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03-12-2012, 04:58 AM
Day of the Girl
A tribute to all the Egyptian women who shaped history
Egyptian women have long been at the forefront of feminism and women's rights. As the world celebrates the UN Day of the Girl, we celebrate the bright Egyptian girls who overcame poverty, stereotypes, entrenched traditions and all sorts of obstacles to become great leaders, politicians, activists, intellects and educators. Those are the women who gave us the right for education, participation in public life and all other things we now take for granted.
Hoda Shaarawy, Ceza Nabrawy and Nabaweya Moussa: The mothers of the Egyptian feminist movement and an inspiration for all women to challenge oppressive traditions.
Born in Minya in 1879, Shaarawy was taught only the Qur’an as a child and, like many women of her time, was married to her cousin, Ali Pasha Shaarawy. Shaarawy, although coming from a traditional family, resented the oppressive traditions that forced women to cover their hair and faces and disengage from the public sphere. She started holding lectures for other women, thus sparking the first flame of the feminist movement in Egypt. In 1910, she opened a school to educate girls on subjects other than religion and practical skills. She helped organizing the famous 1919 anti-British demonstrations, marking the first time women participated publicly in politics. Also active in development and charity work, Shaarawy was elected president of the Wafdist Women’s Central Committee.
Coming from a middle class Alexandrian family, Moussa challenged the culture of girls’ education at the time by becoming the first Egyptian woman to earn a baccalaureate degree. She published many articles and held lectures on developing females’ education and combating the culture that deprived women of higher education. An educator and believed education was the way for independence, banishing ***ual abuse and an equal status in the workforce.
Nabrawy had spent her formative years in in France for 10 years and was eager to share Europe's liberal values with Egyptian women.
Together, these three women made history in 1923 with a seemingly small yet defiant gesture. Upon their return from the International Feminist Conference in Rome, they removed their veils as a symbol of women's liberation. It was a rejection of the oppressive traditions of the time, and many members of the welcoming crowd followed suit. That same year, the three also formed the Egyptian Feminist Union, the first organization to officially defend women’s rights in Egypt and represented Egyptian women on various occasions worldwide. Among their achievements, the EFU helped change the Constitution to raise the age of marriage for girls to 16. They also called for developing women’s education, equal rights to higher academic degrees as well as reforming the laws and traditions pertaining marriage and the relationship between spouses.
Hend Nofal: Close to the heart of every Egyptian and Arab journalist, Nofal was the reason I, along with all other Arab journalists, are able to go out and report, write and voice our opinions. Originally from Lebanon, Nofal immigrated to Egypt as a child to join a school in Alexandria. She became known as the founder of the female journalism in the Arab world, when she founded Al Fattah (The Girl), the first newspaper targeting women and produced by female journalists in 1882. Published for 12 years, the newspaper had scientific, historical, literary and even comic inclinations.
Malak Hefny Nassef: The first Arab woman to receive a baccalaureate in 1900, Nassef was concerned with education and wrote various articles defending women’s rights under the penname Bahithat Al Badia (The Researcher of the Desert).
Since 1909, Nassef called for properly teaching girls the Qur’an and correct Sunna and setting quotas for females’ participation in the field of medicine and education. She also advocated for compulsory preparatory education for girls, the right to primary and secondary education, and access to advanced academic subjects beyond those simply pertaining to housekeeping. She also demanded society adhere to the proper Shari’a values that give women the right to meet their husbands before agreeing to marry.
Doria Shafik: Coming from a middle-class family in Tanta, Shafik received a strict education by the nuns at her school. She, however, broke free from the traditional mold by receiving a doctoral degree from the Sorbonne on the subject of Egyptian Women and Islam. She started Bint Al Nil (Daughter of the Nile) magazine in 1945 to discuss not only issues related to women, but general interest issues such as current affairs and politics. She called for women’s rights to participate in the national struggle and politics, equal rights in the workforce, the right to demand divorce and limits on polygamy.
Frustrated with the irresponsive regime, she, along with 1,500 fellow feminists stormed the Parliament in 1951, calling for laws that guarantee women's rights. “No one will deliver freedom to women, except woman herself,” she wrote. After a four-hour demonstration at the Parliament, she received verbal promises to answer their demands, but her demands weren’t immediately met and she was called to court.
Her critics claimed she and other feminists were calling for anti-Islamic demands that are against the nature of women. Although much controversy surrounded her, Shafik didn’t budge or shy away from refuting authority figures, including the grand Mufti. She founded a feminist association that focused on female literacy and political rights for women, creating the Daughter of the Nile political party in 1953. When her party was closed down a year later, Shaifk's hunger strike protesting the decision brought her international fame, and she become an international ambassador for the cause of Egyptian women. She was placed under house arrest in the 1960s for calling for the ouster of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Rawya Atteya: Born in 1926 to a politically active family, Atteya was the first Arab woman in Parliament, elected to Egypt's National Assembly in 1957. She insisted on higher education and received several university degrees, including an undergraduate degrees in letters, psychology and a education as well as a master’s degree in journalism and a diploma in Islamic studies.
Atteya had always been politically active — she was even injured in the 1939 anti-colonial demonstrations. So when women were given the right to vote and run for office under the 1956 Constitution, she ran, along with 16 other candidates, in the first parliamentary elections to follow. Despite the strong opposition from men, Atteya succeeded in securing a seat for herself, defeating a communist opponent, Ahmed Fouad, who was a close friend of Nasser. She defended women’s rights as a primary concern in Parliament and called for equal rights for female workers as well as a paid maternity leave. She was elected to Parliament again in 1984 and continued her fight for women’s rights.
Aicha Abdel Rahman: Better known as Bint El Shate’ (The Daughter of the Beach), Abdel Rahman received a master’s degree in Arabic literature in 1941and become a leader in the field of culture and literature, as well as a leader in Islamic feminist thought. She has started her career at the age of 18, writing with the pen name Bent El Shate’ to get around her conservative family’s opposition to her work in journalism. She soon overcame, however, the strict family traditions and fought publicly for women’s rights with an Islamic reference. Her skills as a writer and an Islamic scholar lead her to write a tafsir, (an ****ysis of the Qur’an), a first in a field dominated by male scholars. et
ÇáÑÇÈÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜØ (http://www.egypttoday.com/article/artId:1005/Day-of-the-Girl/secId:47)
A tribute to all the Egyptian women who shaped history
Egyptian women have long been at the forefront of feminism and women's rights. As the world celebrates the UN Day of the Girl, we celebrate the bright Egyptian girls who overcame poverty, stereotypes, entrenched traditions and all sorts of obstacles to become great leaders, politicians, activists, intellects and educators. Those are the women who gave us the right for education, participation in public life and all other things we now take for granted.
Hoda Shaarawy, Ceza Nabrawy and Nabaweya Moussa: The mothers of the Egyptian feminist movement and an inspiration for all women to challenge oppressive traditions.
Born in Minya in 1879, Shaarawy was taught only the Qur’an as a child and, like many women of her time, was married to her cousin, Ali Pasha Shaarawy. Shaarawy, although coming from a traditional family, resented the oppressive traditions that forced women to cover their hair and faces and disengage from the public sphere. She started holding lectures for other women, thus sparking the first flame of the feminist movement in Egypt. In 1910, she opened a school to educate girls on subjects other than religion and practical skills. She helped organizing the famous 1919 anti-British demonstrations, marking the first time women participated publicly in politics. Also active in development and charity work, Shaarawy was elected president of the Wafdist Women’s Central Committee.
Coming from a middle class Alexandrian family, Moussa challenged the culture of girls’ education at the time by becoming the first Egyptian woman to earn a baccalaureate degree. She published many articles and held lectures on developing females’ education and combating the culture that deprived women of higher education. An educator and believed education was the way for independence, banishing ***ual abuse and an equal status in the workforce.
Nabrawy had spent her formative years in in France for 10 years and was eager to share Europe's liberal values with Egyptian women.
Together, these three women made history in 1923 with a seemingly small yet defiant gesture. Upon their return from the International Feminist Conference in Rome, they removed their veils as a symbol of women's liberation. It was a rejection of the oppressive traditions of the time, and many members of the welcoming crowd followed suit. That same year, the three also formed the Egyptian Feminist Union, the first organization to officially defend women’s rights in Egypt and represented Egyptian women on various occasions worldwide. Among their achievements, the EFU helped change the Constitution to raise the age of marriage for girls to 16. They also called for developing women’s education, equal rights to higher academic degrees as well as reforming the laws and traditions pertaining marriage and the relationship between spouses.
Hend Nofal: Close to the heart of every Egyptian and Arab journalist, Nofal was the reason I, along with all other Arab journalists, are able to go out and report, write and voice our opinions. Originally from Lebanon, Nofal immigrated to Egypt as a child to join a school in Alexandria. She became known as the founder of the female journalism in the Arab world, when she founded Al Fattah (The Girl), the first newspaper targeting women and produced by female journalists in 1882. Published for 12 years, the newspaper had scientific, historical, literary and even comic inclinations.
Malak Hefny Nassef: The first Arab woman to receive a baccalaureate in 1900, Nassef was concerned with education and wrote various articles defending women’s rights under the penname Bahithat Al Badia (The Researcher of the Desert).
Since 1909, Nassef called for properly teaching girls the Qur’an and correct Sunna and setting quotas for females’ participation in the field of medicine and education. She also advocated for compulsory preparatory education for girls, the right to primary and secondary education, and access to advanced academic subjects beyond those simply pertaining to housekeeping. She also demanded society adhere to the proper Shari’a values that give women the right to meet their husbands before agreeing to marry.
Doria Shafik: Coming from a middle-class family in Tanta, Shafik received a strict education by the nuns at her school. She, however, broke free from the traditional mold by receiving a doctoral degree from the Sorbonne on the subject of Egyptian Women and Islam. She started Bint Al Nil (Daughter of the Nile) magazine in 1945 to discuss not only issues related to women, but general interest issues such as current affairs and politics. She called for women’s rights to participate in the national struggle and politics, equal rights in the workforce, the right to demand divorce and limits on polygamy.
Frustrated with the irresponsive regime, she, along with 1,500 fellow feminists stormed the Parliament in 1951, calling for laws that guarantee women's rights. “No one will deliver freedom to women, except woman herself,” she wrote. After a four-hour demonstration at the Parliament, she received verbal promises to answer their demands, but her demands weren’t immediately met and she was called to court.
Her critics claimed she and other feminists were calling for anti-Islamic demands that are against the nature of women. Although much controversy surrounded her, Shafik didn’t budge or shy away from refuting authority figures, including the grand Mufti. She founded a feminist association that focused on female literacy and political rights for women, creating the Daughter of the Nile political party in 1953. When her party was closed down a year later, Shaifk's hunger strike protesting the decision brought her international fame, and she become an international ambassador for the cause of Egyptian women. She was placed under house arrest in the 1960s for calling for the ouster of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Rawya Atteya: Born in 1926 to a politically active family, Atteya was the first Arab woman in Parliament, elected to Egypt's National Assembly in 1957. She insisted on higher education and received several university degrees, including an undergraduate degrees in letters, psychology and a education as well as a master’s degree in journalism and a diploma in Islamic studies.
Atteya had always been politically active — she was even injured in the 1939 anti-colonial demonstrations. So when women were given the right to vote and run for office under the 1956 Constitution, she ran, along with 16 other candidates, in the first parliamentary elections to follow. Despite the strong opposition from men, Atteya succeeded in securing a seat for herself, defeating a communist opponent, Ahmed Fouad, who was a close friend of Nasser. She defended women’s rights as a primary concern in Parliament and called for equal rights for female workers as well as a paid maternity leave. She was elected to Parliament again in 1984 and continued her fight for women’s rights.
Aicha Abdel Rahman: Better known as Bint El Shate’ (The Daughter of the Beach), Abdel Rahman received a master’s degree in Arabic literature in 1941and become a leader in the field of culture and literature, as well as a leader in Islamic feminist thought. She has started her career at the age of 18, writing with the pen name Bent El Shate’ to get around her conservative family’s opposition to her work in journalism. She soon overcame, however, the strict family traditions and fought publicly for women’s rights with an Islamic reference. Her skills as a writer and an Islamic scholar lead her to write a tafsir, (an ****ysis of the Qur’an), a first in a field dominated by male scholars. et
ÇáÑÇÈÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜØ (http://www.egypttoday.com/article/artId:1005/Day-of-the-Girl/secId:47)