Thread by @monaeltahawy

I told @rerutled that once my red hair colour fades, I’ll cut it all off. Buzzcut!

I dyed my hair red to say “fuck you, I survived” to the #Egyptian regime after its riot police attacked me.

Alex 👇🏽 my colourist & I want to survive #COVID19 & won’t be meeting again for a while

This was taken soon after I survived that attack by #Egyptian riot police and shortly before I went red.

I went red for defiance. I will find other ways to defy #COVID19

📷 Peter Hapak for TIME

While trying to heal, after riot police broke my arms and sexually assaulted me:

"I responded by reclaiming ownership of my body...dyeing my hair red...getting tattoos...I own this body, and fuck you...You didn’t kill me."

theliftedbrow.com/liftedbrow/201…

I don’t know how long I’ll wait before I get that buzzcut. I’ve had bright red hair for 8 years now. It’s become such an integral part of who I am. Not for vanity or to hide my age.

But for defiance. And power. And ferocity.

The day I cut it all off will be fucking gutting.

I know that not being able to get my roots done or freshening my red is not at the top of the list of concerns as I try to navigate the uncertainty of the weeks ahead.

Surviving a regime’s brutality is one thing. I was lucky.

I would like to survive this pandemic.

#COVID19

As I said in the earlier thread in which I reframe the ways I think about these uncertain days, I have long fought regime curfews, lockdowns and violence. It has taken a physical toll. My body knows. My bones - fractured and needing surgery - know.

I am trying to bend, not break

I’m used to fighting. To defying. To rebelling.

Now what?

A pandemic is not a regime. The ways we defy and survive a regime are different than the ways we endure and survive a pandemic.

For me, “defying” a pandemic is via flexing my agency. What can I control?

A BUZZCUT!

Red hair or buzzcut, in these days of uncertainty as I flex my agency with the words I use, there is one thing I am certain of.

I will continue to fight the ultimate regime that brought us to this global crisis and which has failed us all.

Authoritarian, capitalist patriarchy.

So I’ll call it the:

Fuck the Patriarchy Buzzcut.

Of course.

#Covid_19

Red is so integral to who I am, even my haters know me by it. An article on a hate group’s site yesterday: “Mona is not some flaming-haired goddess of women’s rights. She is brutality embodied.” I will always be the embodiment of “brutality” against hate, red-haired or buzzcut

That picture is thanks to @rerutled who’s great at making art out of hate.