Lollipops, Flies and Veils: A Love Story

When confronted with the uncomfortable task of explaining sexual relations to the uninitiated, it’s often handy to look to the animal kingdom for reassuringly “natural” and helpfully vague metaphorical material. Just take the trusty birds-and-bees dodge, for example — or that old yarn your grammy told your ma about the lollipop and the flies. Wait, what?

This Egyptian advertisement, which casts women as sweet confections that are safer from orbiting man-flies when wrapped, has made waves locally and abroad in making its case for Muslim women to wear the veil for the sake of piety and protection.

AdFreak (via Gawker):

The text reads, “You won’t be able to stop them, but you can protect yourself. He who created you knows what’s best for you!” Some are irritated at the ad’s implication that men are miserable flies, and that women who don’t wear the veil are asking to be attacked.

Read more