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Identity and feminism
tebaa 1st volume
Why Tebaa magazine?
Tebaa magazine is considered as a means of update on our efforts and of our feminist predecessors. Tebaa is a feminist non-periodical magazine issued by NWF.
Why a theoretical magazine? And why in this time particularly?
The Arabic region – especially Egypt – suffers from a deficiency in the theoretical field when tackling women’s and feminist studies. This in return, makes us always in the recipient’s place to use the international discourses; formulated very differently from our reality, as well as, our cultural and historical experience. This is although the continuous increased production of Arab and Egyptian feminists, most of which – unfortunately- published in English and French, or distributed in various periodicals, which makes it inaccessible for those who interested regularly. In the last decade of the 20th Century, Egypt witnessed many attempts in issuing feminist periodicals; among which are included the magazines, “Hagir” and “Nour”, which unfortunately did not last.
Our practical experiment has proven that the enrichment of the theoretical field of feminist studies, adds to the actual practices in the field. This experiment also proves that the implementation of the theoretical framework regarding the problems faced by women ends up positively affecting the development of the research tools that can be used by feminists. Accordingly, the magazine includes different opinions which should help in developing and enriching the theoretical contributions in the field of feminist studies, specifically, in Egypt and the Arab region. It should help in bridging the gap between theory and practice, regardless of whether certain opinions may be identical to our vision.
The magazine’s objectives
- Stressing pluralism and diverting from the dominant totalitarian and unilateral discourse.
- Hoping that Tebaa will become/is a platform for the feminist, including their discourses, to interact and engage effectively with others in the region.
- Revising the relation between the field of feminist study (theoretical work) and the field of activity (practice) because we believe that the common space between the two fields does not allow for this intended and artificial separation.
We are keen on including the translation of some studies into Arabic in Tebaa. This is because we believe that translation enriches the processes of engagement with other regional and international discourses. It also opens many doors to be able to tackle several topics with different viewpoints. Additionally, the translation process enriches the field of feminist studies itself; through the enhancement of language and research, as well as, providing a space for analyzing these topics. Moreover, it is an attempt to attract Arab feminists to develop a discourse which uses the Arabic language as the main tool for expression. It will in turn, lead to the development of this language, and will further enrich it. It has been agreed that Tebaa will include a set number of sections in each volume: research papers, translated articles, and abstracts. It also was agreed that these sections will tackle a specific topic in each volume in order to tackle the issue addressed from more than one side, as well as, to present a different opinion concerning the topic under discussion.
Most of the topics in this volume tackle the problem of identity; specifically, how it is formulated within certain historical and social frameworks. Yet also, it looks at how this identity is reformulated, including its relation with the policies of power and prevailing discourses. In this regard, the article “Women, Medicine and power in Egypt in the 19th century” talks about the first school for obstetrics (midwives) which was founded by Mohammad Ali in 1832. The article shows that Mohammad’s Ali motive behind founding this school was to serve the army which suffered from syphilis. Thus it can be concluded that it served Mohammad Ali’s interest in treating women, and also in training them on providing treatment to his army. This article also studies the personal? Conditions of the female students in this school, such as, their life after graduation, and the power interference in many fields of their lives to ensure that the goal of their education had been achieved. The supposed goal was that they would get all the information that was inaccessible through physicians and health practitioners.
Moreover, the article “Women and Identity Policies” presents a panorama concerning the development of the concepts related to identity in general. This article refers to an introduction of a book entitled, Identity, Policies and Women: Feminism and Re-evaluating the Culture from International Perspective, and it reviews the most important ideas mentioned in other articles of the book. As the book focuses on the women’s positions in the Middle East, it looks at the issue of political Islam and links it to the concept of cultural identity. In this regard, the book raises many questions concerning the influence of the policies on identity in regards to the feminist movement, as well as, the women’s liberation.
Additionally, the volume provides a review of the study “Pages of Egyptian Women Struggle”, which was conducted by the NWF. It presents the historical background which may contribute to understanding the current situations of the Egyptian women’s movements. This study stresses the idea that exploration and research in the history of Egyptian women, from a feminist outlook, is one of the important steps in crystallizing the discourse. It is also important in valuing the alternative discourses, in an attempt to reach the commonalities of the women’s struggle.
The article, “Feminization of Culture”, illustrates that the masculine culture under which all human beings have experienced for thousands of years, will reach a dead end by the beginning of the new, AD century. The article calls for the necessity of reconsidering this culture, and, reconsidering the feminist culture more sympathetically.
It was also agreed that there would be a dedication of one article in each volume to discuss the current historical positions of the feminist movement in Palestine and its relation to the prevailed social and political discourses on the formal and informal levels. This volume presents the topic of Palestine through an article which tackles the relation between feminism and nationalism, in the context of the first Intifada, including their role as women, and their organizations.
The abstracts of the two books, Woman and Homosexuality in Islam and Bible, and, According to Females, provide larger spaces for dialogue and engagement with various issues and topics. The book, Woman and Homosexuality in Islam, tackles the issues of women and gender within the framework of the Islamic culture from historical perspective. However, the book, Bible According to Females, tackles the image of the woman in the Bible within both, the Old and New Testaments.
The abstract translation of the book, Remaking of Woman: Feminism and Modernization in the Middle East, presents the conflict and contrast between feminism and modernization through a number of articles on Egypt, Iran and Turkey. It looks at these three countries mainly because they have common similarities concerning women’s lives, despite their prevailing differences in their national, religious or secular discourses.
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