appeared on TV all over the world.
Egyptian TV boss Amr Al-Shennawaii said people had mocked Egyptian presenters because of their appearance and lack of qualification.
"So when we are finally trying to bring reform, people are angry. That’s strange,"he said.
Al-Shennawaii claimed the same weight rule would apply for men -- but, funnily enough, no male presenters were yet to be sent home.
"The eyes see before the ears hear, so appearance is important," he said.
Radwa Shaaban, a female state TV director, approved of the guidelines, claiming television jobs "first depend on how you look".
We'd argue skill and intellect is far more important in reporting the news on live television, but hey.
These women are understood to be among those impacted by the decision. This is the full video from the above excerpt.
Top Comments
How many fat women are there on Australian television?
Yep, Australians may not be as direct in their language but the result is still the same. Women on Australian tv must have a certain shape and size. Few exceptions. Which is kind of strange considering we are one of the top three countries in the world with overweight/obesity in the general population, then you consider that nearly every Australian female presenter, host etc is not overweight let alone obese, some would say thin - to underweight cohort, flat stomach, no droopy body flab and nearly exclusively young. Added to this all the women who fit this profile are "naturally" thin, who just happen to work on tv. Absolutely no pressure for these women to be thin or remain thin, it just naturally occurs.