El Ashba7 - Case Study/2

FASHION STEREOTYPES Define

Case Study and Research on the subculture known in Egypt as “Sarsageya”

Nouran Abed

Nouran Abed

43-11921

+ VISUAL RESEARCH Define

visual and colour extractions and analysis

Nouran Abed

43-11921

COLOURS

This is Amr Haaha’s studio, I really like the contrast of colour and the way they specifically made it to stand out against the rest of the wall from the outside with the graffiti and neon colours.

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

I really like the visuals from street weddings, specifically the colours of the lights and the ways they use their surroundings to celebrate .

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

I tried to see any colour patterns from the clothes of all the photos I’ve gathered - Very saturated and bold colours - Red and Yellow are the most common Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

(SOME) PATTERNS

- Palm Trees - Red and Yellow Stripes

Define

- B&W Stripes - Star Shaped

- Zig Zag B&W stripes

- Seems like the head of an animal, maybe a tiger?

- Brown/gold shades

Nouran Abed

- looks like a snake print?

43-11921

THE SHINE AND THE BLINGGGGG

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

THE MOHAMED RAMADAN AESTEHTIC look at how rich I am!!

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

THE HAMO BIKA AESTEHTIC

Define

how extra do you want to be? hamo bika: yes.

Nouran Abed

43-11921

GRAPHIC DESIGN IN MAHRAGANAT I found one of the graphic designers who makes a lot of the some of his work

artworks for the music.

He works with Hamo Bika, El Dakhlaweya, 100Copies music production, and several more (I’ve contacted him to get more insight on his work and this field in design in general, but unfortunately I didn’t get an answer)

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

GRAPHIC DESIGN IN MAHRAGANAT

Cover art by other designers

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

GRAPHIC DESIGN IN MAHRAGANAT

Take aways: - They write the name of the song in arabic only - Always a picture of the singers - heavily edited photos - A lot of logos - very experimental typography - no specific style - more than one person on the cover - very brightly coloured - maximalistic, no negative spaces in the designs

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

ANALYSIS AND OBSERVATIONS Define

defining my point of view based on the research and observations

Nouran Abed

43-11921

clust

ering

WHAT IS A SARSAGY MADE OUT OF? 1 Clothes

3 Mahraganat

2 Sarsageya

4 People

Phrases -Hair

-From Mahraganat

-Listen to the music

-People they look up to (?)

-Sunglasses

-Toktok/Microbus

-Follow the famous Mahragnat

-Famous sarsageya

-Shoes

-Instagram Captions

musicians in how they dress,

-Mahraganat musicians

talk, act, etc.

-Colours -Outift combinations

Examples: 1. Mohamed Ramadan 2. Hassan Shakoush 3. Hamo Bika 4. Adel Shakal

5 Slang/Pronunciations

5. Mohamed Ramadan (?)

6. Adidas (tiktok)

Sarsa

gy

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

SARSAGY VS. THE OTHER clust ering STEREOTYPES

Noveau Riche/ here based on clothes more than attitude, these combinations can sometimes shift the sarsagy to another stereotype

Sarsagy

‫محدث‬

People who’ve recently acquired wealth, typically those perceived as lacking in good taste.

During my interviews and research, I would keep stopping in the middle of the conversation or reading and ask what’s the difference between a sarsagy and a baltagy if they both carry a blade/

+

+

+

Aggression

Money

Softness/ Femininity

=

=

=

Thug/Baltagy

Noveau Riche/

Sees/Farfoor

knife? Is a noveau riche always a sarsagy? What’s the difference between Sees and Sarsagy? And I’d always find a strong difference between all of them, but sometimes I’d notice if a Sarsagy takes one of his characteristics a little too far, they shift in perspective (to other people) from one subgroup to another.

‫محدث‬

I’m going out on a limb here making this assumption of these subgroups crossing so easily with these small shifts, but it seemed consistent enough through out the material I’ve gathered.

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

SARSAGY TIMLINE: clust ering DESCRIPTIONS - Bright neon colours - Soiree shirts in casual wear - Sport brand tshirts with embezzelments - Belts with a really large clip - Really loud and noisy phones in public - Shaves half of his head (the sides and back) - Cleopatra cigarettes - Wears a ring - Thinks he’s better than everyone around him - Listens to “Shaaby” music

2008

2009

- Loud voice - Play music loudly from a phone in a public place - Uses a lot of hair gel

2010

= Consistent throughout the years - A big necklace, usually outside of their t-shirt - Lots of rings - BIG HAIR (High top hair cut) - Shave their head from the sides - A LOT of gel to keep it in place - A blade in their mouth - Slippers - A cap - Very skinny, don’t have bulky muscles - Super skinny and dirty jeans, hanging low - Ripped jeans - Red pants - Red shoes - The hair can’t be “rough”, they use relaxers to get straighter hair - Long pinky finger nail - Big embezzeled sunglasses

Release of the movie “Abdo Mota” Believed to be the reason behind the spread of sarsageya into the mainstream and young people

2011

2012

- Green moustache - Long curly hair - Use half a jar of gel on the hair - Side burns - Long pinky finger nail - A person who thinks they’re trendy - Bright neon tshirts and patterned shirts with embezzelments - Dirty jeans with prints and words on it - Cargo pants (in different colours) - Belt with big clip - Pointy shoess on casual wear - Gold watch on all types of clothes -2 silver rings on the same finger -Big embezzeled sunglasses

2013

2014

2015

more or less the same as 2012

2016

2017 First mentions of “Kalam Sarsageya” (Sarsageya phrases)

2018

2019

2020

SARSAGY STARTER PACK

Nouran Abed

NOT ALL SARSAGEYA ARE MADE EQUALmy poimnt syste

Since I’ve established that there are different

level of Sarsageya based on how many elements a person puts together, and because doing only one of those things deosn’t immediately get a person labelled as a Sarsagy, additionally based on Safy’s interview saying that no one would call themselves a Sarsagy because there’s

Not enough points to unlock being a Sarsagy

You’re a Sarsagy, the higher up on the scale your points are, the more of a Sarsagy you become

always someone who’s even more of a Sarsagy, I’ve decided to create a point system on which somone would figure out how much of a sarsagy

0 Points

50 points

∞

they are ono a scale.

(This is for fun for myself, just to gather all the insights and see which things are stronger signifiers of Sarsaga than others)

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

(MY) POINT SYSTEM Category

Thing

Points

Category

Thing

Points

Clothes

Embezzeled sunglasses

30

Behaviour

5

Ripped distressed jeans

10

Using sarsageya phrases while talking

Bright coloured pants

15

Using Sarsageya phrases for instagram captions

15 if unironically 5 if ironically

Skinny jeans

5

Aggression

15

Rings

5

Drive a Toktok

5

Red shoes

5

10

Necklaces (2+)

10

Drive a chinese motorcycle

Big hair

30

You do The Walk

15

Use a lot of gel

10

15

Cap

5

You do The Facial Expressionns

Shirt with a print

5

2

Long pinky finger nail

20

Listen to Mahraganat

15

Shave sides and back of hair

5

Want to make mahraganat

5

Hair tips coloured

10

Know how to dance on mahraganat

Define

Music

Nouran Abed

43-11921

WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN? POV

week 4

I’m not exactly sure what my own point of view is

someone who’s going even further and are more

on this stereotype and all my findings, especially

Sarsageya on the scale, and it just keeps going from

that it was a word/stereotype that I used a lot

one group to another but to an outsider they’re all

before I started investigating and following all the

grouped together as the same.

different opinions about it. Somewhere along the way I forgot how I used and percieved it.

I’ve also come to realize, even though it’s quite obvious, that this stereotype is inherently classist

However the conclusion I’m most sure of is that

and most people would take a second before

the root of all these characteristics I’ve gathered

assuming or labelling anyone from a higher social

about sarsageya all come from wanting to show

class as a sarsagy.

off. From exessively wanting to go viral on Tiktok, with going over the top in how they dress, to talking loudly wherever they are. All elements that are done with extreme extents and together they stereotype what a Sarsagy is.

I also believe that Sarsageya never actually view themselves as Sarsageya, that there’s always Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN? POV

week t s a l t i e ot I wrgoing enwho’s h I’m not exactly sure what my own point of view is O someone even further w and Iand are more V n o i P s s l i a u m b suscale, y act ethe mespecially h t s n’t going from a e r on this stereotype and all my findings, Sarsageya on and it. just w o f s I dokeeps i e h t b t e g k y n n i i V h h O t t al P but to an outsider anya lot one group on’t tuanother nused c o a e y d ther, they’re all i that it wasI d a word/stereotype that I to i m c e e n k d o e o d e t n y mi this w t had mall l l p e u I jusinvestigating w e y d r ught a before I started and following the grouped together as the same. e o v m h t . t . i . y y e l l m n fi rea rough to dethe h t d hadn’tabout e k l g a a hat I n w different opinions it.

Somewhere along w a l ’l f I m o , f e l s v e n a ter on my s I’ve fialso y ptoatrealize, hink I h r n a e i s out- it’s quite d a n e e way I forgotthow I used and percieved it. come even though h t t i I f e e i k b a e would and se obvious, k but to m p n i e t h s t I y that this stereotype is inherently classist at pb h e t w s d s n s a e proc otyofpeis that and most people would take a second before e r e t However the conclusiontI’m most sure s s i h m it. o r hink of f t e v a the root of all these characteristics nt to h I’ve gathered assuming or labelling anyone from a higher social a w I e com about sarsageya all come from wanting to show

week 5

class as a sarsagy.

off. From exessively wanting to go viral on Tiktok, with going over the top in how they dress, to talking loudly wherever they are. All elements that are done with extreme extents and together they stereotype what a Sarsagy is.

I also believe that Sarsageya never actually view themselves as Sarsageya, that there’s always Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

outc ome

STEREOTYPE DOCUMENT will this be completely objective? or from whose perspective would be the documentation? mine? a 21 year old female living in New Cairo and was too afraid to even approach a “sarsagy” to have an interview - it feels like I wouldn’t be able to do it justice keeping it all from the outside

BREAK break the stereotype itself or the way it’s percieved by people?

s

CHANGE

DEFEND? the outcome would be one of those two i think? they seem like different things that would result in different outcomes

from as many POV’s as I can gather? and document all the different inputs I can gather on the stereotype and how it all affected the way it’s shaped?

can it be a sarcastic approach? a commentary on how people percieve the stereotype from the outside (but this feels pretentious)

Define

RESPOND

REACT

passive

active?

a response seems more passive of an outcome, like making a point of view public, without taking any action towards it, or trying to be constructive. It’s the easy thing to do when faced with something different from you.

in my mind this is something with more energy input.

This could include: - awareness campaign?

- social experiment - call to action

Nouran Abed

43-11921

MY POV tak

e2

To me it’s a part of society that exists and they want to be cool and showy and flashy but from an outsider’s point of view its seen as bee2a (poor taste) and of low quality. i don’t want to change people’s perception of it, because I understand how seeing it as a negative thing is justifiable and makes sense (to outsiders).

On the other hand I don’t want to attempt to come up with something that would change Sarsageya themselves, because I don’t believe that any of the negativity comes from them directly but rather from the circumstances and environment they’re surrounded with. It doesn’t feel fair to cast judgement in that way.

Define

why do i have to respond or react to the stereotype at all?

Nouran Abed

43-11921

WHAT DOES STEREOTYPE EVEN MEAN? Stereotype

Reasons of prejudice could include:

- overgeneralized belief about a particular group

- Justifying social inequalities - people get what

of people

they deserve and deserve what they get

- a general cognitive process that doesn’t have to

- “us vs. them” in-group/out-group phenomenon

be negative

The in-group bias or the tendency to favour your own group over “outsiders”

Stereotypical Beliefs based on the outer appearance it’s very easy for people to label that person as a Sarsagy (even though they don’t identify as such) and easy to cast judgement on what type of person they are without attempting to interact with them

Define

+

Prejudicial Attitudes + Emotions

behaviour Discrimination

fear hostility

I’m guilty of this because I was too afraid to interview anyone who would be stereotyped as a Sarsagy (but maybe the bigger part of it was that I’d generally be afraid to approach any male stranger on the street

this is apparent in the way the egyptian media reports about these people, going as far as refering to them as “creatures”

Nouran Abed

43-11921

CATEGORICAL THINKINGsttehre root of eotyp i

ng

WHAT IS IT?

Categorical logic is based on exclusion and

Humans are categorisation machines. We constantly

inclusion of classes. It gives us a set of rules

take in vast amounts of data from a chaotic and

for making self justified conclusions about

unpredictable world then simplify and structure

classes of things.

*

information they provide us into categories.

*

Our brains have evolved to apply this kind of heuristic because it speeds up decision making – and it can

I don’t want to change people’s perception

also be the difference between life and death; for

*

*

it. To make sense of our senses, we divide the

exactly, but maybe I’m more interested in

example, the ability to instantly differentiate a snake

people realizing their own thought process

from a stick in a dark forest would have been useful

of stereotyping and that categorical thinking

to our ancestors.

limits our perception of the world around us?

Unfortunately, we’re too good at categorisations.

We often see groupings where none exist, or we make other categorisation errors that lead to poor decision making.

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

WHY/HOW LADDER Sarsageya want to show off and follow trends

To get attention and spotlight

to have more oppurtunities of becoming famous

to get more money and be rich too

be cool

to feel validated to impress girls

to feel better about themselves

to get validation

they believe a man’s worth in society is determined by how

much oof a “man” he is and how many girls he can get?

Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921

OVERVIEW - Stereotype description Sarsageya are young men and teenagers who like to show off with their clothes and loud behaviour and to follow the coolest trends, how ever they are percieved by the people around them as uncivilised having poor taste.

Define

positive and negative perceptions casted on the stereotype, not the pros and cons of the stereotype itself

- Negative and positive connotations

Negative

Positive

1- Uncivilised Harbour an aggressive behaviour towards "other" people and are known to harass girls on the streets.

1- Breaking gender norms Most of the stereotypical clothes sarsageya wear aren’t as easily wearable by other men in cairo, out of fear of looking to feminine for wearing pink or styling their hair. However sarsageya do it with an air of confidence that they’re being cool with their weekly styled hair and colourful outfits.

2- Have poor taste Sarsageya are seen as people who dress with poor taste even though they strive to follow the coolest and latest trends.

Nouran Abed

43-11921

‫د‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ال‬ ‫م‬ ‫مدروس‬ ‫م‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ق‬ ‫سوس‬

Thank You!

Nouran Abed Define

Nouran Abed

43-11921 43-11921