feminist blogs

(”Thowra,” which in Arabic literally means “revolution”)

Hey All,

I’m Fauzia and I guest blogged here at Feministe a while back. I initially wrote to Jill about this story as I thought she’d have some good commentary on the issue. But after some thought, and an offer from Jill to return to my guest-blog status for just one more post I figured it might be easier if I wrote about this myself.

Disclaimer: I’m an American currently living in Egypt (Cairo) working at a center that promotes civic engagement and researches the rising sector of Arab philanthropy. I work downtown, near Midan Tahrir (literally “Freedom Square”). In the last 9 months that I’ve been living in Cairo I’ve managed to witness the absolute poverty this country is living in. On the other hand, I’ve managed to witness the growing gap between the rich and poor. Students at the American University, for the most part, are the upper echelon of Egyptian society (note: I’m not saying that they are ALL upper class Egyptians, but for the most part…). I’ve only lived here for 9 months so I’m not professing that I have a huge handle on the situation. So here it goes…

I don’t know how much Western newspapers are covering this issue, but I’m sure by the end of the week they’ll be a few stories. I know that the hard copy of the International Herald Tribune covered this issue this morning (Monday) and online, again, a few minutes ago.

Yesterday (Sunday, April 6) was, essentially, a nationwide strike for many Egyptian workers and activists, in solidarity with the workers of Ghazl El-Mahalla, one of the biggest textile factories in Egypt. The growing problems of low wages and rising prices of food (especially bread and cooking oil) have pushed Egyptian society into a state of anger and frustration. The production and distribution of bread has led to, on many occasions, violence in bread lines. In one instance, a man was stabbed during an argument over bread distribution.

Before I go further, here is some logistical and basic information on the history of labor movements, the current strike (who initiated it, how it snowballed into a national call, etc.) The writer of these articles is Joel Beinin, a professor and head of the Middle East Studies department at the American University in Cairo. He links a few other articles that are pretty informative as well.

Yesterday’s strike, though, was a historical moment for Egypt. Though the country professes to be a “democracy,” (ironically Hosni Mubarak’s party is called “The National Democratic Party,”) it is pretty apparent that no such thing exists in the Egypt. Protests, strikes, and demonstrations have been completely outlawed in Egypt since the declaration of emergency law after the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981.
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…I had to. I couldn’t resist. Too bad Garth Brooks went all nutso and his alter ego forced his career down into a fiery ball of flames. Because otherwise, he could start a rockin’ tour with this guy.

What? WHAT?! Cut me some slack. I grew up in Texas and Georgia, I appreciate crap fine, stellar music like this.

I’m back! I found an article a few days ago that I felt compelled to write about. Warning: I’m writing this in a state of frenzy as I’ve got about a million disconnected (and connected) thoughts going through my head. So, if I digress…forgive and forget. K? Cool.

So, the LA Times has an article out on the single (and happy!) woman in Egypt. How appropriate. The article is essentially about the burgeoning population of single, career women in Cairo, and their waning desires to get married all young and stuff and start having babies (not that there is anything wrong with that). The article addresses the social pressures (which are present in the States as well, but I think, not as prevalent) of getting married at a young age and foregoing a career in exchange for a stable, dependent husband. As if the two are mutually exclusive.

The whole idea of beauty and intelligence being two mutually exclusive attributes really bothers me. It actually really annoys the hell out of me. I had the unfortunate experience of dating a huge misogynist not too long ago, and he pretty much fit right into Parker’s quote. The reasons he broke up with me? There were a few…let me break them down…(yes, they are that good):

1) I never cooked him dinner. Ever. Whoops. Homeboy wanted me to make him sandwiches and bring them to class for him as well. I’m a bad girlfriend.

2) I “studied more than he did, worked out more than he did, went out more than he did, drank more than he did.” Dating a frat boy probably wasn’t the best idea on my part.

3) when we walked down the street, and I was talking politics or feminism or…anything serious, even for a second…it made him “feel like he was walking down the street with a 45 year old woman” (what?!?)

and

4) he was afraid “I would correct him in front of his friends at the weekly kegger or frat party”

Right. Right. So…homeboy kept on asserting, the entire length of our relationship, that he loved the fact that I was smart and funny and also…”a hottie to boot!” (wow, what a compliment) but that…in social situations, I was never to “one up” him. On anything. Ever. Even if he accidentally mis-used a word. Or made a total ass out of himself. Which he did. Often. Without trying to figure out my deranged mental state while dating this character…the point is…that I always felt like I had to hide my motivation, my intelligence. I had to hide the fact that I was opinionated and…that I was *gasp* a feminist! No! If he only knew I was guest-blogging for a feminist blog RIGHT NOW…I think he might pop a blood vessel.

I’m in no hurry to get married, and while I’m definitely open to the idea of marriage, I don’t feel as inclined towards meeting the man of my dreams and popping out lots of babies. My older sister, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. She’s a 27 year old, Harvard and Johns Hopkins educated pediatrician, and has definitely cried to me on the phone about her plight as the “old maid” who just wants her boyfriend to propose. She’s 27. We’re different, if you couldn’t tell. My parents have pretty much caught on (they are smart!!) that I’m not necessarily jumping up and down about the thought of getting married and I am constantly sending hints to my mother (via emails) trying to telling her that feminism, human rights, women’s rights, all of it…well, it’s not just a hobby.

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I’ve been a horrible guest-blogger. I wrote myself into a frenzy for two or three straight days and then I came down with some kind of weird stomach virus + the flu. Which left me lying on my couch feverish and going in and out of cold sweats, with a pile of Kleenex next to me, my laptop which was FAR TOO BRIGHT to stare at, and lots of bad boxed orange juice. I had to take two days off work (uh…which ain’t so bad). And am now just beginning the work week, inundated with random tasks and far too many emails. Ugh. So. Apologies. Apologies. Apologies. I wish I could have written more, and should Jill get the bright idea to ever ask me to blog again, I would do so in a heartbeat. I swear I have intelligent things to say. So for now, farewell? Until we meet again.

Um. Well, I feel pretty bad posting this above some really important news, but this *might* be the greatest video of all time. Thank you Fox News, thank you so, so much.

All the bullies at the office won’t know what hit ‘em. Those bastards.

*best moment of the video: when they actually show you how to use the “Rip-Away 1000″ (best name ever, by the way)

(Disclaimer: I’m sick as a dog and still at work today, leaving early though. So if I ramble on in this post, forgive me) 

Ignoring the fact that I don’t want to keep writing about how my faith, my culture, my traditions are misunderstood (it can get a bit tedious at times), I feel obligated to spread the word about a really amazing Syrian-American writer named Mohja Kahf. If you read my post about the veil, then you’ll have read Nora’s quote from a poem written by Kahf. A particularly moving essay by Kahf titled, “On Being a Muslim Woman Writer in the West”is part of my motivation for this next post. I am Muslim. I am American, born and raised. I am about a million different ethnicities, so trying to negotiate my own space within my faith, my culture, my society, etc. etc. is…well, beyond difficult, and something I’ve struggled with for a long time. In her essay, Kahf touches on a lot of these issues. I’m not a writer, but this essay spoke to me. Some of it I agree with, other parts I don’t.

A Muslim woman writing in the West in these times enters a commercial book industry that on one hand has begun to treat her texts as a hot commodity, and on the other hand has a limited repertoire for placing her work, especially if her fiction or nonfiction is related to Islam and gender. It’s not a conspiracy; it’s mostly cluelessness. The existing “spectrum” consists of two Eurocentrically slanted slots for Muslim women’s stories: Victim and Escapee. No matter how much a Muslim woman may have something different to say, by the time it goes through the “machine” of the publishing industry, it is likely to come out the other end packaged as either a “Victim Story” or “Escapee Story.” Then the Muslims yell at her for contributing to stereotypes. Between an ignorant industry and an ungenerous homebase community of readers, how can a Muslim woman write and publish in the West and do her best to dodge the machine?

Kahf goes on to categorize the different “ingredients:” Muslim woman as victim, mute marionette, meek mother, forbidding father, rotten religion, cruel country, vile veil, stifled sexuality and on and on.

On meek mother, Kahf writes:

Make the mother figure in the story powerless. Eliminate the vibrant subcultures of Muslim women from the picture, all empowering relationships with sisters, grandmothers, friends, and turn them into harem slaves. Ignore homegrown non-Western feminisms. The English translation of early Egyptian feminist Huda Sharawi’s memoirs leaves out the strong personality of her Circassian mother and makes it seem as if Sharawi’s sense of gender equality was birthed by European mentors.

Now, wait, wait, wait. I’m I’m in no way trying to assert that “Western feminists” are wrong for doing what they do. I consider myself a Western feminist. But, when I read this specific excerpt it reminded me of my mother. My amazingly wonderful and strong mother, who has lived in a stifling house since she got married, but always regales me with stories of my grandmother (who I only knew for 10 year), a single parent, teacher, and strong feminist, who moved from Iran, to Ethiopia, to Pakistan, to England (eventually settling there). And when I dig deeper, I discover stories of my aunts, and great-aunts, etc. who were all strong women in their own right. They may not identify with the type of feminism that I have studied and am steering towards but, in their own way, were all strong feminists.

Kahf writes on forbidding fathers (and I love this part, especially):

Make her father figure tyrannical and motivated only by an inscrutable patriarchalism, not by the feelings of a human father to protect his daughter, not by love. Include no kindly brothers, uncles, or grandfathers, and no Muslim men who champion women’s rights.

Here’s where I tend to disagree with Kahf, probably because I grew up in a moderate, edging closer to conservative household. My father was and is a bit of a dictator. I love him. He’s my father, and I respect him for everything he has given me and my two sister and brother. But he’s very much a controlling human being. He wants to make my decisions for me: every single one of them. Everything from: what I wear to what career I go into (medicine is the profession of choice) to where I live to who I marry. Yet, he’s raised me to believe that women are just as intelligent as men. They can do just as well in anything. I should be strong and independent. I shouldn’t rely on my (future) husband (there’s that pesky little assumption that I’m going to get married in the first place…or that marriage is a priority at all). As soon as I hit the age of 20, my father’s tone changed. I was still expected to do well, graduate with honors, etc. etc., but I was also expected to learn to cook, clean, and in general be a really good mother-to-be. When I’d argue wit him about why I had to do all the housework, why, at the age of 21, I still had an 11 pm curfew when I came back from school, and why my brother, who is 18, was allowed to stay out drinking all night long…I was told “don’t argue with me.” Yes. My father loves me. I have absolutely no doubt about that, but I’m starting to feel the clinch of the double standard…because I’m a woman. I’m a daughter. And good Muslim girls don’t wear low-rise jeans. Good Muslim girls don’t stay out late. Good Muslim girls only read about feminism and human rights as a hobby, not as a career. I have no doubt that there are plenty of fathers out there who are kind and loving and liberal and there are plenty of men who do champion women’s rights. I guess it’s hard for me to see through my own experiences. That’s probably the pessimist in me, though.

More below the fold…

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Because some of you all asked, I’m listing some Egyptian and non-Egyptian (but Middle Eastern) blogs that I know of or have heard about. Some are in English, others aren’t. Enjoy!

Hadouta (Arabic)
This is Reihab’s blog, which consists of little fictional stories. “Hadouta,” in Arabic, means “story”

Wholeheartedly Sudaniya (English)
This is Reem’s blog (another one of the young women who sat on the panel at the campus conversation). She’s a Sudanese student at AUC. She also wrote about the veil a few days ago, so those of you who are interested should check out her post. It’s an interesting point of view.

Musings of a Mademoiselle (English)
Ethar, an Egyptian AUC grad, who was raised in Saudi Arabia and now works for Egypt Today.

IslamzReviver (English)
A blog written by a girl who was born, raised, and lives in Saudi Arabia.

and finally…for a ton of Egyptian blogs
The Egyptian Blog Ring which provides a pretty decent collection of Egyptian (specifically) blogs in English and Arabic.

…and my favorite (because of the story behind this)

Saudi Girl (English)

The truth: “saudigirl” was a literary experiment, an instance of rhetorical transvestism, an attempt by a young saudi guy to create a female character, in blog/poetic form.

Why? Well, it’s complicated. But here’s a stab at my thinking at the time:

It first started when I became livid by some of the idiotic arguments that certain public men were using to justify, or make apologies for, the dearth of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. I decided to write to these men in a public fashion. Why not write as a man you ask? Well, I thought it would be more effective (for the cause) if a woman demonstrated the total absence of logic in their arguments.

Saudi Girl provides a really interesting perspective…I kind of couldn’t believe that Saudi Girl was actually a boy when I first read this blog.

Righto then, some of these blogs are political, others aren’t. Some are just daily musings of girls living in Saudi (which I find especially interesting). 

So…enjoy!

Jill usually gets some pretty sweet advice on traveling, and Feministe readers seem to come from far and wide to post comments and such so hopefully this request for travel advice will garner some good response (pleeeasse!)

I’ve got a fairly large chunk of travel time in December/January and I’m trying to figure out where I want to go. Initially I thought Turkey. Turkey for a long time, to see it all. But I’m also kind of broke. Well, not totally broke (yet), but I’m definitely not rolling in the dough.

So, I’ve decided on exploring upper Egypt and then crossing the border into Jordan. If anyone has been to Jordan and has any advice on places to go, things to do, stuff to see..pass it on? Thank you!

I’m taking a break from feminism and politics and the Middle East, just for a second (I’ve been mulling over my comments about the veil for hours now).

I have a few (ok, ok a lot of) pretty shameless loves in life: Ice cream, chocolate (chocolate ice cream is…beyond words), coffee/tea (don’t even get me started), cheese (any kind, any time, anywhere), and hamburgers.  Not in combination. Obviously.

I love watching people eat (this sounds weird and creepy, but it really isn’t meant to be). When someone can enjoy a meal, and you can actually see it on their face, that is beautiful. Absolutely amazing. It just makes me want to eat (and eat, and eat, and eat). And I love looking at photographs of food, which brings me to this: 101 Cookbooks. This is one of my favorite websites with recipes galore and some of the most amazing photos of food I have ever seen. It literally gets me through the day. Sitting at my desk, in front of a computer, for 7 hours can get pretty dull. Looking at food make the day that much better. Hurrah!

What is your one (or many, in my case) indulgence?

Ugh. Double Ugh. More depressing news on media censorship and such. (I never knew I had such a knack for finding stories on this)

(sidenote: Do we consider Pakistan as part of the Middle East…or Asia? I mean, I’m part Pakistini, I should probably know this. Plus I studied the Middle East…but I never considered it part of the Middle East.  I considered it part of Asia…am I wrong?)