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When I was first thinking of coming to live here I was informed that going outside with wet hair instantly indicated to any Egyptian that you had 'just had had sex' not that you had just 'washed your hair'.
(a) was that ever true? (b) is it still true?
Having waited an hour for my hair to dry before going to fix my satellite dish on the roof, I was just idling wondering!
I don't own a hair dryer and don't want one- my hair is fried enough without adding to the torture!
*Dalia* Member # 13012
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LOL – I read the same in "Cairo – the practical guide" when I first moved here and thus didn't go out with wet hair for several months.
Now I don't care, I go out with damp hair, it dries quickly anyway. If it's very wet, for example when leaving the gym right after taking a shower, I just wrap a scarf around my head. Great way to keep your scalp cool on hot days too.
anthropos Member # 9410
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it makes sense actually.
Hair seems to be extra sexy for muslims hence the hijab....so wet hair is even more naughty...
*Dalia* Member # 13012
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It has nothing to do with wet hair being "naughty".
Muslims are required to du ghusl – a full body wash – after sex; so in cultures where a daily shower isn't the norm, wet hair could indeed indicate that you just had sex.
I remember reading a novel by an Egyptian author (not sure if it was Naguib Mahfous or Alaa al-Aswani) where a woman likes to stand on the balcony shaking her wet hair as often as possible in order to boast about having had sex with her husband.
Of course nowadays where most people have running water and take a shower (or two) every day in hot weather, going out with wet hair doesn't have that implication any longer.
samaka Member # 9228
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I often wonder why guests refuse to drink anything in my home yet when I go to someone else's house the hospitality is overwhelming.
I have been told that I must keep asking, "Would you like something to drink?" But I feel a bit silly repeating the question.
ukthoughtful Member # 17000
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haha! Great stuff. I would never have made the connection!
*Dalia* Member # 13012
posted Unless you want to advertise that you have just had sex, don’t go out of the house with wet hair. Sometimes I see women with wet hair dropping off their kids at school, and for some reason it annoys me. "They should have read up on their cultural manners" I think, noticing the looks from the Egyptian guards that the woman with wet hair, as she gets into her 4x4, careful not to scratch her manicure, doesn’t , and I’m suppressing an urge to yell out “Hey lady! Didn’t you read the memo?! DON'T GO OUT WITH WET HAIR!”
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I'm sure (I hope for the love of human sanity) that it's just a subset of society that actually believes/follows this kind of stupidity.
Clear and QSY Member # 15597
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Actually I read that as well. I think it was in the book: Culture Shock - Egypt. Considering that I don't own a hairdryer either, I have on many occassions gone out of the house - and on public transportation - with wet hair while living in Egypt. I must have left many people wondering. However, considering that many women in Egypt don't wash their hair at home (they take weekly trips to the hairdresser) - it makes sense that if someone had to wash their own hair there must be a reason for this sudden change of events. One would logically draw the conclusion that she had sex and had to wash her hair in order to pray. Either that or the hairdresser was all booked up for the week.
Cheekyferret Member # 15263
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I heard it too but I go out with wet hair and don't so much as get a second glance.
The only comment I have ever had is from an Egyptian who turned off the air con and fan and told me if I had wet hair in the cold I would catch a cold. Bless.
Laura Member # 879
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Another funny thread.
Kind of goes along with washing the bedsheets on Friday morning and hanging them out to dry. haha
Seems to be kind of like a "status symbol" thing for some women.
anthropos Member # 9410
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one question.
If a woman is married and wears a wedding ring. She goes out with wet hair. People assume she has had sex, with her husband, so legal sex....what is the problem? Jealousy?
Cheekyferret Member # 15263
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I am not married, wear no ring and my hair is either wet from the millions of showers a girl needs in this country or from after swimming when leaving hotels and no one says a word tbh.
But yes, if others do experience this then people are plain and simply just jealous people with little or no lives
Mo Ning Min E Member # 681
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Ha, well, after due consideration, I am going to go out soon after my shower, and sashay down the street with wet hair. Sick of those sympathetic smiles.
Cheekyferret Member # 15263
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quote:Originally posted by Mo Ning Min E: Ha, well, after due consideration, I am going to go out soon after my shower, and sashay down the street with wet hair. Sick of those sympathetic smiles.
Yeah lol... Good idea
I just thought too, when I stay at friends houses I take a shower and leave, if this concept were true they must think we are kinky swingers!!!
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haha