Latest news with #culturalclash
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Tourist hotspot wages war on ‘indecent' men's swimwear
A picturesque Algerian coastal town, renowned for its stunning Mediterranean vistas, has become the unlikely epicentre of a cultural clash over men's swimwear. Chetaïbi, a town of 8,000 residents, thrives on seasonal tourism, drawing thousands to its turquoise waters, rocky coves, and forested hills each summer. This economic reliance has historically fostered a welcoming atmosphere. 'The mood is warm, welcoming, colorful, bustling – no hostility toward bathers, not in words, not in looks,' Salah Edine Bey, a long-time resident, said. 'People here have a tradition of hospitality.' But a shift came earlier in July when the town's mayor issued a decree, catching vacationers and local businesses off guard. The order banned beachgoers from wearing Bermuda shorts, deeming the attire "indecent" in contrast to the longer, looser styles favoured by more conservative male beachgoers. 'These summer outfits disturb the population, they go against our society's moral values and sense of decency,' Mayor Layachi Allaoua wrote. 'The population can no longer tolerate seeing foreigners wandering the streets in indecent clothing." The order sparked immediate backlash from officials, including in the regional capital Annaba, who called on the mayor to revoke it. The mayor reversed the decree within two days. On Facebook, he insisted his order was not driven by Islamist pressure, but by a desire to preserve 'peace and tranquility' for both residents and guests. Still, the episode tapped into deeper tensions over religion, identity, and public space in a country that remains haunted by a civil war that killed an estimated 200,000 people throughout the 1990s. The conflict began in 1991, when the army canceled elections that an Islamist party was set to win. The so-called 'black decade' ended long ago. But it left unresolved some underlying friction between political Islam and Algeria's military-backed secular state. 'Even though Islamists lost the war in the 1990s, they never gave up on their invasive and intrusive ideological project, which has gained ground in society,' sociologist Redouane Boudjemaâ said. For some, the beach debate echoed that earlier era, when Islamist-run municipalities tried to reshape public life in line with religious doctrine. For many Algerians, particularly in underserved regions, political Islam remains popular not out of extremism, but as a reaction to corruption, inequality, and distrust in state institutions. While Islamist parties have mostly fared poorly at the ballot box, they play a large role in daily life, filling social and moral voids. In neighboring Jijel, residents have roped off parts of the beach for mass prayers, with videos of the scenes circulating online and dividing opinion. For Halim Kabir, it is a stark reminder of the past. In the 1990s, Islamists who won local elections in Jijel imposed stricter rules on public behavior. Today, cars parked near the beach have been vandalised, with warnings telling beachgoers to 'go sin elsewhere'. 'It's provocation,' Kabir said. 'An attempt to drive away visitors from other regions.' Said Boukhlifa, a former senior official at the Ministry of Tourism, warned that conservative groups are exploiting Algeria's economic troubles, as falling gas revenues strain the state, to expand their influence. That, he said, could undermine the country's ambitions to grow its tourism sector.
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Tourist hotspot in crackdown on ‘indecent' clothing item that ‘disturbs the population'
A picturesque Algerian coastal town, renowned for its stunning Mediterranean vistas, has become the unlikely epicentre of a cultural clash over men's swimwear. Chetaïbi, a town of 8,000 residents, thrives on seasonal tourism, drawing thousands to its turquoise waters, rocky coves, and forested hills each summer. This economic reliance has historically fostered a welcoming atmosphere. 'The mood is warm, welcoming, colorful, bustling – no hostility toward bathers, not in words, not in looks,' Salah Edine Bey, a long-time resident, said. 'People here have a tradition of hospitality.' But a shift came earlier in July when the town's mayor issued a decree, catching vacationers and local businesses off guard. The order banned beachgoers from wearing Bermuda shorts, deeming the attire "indecent" in contrast to the longer, looser styles favoured by more conservative male beachgoers. 'These summer outfits disturb the population, they go against our society's moral values and sense of decency,' Mayor Layachi Allaoua wrote. 'The population can no longer tolerate seeing foreigners wandering the streets in indecent clothing." The order sparked immediate backlash from officials, including in the regional capital Annaba, who called on the mayor to revoke it. The mayor reversed the decree within two days. On Facebook, he insisted his order was not driven by Islamist pressure, but by a desire to preserve 'peace and tranquility' for both residents and guests. Still, the episode tapped into deeper tensions over religion, identity, and public space in a country that remains haunted by a civil war that killed an estimated 200,000 people throughout the 1990s. The conflict began in 1991, when the army canceled elections that an Islamist party was set to win. The so-called 'black decade' ended long ago. But it left unresolved some underlying friction between political Islam and Algeria's military-backed secular state. 'Even though Islamists lost the war in the 1990s, they never gave up on their invasive and intrusive ideological project, which has gained ground in society,' sociologist Redouane Boudjemaâ said. For some, the beach debate echoed that earlier era, when Islamist-run municipalities tried to reshape public life in line with religious doctrine. For many Algerians, particularly in underserved regions, political Islam remains popular not out of extremism, but as a reaction to corruption, inequality, and distrust in state institutions. While Islamist parties have mostly fared poorly at the ballot box, they play a large role in daily life, filling social and moral voids. In neighboring Jijel, residents have roped off parts of the beach for mass prayers, with videos of the scenes circulating online and dividing opinion. For Halim Kabir, it is a stark reminder of the past. In the 1990s, Islamists who won local elections in Jijel imposed stricter rules on public behavior. Today, cars parked near the beach have been vandalised, with warnings telling beachgoers to 'go sin elsewhere'. 'It's provocation,' Kabir said. 'An attempt to drive away visitors from other regions.' Said Boukhlifa, a former senior official at the Ministry of Tourism, warned that conservative groups are exploiting Algeria's economic troubles, as falling gas revenues strain the state, to expand their influence. That, he said, could undermine the country's ambitions to grow its tourism sector.
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Lena Dunham's new A-list filled Netflix show is supposed to show us the hilarious differences between Brits and Americans. Sadly, it is full of woke psychobabble and a torturous main character in her 30s who acts like a teenager: CLAUDIA CONNELL
Whenever Hollywood movies depict people living in London, they're invariably shown inhabiting flats they couldn't possibly afford, usually with a view of Tower Bridge or the London Eye from their bedroom window. So, it's to the credit of new comedy Too Much that when leading character Jess, an exuberant but needy New Yorker, relocates to London, she lives in a shabby flat on a north London council estate - even though it wasn't what she had in mind. Like so many Americans, Jess (Megan Stalter) grew up with a romanticised view of 'jolly old England'. She idled away her time in New York bingeing British costume dramas where 'women fan themselves and then die of tuberculosis'. To her, the word 'estate' conjured up visions of something out of a Jane Austen novel with dashing Mr Darcy and Rochester types at every turn - not grey blocks of flats with drug dealers on corners. The 'estate' misunderstanding is the first of many that occur, when two cultures collide. Given Jess's love of British rom-coms, it's fitting that this hotly anticipated series is made by Working Title Films, the production company behind such movies as Notting Hill and Love Actually. It's directed by Lena Dunham, creator of the acclaimed and ground-breaking series Girls, and co-written with her British husband Luis Felber, loosely basing the story on their own experience. When her horribly arrogant American boyfriend, Zev (Michael Zegen) cheats on her with beautiful influencer Wendy (Emily Ratajkowski), Jess agrees to be transferred to the London branch of the media agency she works for to try and mend her broken heart. Her nephew waves her off with a sage piece of advice, warning her that 'British people think Americans are stupid and vulgar but funny, while Americans think the British are snotty and pretentious but smart'. Will Sharpe, who plays Jess's love interest Felix, alongside Stalter. Claudia Connell writes: 'I'm not sure how realistic it is that an achingly cool musician like Felix would date a chubby girl who looks like she applies her make up in the dark.' By the end of episode one, Jess has already landed a British boyfriend. Wannabe rock star Felix (Will Sharpe) introduces her to Jaffa Cakes, explains what 'bog roll' means and as good as moves into her flat after the first date. What unfolds over ten episodes is a sometimes amusing, but mostly torturous, romp through their burgeoning relationship as they meet each other's friends and family and wonder if they are right for one another. Dunham's hit series Girls worked so well because it offered a refreshingly realistic look at the lives of women in their 20s. Still works-in-progress, they were feeling their way, trying men on for size and struggling with careers and finances. Too Much fails to hit its mark because, although her precise age is never given, Jess is in her mid-30s, yet still living the chaotic life of a teenager. She dresses like an oversized toddler in colourful romper suits and white tights, with giant bows in her hair and spends an awful lot of time crying in bathrooms while stalking Wendy - her love rival - online. Her immaturity quickly becomes grating. The show is at its best when it highlights the differences between Brits and Americans. There's a great scene where Jess's snobby boss, played by Richard E Grant, gives her a list of ten 'American' behaviours to avoid including her habit of announcing when she needs to pee and removing her shoes at her desk. It's at its worst and most tedious when the episodes - and sadly it's the majority of them - focus on dissecting the minutiae of every relationship. 'I want to hold space for how you're feeling,' is one example of the psychobabble the show is littered with. It's to be expected that the Millennial characters exist in a weird and woke bubble but, at times, that wokeness feels contrived and shoe-horned in. Take Jess's older sister (played by Dunham) who is newly single after her husband left her to explore a pansexual lifestyle. Then there's Jess's London colleagues who are cliched to the point of caricature - from the feisty exec toying with lesbianism, to her pink haired male PA, who spends his weekends at ketamine-fuelled orgies. If it's all meant to be satire, it's just not smart or original enough. Dunham has done much to speak out about a lack of body diversity in Hollywood and it's good to see Stalter, an actress who isn't a size zero, in the leading role. Jess spends much of the show semi-naked enjoying her wild sex life, and clearly loves her body. But to be brutally frank, I'm not sure how realistic it is that an achingly cool musician like Felix would date a chubby girl who looks like she applies her make up in the dark. 'Too Much' is something Felix accuses Jess of being after she has one of her many meltdowns and it's a phrase that Dunham admits her own husband used about her. Not an insult, rather a polite way of saying that sometimes the loud, brash, no-filter American behaviour needs to be toned down. Although there are laughs along the way and an impressive roll call of A lister cameos (Stephen Fry, Jessica Alba, Rita Ora, Emily Ratajkowski and Jennifer Saunders to name but a few). I imagine that, for most Brits, the series - and Jess in particular - really will be 'too much'. Ultimately, there's a fine line between cute and quirky and irritatingly exhausting and Jess (and the series) - sadly - lands the wrong side of it.
