Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Now, You Can Breathe: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences And Resilience Of Egyptian Women Victimized By Narcissistic Relationships, Nayera Mohamed Shousha

Journal of International Women's Studies

Narcissistic relationships manifest as nonreciprocal affiliations that allow no room for genuine partnership or cooperation. The trait of narcissism is more prevalent in men than in women. However, Egypt’s powerful patriarchal culture has prevented adequate scholarly examination of narcissistic relationships. The current study intends to bridge this gap in knowledge by examining two objectives: a) to investigate the nature of experiences of Egyptian women in narcissistic relationships and b) to elucidate how Egyptian women remain resilient in the aftermath of narcissistic relationships. Data were collected via qualitative, semi-structured interviews conducted with 27 literate women aged 24–54 years who had experienced …

Women’S Sexual Health Rights In Egypt, Mira Ayman

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Egyptian youth makes up 60% of the Egyptian population. Accessing proper reproductive health information still continues to be one of the main issues that the youth in Egypt faces, especially the unmarried fragment. This situation is largely due to religious conservatism. Because this issue remains a taboo, information on STI’s, FGM, contraception, sexual consent and other sexual health-related issues remain very limited. Private hospitals and clinics in Egypt do not offer youth-friendly services and only focuses on activities that would generate income (antenatal care and delivery). The lack of knowledge leads curious young adults to refer to online sources …

The Arab Spring And Women’S (Cyber)Activism: “Fourth Wave Democracy In The Making?” Case Study Of Egypt, Tunisia, And Morocco, Maha Tazi

Journal of International Women's Studies

According to Huntington’s (1991) theory of “reverse democracy”, countries undergoing (or having undergone) a transition to democracy during a wave are always subject to democratic backsliding in the subsequent wave. During the third wave democratization, the fall of the Soviet Union and other despotic regimes in Latin America led to the gradual “autocratization” of many of these countries in the late 1990s and early 2000s. More recently, in 2011, the collapse of several authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region underscored important aspects of democratization, a process in which both women and new media technologies …

Nawal El Saadawi Memorial Tribute, Fawzia Afzal-Khan

Journal of International Women's Studies

On March 28^th 2021, almost a week after my dear friend, colleague, role model, the revolutionary feminist writer Dr Nawal el Saadawi passed away in Cairo, Egypt, I held a Virtual Memorial Tribute to honor her considerable achievements and impact on so many people across our world. In attendance were admirers of her work across the globe, mourning the loss of an icon of Arab feminism who exposed the many hypocrisies and corrupt power relations of our world West to East, top to bottom. In so doing, she alerted us through her uncompromising clarity of vision to the complex …

Political Change And Gender Politics In Egypt, Rasha Souhail Mansour

Journal of International Women's Studies

The paper aims to explore the relationship between informal institutions, institutional change and gender equality in the context of the political struggle that took place in the aftermath of the 25 January uprising in Egypt. The paper argues that although the 25 January revolution presented Egyptian feminists with an excellent opportunity to put gender equality on the political agenda and build gender equality issues into the fabric of the new institutional and governmental blueprints and structures, they have failed to do so for several reasons. First, because of the monopoly exercised by two powerful inherently conservative patriarchal institutions, namely the …

Reinforced Stereotypes: A Case Study On School Textbooks In Egypt, Dina Wafa

Journal of International Women's Studies

Gender equality in access to education may be increasing, yet several studies have indicated that school textbooks tend to be gender biased. These studies have also concluded that there is an associated influence of school textbooks on children’s beliefs and values within such textbooks, which has the capacity to reinforce stereotypical roles for women and place a glass ceiling on their empowerment. This paper focuses on the reinforced stereotypical gender roles depicted in primary school textbooks in Egypt, which subconsciously affects girls’ self-esteem and stifles their empowerment. It provides a mixed method of analysis of the Egyptian centralized state school …

Public Feminism, Female Shame, And Sexual Violence In Modern Egypt, Jihan Zakarriya

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines the interconnections between public sexual violence, female shame, and public feminism in modern Egypt. It connects aspects of public sexual violence against women generally and politicized sexual violence in 21st-century Egypt in particular, arguing that successive political regimes in Egypt produce and maintain a spatial culture of humiliation and inferiorization as a political tool of silencing, and oppressing women and opposition. This culture of humiliation and inferiorization is premised upon media-oriented female shame ideas that relate and condemn female sexuality and public participation, establishing the public space as militarized, dangerous and exclusive. This paper attempts to assess …

Building Resilient Societies: The Relevance Of Unscr 1325 In Egypt’S Political Transition, Salma Nasser

Journal of International Women's Studies

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and 1820 and the more recent 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122 and 2242 reflect a rights-based approach to human security with a focus on the prevention of violence against women and girls and fostering their active and meaningful participation in public life in conflict and post conflict contexts. This is a particularly important framework in the African context where, over the past 5 years alone, conflict has plagued over 18 countries and has had devastating socio-economic impacts on women and led to the weakening of justice systems and social norms, which at the best …

The Exploitation Of Women And Social Change In The Writing Of Nawal El-Saadawi, Muhammad Youssef Suwaed

Journal of International Women's Studies

Nawal El-Saadawi is an Egyptian writer, a physician by education, who dedicated her life to promote gender equality. She is an activist writer, and the only one in Egypt who point out the connection of women’s sexual oppression to women’s social and political oppression. She boldly pursues women rights, and demands to change the status and image of the Arabic woman. Her writings include novels, studies and educated scholastic articles, focusing on the oppression and exploitation of the Arabic women, particularly customary rules imposed on women in rural Egypt relying on religion, tradition and the regime. Her writings keep the …

Women's Rights Movements In The 'Arab Spring': Major Victories Or Failures For Human Rights?, Hayat Alvi

Journal of International Women's Studies

With the 2011 “Arab Spring”, the issue of women’s empowerment has emerged as a parallel movement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). What are the implications of the women’s empowerment movements in the MENA for improved political representation and rights? Do these developments contribute to long-term socio-political, legal, judicial, and economic reforms that would improve overall human rights, and especially women’s rights in the MENA? This paper is a comparative survey of women’s empowerment and rights, especially in terms of general human rights principles, as well as in terms of political representation in post-revolution Tunisia and Egypt. The …

Women In The Second Egyptian Parliament Post The Arab Spring: Do They Think They Stand A Chance?, Laila El Baradei, Dina Wafa

Journal of International Women's Studies

Egyptian women were very active on the streets during the 25 January Revolution, both in the demonstrations and in the subsequent elections, showing very high rates of participation as voters, yet surprisingly, very low rates of representation in the 2012 parliament. The current study seeks to explore different views, expectations and perceptions of Egyptian women regarding women’s role in the forthcoming 2013 parliamentary elections, and to identify what alternative measures are needed to strengthen women’s representation in parliament, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The methodology utilized relied on a literature review in addition to a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the …

Women In The 1919 Egyptian Revolution: From Feminist Awakening To Nationalist Political Activism, Nabila Ramdani

Journal of International Women's Studies

The formation of a feminist consciousness in Egypt ran parallel with the country’s rapid development as a modern state at the start of the 19th century. Technological advancements within Muhammad Ali’s increasingly capitalistic, secular country were accompanied by burgeoning intellectual thought among all sections of society, including women. By the end of the century, a middle-class female literary culture had become indelibly associated with a nationwide feminist awakening.

The feminist element to the wider independence movement was both vocal and powerful, as women rallied under the ‘Egypt for the Egyptians’ slogan. Elite women who had organised themselves politically had first …

The Millennium Development Goals: Prospects For Gender Equality In The Arab World, Nadine Sika

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study is an assessment of the Millennium Development Goals in the Arab world with Egypt as a case study. The analysis focuses on access to primary education, gender equality, and women empowerment in the Arab world with special emphasis on Egypt. The study found that most Arab countries are on the right track toward achieving most of the MDGs by 2015. However, discriminatory social norms, laws, and practices are still at the heart of gender inequality in the Arab world, and therefore need to be further incorporated in the MDGs to advance a more egalitarian developmental approach.

“Today I Have Seen Angels In Shape Of Humans:”1 An Emotional History Of The Egyptian Revolution Through The Narratives Of Female Personal Bloggers, Susana Galán

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines the intertwinings between emotion and political protest in the 2011 Egyptian revolution through the narratives of Egyptian female personal bloggers. Drawing from scholarship in the emotional turn of social movement theory and using Deborah Gould’s concept of emotional habitus, it aims at describing the dominant social moods at different moments of the revolutionary process, in order to address how these emotions fostered or, on the contrary, inhibited protest for social change. For this purpose, the article considers personal blogs as a modified form of Lauren Berlant’s intimate publics, alternative spaces through which affect circulates and a shared …