History becomes legend, legends become myth. So goes the popular saying by literary legend JRR Tolkien. In the world of the mainstream media, with the passage of time, truth becomes lies, fiction becomes fact, journalists become a joke and when enough time has passed, ‘legendary’ journalists turn into something more. They become a meme. Such is the story of The Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi.
According to her bio on The Guardian, Arwa Mahdawi is a “Guardian columnist and brand strategist based in New York.” In addition to these, she is also a gargantuan hypocrite and the stereotypical media hack whose sole objective is to peddle propaganda. The headlines of her column which have gone viral on social media recently illustrate it beautifully.
On the 16th of May 2020, one of her columns was published with the headline, ‘Men are less likely to wear masks – another sign that toxic masculinity kills’. She said in the column, “A number of men (including Trump) think masks make them look weak – a reminder of how damaging gender stereotypes are”. A couple of months later, she published another column, this time with the headline, ‘Shaming people who refuse to wear face masks isn’t a good look’. And no, this is not a joke.
It is not a one-off incident. It is a consistent feature of her columns. In September 2019, Arwa Mahdawi published a column with the headline, ‘Why Ivanka Trump’s new haircut should make us very afraid’. Apparently, “Her (Ivanka Trump’s) political bob (pob) may be an attempt to get us to take her ambitions more seriously”.
Less than 30 days later, Arwa Mahdawi published a column with the headline that said, ‘The uproar over AOC’s hair is a reminder that women can’t win under the patriarchy’. One cannot make this stuff up.
Arwa Mahdawi has other hits to her credit as well. During the Antifa riots in the USA in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, she explicitly defend the rioting and suggested that violence is the only way to end police brutality and ‘systemic racism’. In her column titled, ‘If violence isn’t the way to end racism in America, then what is?’, she stated, “The uncomfortable truth is that, sometimes, violence is the only answer left.”
Mahdawi further argued in the article, “But if violent unrest isn’t the answer then what is? How exactly do you go about ending police brutality and systemic racism in America? Should protesters go home and write sternly worded letters to their representative? Should they emulate Madonna and post videos of their kids dancing in protest? Should they peacefully take a knee? Should Americans simply vote Trump out and vote Joe Biden in instead? You know, the guy whose 1994 crime bill significantly contributed to mass incarceration in America? Should people patiently wait for incremental change?”
Another of her stellar hits was on air conditioning. Arwa Mahdawi wrote in a November 2019 column titled, ‘Is your home constantly set to a ‘sexist’ temperature? You’re not alone’, “A new study finds men tend to get their way in household temperature discussions while women must compromise”.
She stated, “Are you a victim of thermal bullying? Does your partner or roommate always get their way when it comes to how hot your house is? If you answered “yes” then stay strong – you’re not alone. According to a new study, conducted by researchers from Ohio State University, a lot of households contain a “thermostat dictator” who rules the temperature dial with an iron fist. As it turns out there’s a gendered nature to this – the thermostat dictator is normally a man.”
-Arwa Mahdawi
In June 2019, Arwa Mahdawi had a novel advise for men: Wear Skirts! That particular column titled, ‘Masculinity is a trap – which is why more men should wear skirts’, she argued, “Clothes traditionally worn by women are becoming part of the mainstream of men’s fashion and helping break the straitjacket of prescribed roles”.
She argued in the column, “It is sad that so many men are petrified about seeming effeminate. It is sad that it is not socially acceptable for men to experiment with fashion in the same way women can. Happily, however, things are changing gradually.”
Her columns have made Arwa Mahdawi a joke on the internet and a lot of people are having fun at her expense. However, it does reveal a lot about the standards of the mainstream media that such garbage commentary is published as Vedic wisdom. But then again, it is something that people across the political spectrum have come to expect from the media.