Our Egypt vs. Egypt in the Western mind

The only images known about Egypt in the western mind are of magic and Pharaohs

One of the most frustrating things about being an Egyptian living in a western society, or talking with westerners about where you come from, and sometimes even just being able to read English alone is that you are constantly reminded that westerners care more about ancient Egyptian mythology and orientalist images of Egyptian kings and queens than they care about your own story and reality of where contemporary Egypt is at today.

Westerners have zero interest in wanting to know about pretty much anything that's not pyramids and Pharaohs related. They have zero interest in today's Egyptians, including yourself.

They don't care that Egypt also has an Arab and Islamic heritage in addition to its ancient Pharaonic cizilization, or that it has been an Arab and Muslim land for the past 1400 years, or that it is a post-colony which fought fiercely against the French and the British colonization efforts, and today against other forms of oppression.

 They don't care about how Egyptians who live in Egypt today look like, think, dream, live, suffer, thrive, and continue to struggle for their quest towards a better and more dignified life in their beloved country Egypt. They don't care about the massive disparity between the rich and the poor, the political turmoil, the deteriorating health and education, the crazy rates of unemployment and the complete lack of opportunity for the youth.


The western media doesn't cover stories on Egypt but every once in a while you will see tons of stories on major news outlets about finding an Egyptian king's head in Cairo, and Will Smith posing with the Sphinx to promote tourism everywhere on the internet. 
 
They might wake up and cover the electoral processes some but their reporting will be very reserved and won't touch on any serious issues because they don't want to upset their governments which support the Egyptian military regime with money and weapons.