Sexuality, Religion and Nationalism: A Contrapuntal Reading of the History of Female Activism and Political Change in Egypt

Authors

Jihan Zakarriya

Abstract

Focusing on the Thomson Reuters Foundation Women Survey in 2013 that found Egypt to be ‘the worst Arab state for women’ (Boros 1), this paper aims at tracing the interaction between sexuality, religion, and politics, in controlling and marginalizing the public roles of Egyptian women throughout the 20th Century, which has reached its climax in post-Mubarak Egypt. I argue that, despite sexual and social abuses, the first decade of the 21th Century has witnessed the emergence of a promising potential of political feminist activism and power in Egypt.

Author Biography

Jihan Zakarriya is a Ph.D. candidate at Cardiff University. Her Ph.D. is a contrapuntal reading of the concept of apartheid in the novels of J. M. Coetzee and Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, with specific emphasis on the role of women in resisting oppression and discrimination.

Recommended Citation

Zakarriya, Jihan (2014) "Sexuality, Religion and Nationalism: A Contrapuntal Reading of the History of Female Activism and Political Change in Egypt," Journal of International Women's Studies: Vol. 16: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol16/iss1/5