Gender Mixing in a Cafe?
‘Hard Luck’ Cafe? Cairo’s debut Islamic coffee-shop allows no gender-mixing
When the D. Cappucino café opened its doors last May it attracted little attention outside of Cairo’s upscale Nasser City neighborhood.
But a political crisis that has polarized Egypt and set liberals and Islamists at loggerheads has suddenly focused nationwide attention on the café, which caters to conservative values.
The café is identical in almost every way to the fashionable western style espresso bars that have become increasingly popular in Egypt over the last decade.
But there are key differences – customers are encouraged to conform to gender segregation, with separate sections for families, single men and single women.
Customers in search of a traditional waterpipe, or sheesha, will be disappointed. There’s no smoking of any kind allowed.
And while most cafes in Egypt sport flatscreen TVs that blare the latest Arab music videos, there is no music in D. Cappucino. Just the hum of conversation and the occasional clatter of typing.
But this piece really made me laugh:
Jihad Amin, a journalist, says that labelling D. Cappucino as an ‘Islamist’ café is unfair, and that those scrutinizing it are showing a lack of tolerance.
Lack of tolerance? Really?
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